{"id":1477,"date":"2012-02-12T15:32:41","date_gmt":"2012-02-12T22:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegatheringcincinnati.org\/?p=1477"},"modified":"2012-02-12T15:32:41","modified_gmt":"2012-02-12T22:32:41","slug":"february-12-2012-the-gathering-goes-to-the-movies-the-artist-choosing-love-over-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/12\/february-12-2012-the-gathering-goes-to-the-movies-the-artist-choosing-love-over-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"February 12, 2012, "The Gathering Goes to the Movies: 'The Artist' – Choosing Love Over Fear'""},"content":{"rendered":"

Message 85, \u201cThe Gathering Goes to the Movies: \u2018The Artist\u2019 – Choosing Love Over Fear\u201d\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Watch ‘The Artist’ Trailer<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Doug Slagle, Pastor at the Gathering, All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n

Click here to listen to Doug’s Sunday message or see below to read:<\/p>\n\n

 <\/p>\n

In my research for this message, I read a story about a woman named Cynthia Daley who was among 1500 people laid off from a large utility in the small town of Rainier, Oregon.\u00a0 The shock and fear in Cynthia\u00a0 and her colleagues was extreme.\u00a0 Many employees had worked for the company for over thirty years.\u00a0 They knew no other life and many doubted that they had transferable skills to help them find new work in a difficult economy.\u00a0 Cynthia, however, decided she would use her remaining thirty days at work to help others.\u00a0 She began publishing a short guide that was distributed to laid off employees on how to save money.\u00a0 She researched ways to find low cost insurance plans, how to do simple car repairs and ways to save on household expenses.\u00a0 As her paper grew in size, employees began asking her for advice in their job searches.\u00a0 She counseled individuals in writing resumes and in articulating skills that could be used in other jobs.\u00a0 Her actions were so noteworthy, the company asked if she would stay on and work in their human resources department.\u00a0 She accepted but she continued writing her paper which soon caught the attention of the local college.\u00a0 They asked her to teach a course for the unemployed which she also did.\u00a0 Her knowledge, her willingness to help individuals one on one, and her encouragement not to give up has led her to a full time faculty position and to becoming a well paid consultant hired by companies across the country to assist laid off employees.<\/p>\n

What interested me in this story is its inspirational example of resilience by this woman and her goal to serve and love others.\u00a0 This same ethic gives the movie \u201cThe Artist\u201d its emotional power.\u00a0 It has received widespread acclaim because of its feel good call to overcome fear and hardship and allow love to prevail.<\/p>\n

What each of us has learned in life is that we all face daily challenges in which we must make choices on how to react.\u00a0 Many such challenges are big ones.\u00a0 Whether it be from a loss of financial security, loss of a job, health problems or challenges in our romantic relationships, we are assaulted throughout our lives with trauma and change.<\/p>\n

This truth about life was best expressed by the philosopher John Simone who once said, \u201cIf you\u2019re in a bad<\/span> situation, don\u2019t worry, it will change.\u00a0 If you are in a good<\/span> situation, don\u2019t worry, it will change.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

While such an assessment of life is pessimistic, it is also true.\u00a0 Change is inevitable and we often have no control over events that confront us.\u00a0 What we can control, however, is our response to them.\u00a0 Indeed, I believe that it is not<\/span><\/strong> the change event that causes us pain – like a major economic recession, the break-up of a relationship or the loss of a job, it is how we respond<\/span><\/strong> to that event that determines whether we sink or swim, whether we find happiness or live in fear.<\/p>\n

And that, my friends, gets to the essential truth for how we might live. Oprah Winfrey once said, \u201cI believe that every single event in life happens as an opportunity to choose love over fear.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 Those are the two primary emotions or approaches to life that we can choose to follow when faced with a problem.\u00a0 We either live in fear, or we live in love.<\/p>\n

Which brings us to the movie \u201cThe Artist\u201d – whose trailer we just watched.\u00a0 On this Sunday eve to Valentine\u2019s Day, it is an appropriate film for us to consider.\u00a0 As a creative and beautifully made film which takes us back to the silent movie days of the 1920\u2019s, \u201cThe Artist\u201d is, at its heart, a love story that is both charming and spiritually instructive.\u00a0 Without using words, the movie tells its story with great acting and relies on facial expression, body language, music and sight gags to weave its tale and ultimately inspire.<\/p>\n

As a cinematic valentine to old Hollywood, the movie is also a valentine to us.\u00a0 It offers the spiritual wisdom of which I just spoke.\u00a0 Despite the vagaries of life, despite the heartache, the pain and the challenging circumstances which daily confront us, how do we choose to live?\u00a0 Are we inspired by our better angels to also take wing and fly – to embrace love of others, love of serving and love of making an impact in this world?\u00a0 Or, do we succumb to the fears of life, the fear to change, to experience something new, or to embark on a new adventure?\u00a0 Fear or love, what do we choose?<\/p>\n

