About 10 years ago the movie Mystic River was
released. The movie was based on the bestselling book by Dennis Lehane. I
had read the book multiple times and highly anticipated the movie.
After watching it, I glimpsed at an online forum in which people were
discussing the ending of the movie. The ending involves an interaction
between the characters played by Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon. A number of
people found the interaction to be enigmatic. In the forum, people were
posing their theories.
Since I had read the book, the
ending was not confusing to me at all. Dennis Lehane’s intention was
clear in the book, even though some thought it was not completely clear
in the movie. So, out of my deep desire to help, I posted on the forum. I
let them know what the ending meant. After all, it was not a mystery.
The author of the story had spoken on the subject. Oddly enough, the
people in the forum seemed to shrug off my post. They continued on with
their theories. I was mystified by this. So I posted again, explaining
that the author of the story had made the ending clear. Once again, my
post seemed to fall on deaf ears. They missed out on the opportunity to
understand the story, and opted to generate their own theories.
We
all want to make sense of life. There are all kinds of theories
concerning how we understand the reality around us. But if the author of
the story has spoken, wouldn’t it seem wise to consult him?
God
has spoken through His Word, the Bible. The Bible is not a set of rules
or a how-to manual. The Bible is God’s communication about Himself and
about reality. And when we allow the author of the story to inform our
understanding of reality, this changes everything about the way we
approach life.
Dan
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