The Words of the Weber Family
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The Words of the Weber Family |
There has been a lot of talk over the years about how talking about God or religious themes (especially in schools) has changed. It used to be that you could talk about God in schools, pray, and say "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.
In movies, religious themes have gone in and out of style as well. I remember when I was very young going to see a Cecil B. DeMille movie called, "The Ten Commandments." There were other movies at that time with religious themes or undertones such as "The Next Voice You Hear," about God speaking to people of the world over the radio, "The Robe," and "Ben Hur."
As I got older, it seemed as if religious themes in movies became somewhat taboo. For awhile talk of God in movies seemed to disappear. But, I was pleased when I had children of my own that religious themes had somewhat come back. "The Prince of Egypt," was a beautiful animated movie about Moses. Later the same producers made another even better movie about Joseph. Television shows with religious themes also appeared. "Touched By An Angel," was about how guardian angels worked with people and helped them in their lives. "Mysterious Ways" was about a professor who investigated what appeared to be supernatural events as he searched for proof that miracles occur in the present day.
When I started writing children's stories, I debated for awhile whether or not to write stories with messages, and I also debated whether or not to write religious stories. I made the decision to do both. All of my stories have messages of some kind, and many of my stories are very religious. Some of my stories even have God as a main character in the plot, such as "Do You Believe In Miracles?", "Night Meeting," "Precious Children: Heirs of God," and others.
When the movie "The Next Voice You Hear" was made in the 50's, God spoke to the world through radio broadcasts heard around the world at the same time every night for a week. In the movie, we don't actually hear the voice. We see the reactions of people who have heard it. And we hear the people telling others what they heard God say. God appears as a mysterious, and in one scene, frightening figure, rather far off and not personal at all.
This is different from the movie "The Ten Commandments," where we do hear God speak. I find it interesting that here He speaks in a very quiet, almost inaudible, but very strong and powerful voice. It is how I would imagine God speaking…almost that quiet internal voice that you hear about…quiet, but oh so powerful.
In the church, we are taught that it was meant for God to be personal for everyone. We are supposed to be His sons and daughters. As a result, we would be able to talk with God and have Him talk with us.
This is how I write about God in my stories. In my story "Night Meeting," God shares what His dreams were at the time of creation…almost confiding with the main character of the story. In "Do You Believe In Miracles," even though God appears as a glowing being, He embraces the orphaned girl with love and becomes personally involved in working out her situation and finding parents for her. The title of my story, "Holding Hands With God," sort of speaks for itself. Even though God works through angels in this story and does not actually appear Himself, we are told that we can actually hold hands with Him…that He is actually this close and personal.
The interpretation of what God is like has indeed changed throughout the years in movies and television. We can now contribute to the viewpoint of God, a more personal view…yes, a God who is actually close enough to us to holds hands with.
You can give others an idea of how God works in your life and speaks with you. You have the ability to help make God more personal in other people's lives.
My thought for the day, God Bless All Of You.