As a movie, \u201cThe Artist\u201d tells its story of how the choices we make in our approach to life affect our happiness.\u00a0 It also embodies that very theme.\u00a0 I have heard many people say they have no desire to see this film – once they hear it is a silent movie.\u00a0 It will be boring, some say.\u00a0 Indeed, in a culture that often thrives on constant talking and even on shouting at one another, how can a simple picture with no words be entertaining?\u00a0 The movie, however, embraces its change theme by being a change agent itself.\u00a0 It pays homage to something which seems<\/span><\/em><\/strong> old – silent movies – but which, in reality, is new<\/span><\/em><\/strong> to us.\u00a0 The old has become new and the so-called new – modern cinema – has become old.<\/p>\n

By implicitly rejecting the loud bombast of current films with their explosions and special effects, this movie shows us a simpler, quieter and deeper understanding of the human condition.\u00a0 It offers us change with a dose of love.\u00a0 It calls us to watch, think, feel, and listen with our hearts.<\/p>\n

George Valentin, the main character, is a silent movie star, worshipped by millions.\u00a0 As a likable narcissist, he lives in his own world of fame, money and his constant sidekick – a small terrier dog who provides many of the comedic sight gags.\u00a0 But change comes to George\u2019s life – as it does to everyone.<\/p>\n

George is told that the era of silent movies is over.\u00a0 Talking films are the wave of the future and, as a silent actor, he must change or be left behind.\u00a0 He rejects the new reality and produces a silent film on his own.\u00a0 It is released just as the stock market crash of 1929 hits.\u00a0 The film and his finances are ruined.\u00a0 George\u2019s fear<\/span><\/strong> of speaking and of changing technology lead him to make his poor choices.\u00a0 In an appropriately fitting scene depicted in the silent film he produces, George\u2019s character sinks into a morass of quicksand – anguish and fear etched across his face.\u00a0 At the end, only his hand extends above the sand, reaching for the safety he cannot find.\u00a0 Art has imitated George\u2019s real life.<\/p>\n

In that life, George\u2019s wife leaves him, his career comes to an end, his finances are lost and he moves from his mansion to a small apartment.\u00a0 He hits rock bottom.<\/p>\n

Concurrent to his fall from grace, we watch a young actress who falls in love with George, Peppy Miller, as she embraces the new technology of talking movies.\u00a0 She becomes a star and soon has the wealth and fame George loses.\u00a0 Faced with a similar choice as George in terms of her career, she chooses the exciting and new world of talk.\u00a0 She embodies her name – she is literally peppy as she thrills to new adventures, new technology and new love.<\/p>\n

During her rise, Peppy does not forget George or her love for him.\u00a0 When he is forced to auction all of his possessions, she anonymously buys them – both to help him and to save them for him.\u00a0 She even brings him into her home to recover from injuries he sustains.\u00a0 When George discovers she has been his savior, he is angry at this reversal in roles.\u00a0 He rejects her love and her devotion to him as much as he also rejects the idea that a woman can out earn and out succeed a man.<\/p>\n

The film is a classic depiction of what we all face in life.\u00a0 How do we react to change and how do we react to challenges?\u00a0 Peppy chooses love – love of change, opportunity, technology and people.\u00a0 George chooses fear – fear of the new form of acting, the new technology of sound in movies and the new concept that a woman can not only succeed in a career, but that she can be the protector of a man.\u00a0 She thrives.\u00a0 He does not.\u00a0 In true Hollywood fashion, though, the movie does not end on a down note.\u00a0 It finishes by showing us that love is more powerful than fear.<\/p>\n

And thus we have the set-up for the spiritual lesson about life we might learn from the film.\u00a0 The implicit lesson we discover in \u201cThe Artist\u201d is that, like its characters, we are daily asked to solve a simple equation in decisions we must make.\u00a0 That equation is: E + R = O.\u00a0 E for \u201cevent\u201d, plus R for \u201cresponse\u201d, equals O for \u201coutcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I noted earlier, we face a barrage of events<\/span><\/strong> in life over which we have no control.\u00a0 But, we must then respond<\/span><\/strong> to those events.\u00a0 And that – the sum of the event plus our response to it – E + R – determines the outcome<\/span><\/strong> we experience.\u00a0 Will the outcome be a good one or will it not?\u00a0 As Oprah said, the outcome from any event in our lives is ultimately a choice between reacting with fear or reacting with love.<\/p>\n

When we react to life challenges with love, we are really reacting with love for ourselves and the idea that we are called to serve others more than ourselves.\u00a0 As humans, our natural inclination is to focus on external security issues.\u00a0 Do we have enough money, shelter, food and health to make ourselves comfortable and, we falsely believe, happy?<\/p>\n

