The Dude--The Big Lebowski
This may seem like an odd toy for spirituality, but there are a significant number of people who see The Dude as their hero, or see him as Jesus-like in his approach to life, not getting caught up in all the snafus of life, but moving constantly towards resolution and peace, much to the consternation of those trying to control life, or take advantage of others, or eliminate those who get in their way.
The Dude is unruffled by these adversaries and brings into their frantic, very important and suspicious world, someone who is antithetical to their ravenous approach to life, the dog-eat-dog mantra! Like Denzel Washington's Equalizer, though certainly not fomenting that kind of violence, the Dude seeks restoration of what belongs to a person, simple as it might seem. What's all the fuss in a world of greed: why get bent out of shape about losing one's favorite rug. The Dude isn't bent out of shape, just looking after his special rug. He wants to right a wrong even if the wrong seems miniscule and unimportant to powerful people. The Dude brings a unique kind of presence into other people's lives - what they choose to do with it is on them!
The Bible Says: Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
A great example of this is the film, WE'RE NO ANGELS, where two fugitives pass themselves off as priests in the hope of evading capture and passing the police blockade at the border with Canada. It's a delightful and humorous movie with Sean Penn providing the angel-like innocent presence one could easily overlook. It also shows that the road to Heaven doesn't always go straight through the church doors, but like Hermes, takes its own path, the via negativa - Latin for the path where you get lost before you get found!
Whether The Dude or a criminal masquerading as a quiet priest, God bless the unassuming!!
This may seem like an odd toy for spirituality, but there are a significant number of people who see The Dude as their hero, or see him as Jesus-like in his approach to life, not getting caught up in all the snafus of life, but moving constantly towards resolution and peace, much to the consternation of those trying to control life, or take advantage of others, or eliminate those who get in their way.
The Dude is unruffled by these adversaries and brings into their frantic, very important and suspicious world, someone who is antithetical to their ravenous approach to life, the dog-eat-dog mantra! Like Denzel Washington's Equalizer, though certainly not fomenting that kind of violence, the Dude seeks restoration of what belongs to a person, simple as it might seem. What's all the fuss in a world of greed: why get bent out of shape about losing one's favorite rug. The Dude isn't bent out of shape, just looking after his special rug. He wants to right a wrong even if the wrong seems miniscule and unimportant to powerful people. The Dude brings a unique kind of presence into other people's lives - what they choose to do with it is on them!
The Bible Says: Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
A great example of this is the film, WE'RE NO ANGELS, where two fugitives pass themselves off as priests in the hope of evading capture and passing the police blockade at the border with Canada. It's a delightful and humorous movie with Sean Penn providing the angel-like innocent presence one could easily overlook. It also shows that the road to Heaven doesn't always go straight through the church doors, but like Hermes, takes its own path, the via negativa - Latin for the path where you get lost before you get found!
Whether The Dude or a criminal masquerading as a quiet priest, God bless the unassuming!!
This may seem like an odd toy for spirituality, but there are a significant number of people who see The Dude as their hero, or see him as Jesus-like in his approach to life, not getting caught up in all the snafus of life, but moving constantly towards resolution and peace, much to the consternation of those trying to control life, or take advantage of others, or eliminate those who get in their way.
The Dude is unruffled by these adversaries and brings into their frantic, very important and suspicious world, someone who is antithetical to their ravenous approach to life, the dog-eat-dog mantra! Like Denzel Washington's Equalizer, though certainly not fomenting that kind of violence, the Dude seeks restoration of what belongs to a person, simple as it might seem. What's all the fuss in a world of greed: why get bent out of shape about losing one's favorite rug. The Dude isn't bent out of shape, just looking after his special rug. He wants to right a wrong even if the wrong seems miniscule and unimportant to powerful people. The Dude brings a unique kind of presence into other people's lives - what they choose to do with it is on them!
The Bible Says: Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
A great example of this is the film, WE'RE NO ANGELS, where two fugitives pass themselves off as priests in the hope of evading capture and passing the police blockade at the border with Canada. It's a delightful and humorous movie with Sean Penn providing the angel-like innocent presence one could easily overlook. It also shows that the road to Heaven doesn't always go straight through the church doors, but like Hermes, takes its own path, the via negativa - Latin for the path where you get lost before you get found!
Whether The Dude or a criminal masquerading as a quiet priest, God bless the unassuming!!