Instead, we ought to focus on internal security issues – those ideals we hold in our hearts and souls like peace, contentment, humility, forgiveness and quiet confidence.\u00a0 Are we at peace with ourselves and who we really<\/span><\/em><\/strong> are?\u00a0 Are we angry or forgiving?\u00a0 Are we content with simple pleasures or are we greedy?\u00a0 Are we appropriately humble – knowing our abilities without needing to loudly broadcast them to others?\u00a0 Are we gentle in speech, actions and demeanor?\u00a0 These are all the stuff of inner security.\u00a0 They are what creates an ability to love the self and thereby reach out to love others.\u00a0 They are the ideals which dispel fear.<\/p>\n

If I have a quiet confidence in myself, I may lose my job but know I will survive. If I know I am a loving and forgiving person, I will have the confidence to find a partner or thrive within a relationship.\u00a0 If I know that I find pleasure in people and simple experiences, I will not fear the absence of money or wealth.\u00a0 If I am content about my life, I will not fear health set backs or aging.\u00a0 If I am at peace with who I am as a person – gay, straight, white, black, young, old, witty or thoughtful – I will not fear being who I was created to be.<\/p>\n

Fear leads us to depression, selfishness, anger and isolation.\u00a0 Instead, love of self, which is then translated into a love for serving others –\u00a0 partners, families, friends and total strangers – all of that leads us to real joy.\u00a0 It might be cliche to say, but love is, indeed, the answer.<\/p>\n

As the motivational author and speaker Marianne Williamson famously put it, \u201c<\/strong>Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.\u00a0 We ask ourselves, \u2018Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?\u201d\u00a0 Actually, who are you not<\/em> to be?\u00a0 You are a child of God.\u00a0 Your playing small does not serve the world.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

That, for me, is the beautiful message in the movie \u201cThe Artist\u201d.\u00a0 Choose love over fear.\u00a0 Choose to embrace new things, new people and new adventures as if you will not fail.\u00a0 I especially appreciate the optimism of a man who I believe was one of our greatest Presidents – Teddy Rossevelt.\u00a0 He was a self-described Progressive.\u00a0\u00a0 He was a man of no fear – a man who was always in the arena of life, as he put it.\u00a0 He once said, in terms of our response to life events, \u201cThe best thing you can do is the right<\/span><\/em> thing; \u2026……..the next<\/span><\/em> best thing you can do is the wrong thing;………………. the worst<\/span><\/em> thing you can do is nothing<\/span><\/em>.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>In other words, we must not allow fear to hold us back from anything.\u00a0 And for myself, a man who is often afraid of saying the wrong thing, offending others or embarking on new adventures, the lesson from \u201cThe Artist\u201d is an important one.<\/p>\n

And, I believe, it is an important one for all of us.\u00a0 Just as Teddy Roosevelt embodied his no fear approach to life in his Progressive ideas, we must do the same.\u00a0 I do not speak politically here but in terms of basic beliefs.\u00a0 Progressives embrace change.\u00a0 Indeed, the definition is inherent in the name itself.\u00a0 Progress.\u00a0 From religion, to the economy, to social issues like gay rights and racial equality, to every day matters of love, money and personal health, progressives are not afraid of change and dynamic activity.\u00a0 Indeed, I believe that without continuous change, no person and no organization can survive.\u00a0 This is what we embody in here – not a political ideology but a spirituality that is willing to ask questions, accept new things, new people and new experiences all as ways to ever love and serve others.\u00a0 Will we focus on fear of change and remain a small church always operating on a financial edge?\u00a0 Or, will be embrace the love we have in our hearts to serve other people and thus find ways to grow by enlarging our current physical space and expanding the services we offer?\u00a0 Will we operate in fear by choosing to hold onto what is a warm and comfortable group of people, or will we be an invitational congregation always dreaming of new ways to encourage others to join us in our loving effort to change lives for the better?<\/p>\n

Just as important to us as an organization, we must not personally follow the fear based example of George Valentin in the movie \u201cThe Artist\u201d.\u00a0 Love yourself.\u00a0 Love others.\u00a0 Love life and live it to its fullest.\u00a0 Serve with abandon.\u00a0 Give generously.\u00a0 Embrace change.\u00a0 Find contentment and peace in the inner recesses of your soul.\u00a0 As the Bible tells us, \u201cThere is no fear in love.\u00a0 Perfect love drives out fear.\u00a0 God has not given us a spirit of fear but one of power and love…\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let each of us, myself included, love life and love others like we will never get hurt…<\/p>\n

I wish you all much peace and even more joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Message 85, \u201cThe Gathering Goes to the Movies: \u2018The Artist\u2019 – Choosing Love Over Fear\u201d   Watch ‘The Artist’ Trailer \u00a9 Doug Slagle, Pastor at the Gathering, All Rights Reserved Click here to listen to Doug’s Sunday message or see below to read:   In my research for this message, I read a story about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1477\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}