Telling Stories

I'm way behind on writing the sermon I need to deliver tomorrow morning, so this blog entry will be shorter.

I saw "The Wrestler" recently with a good friend. It's fantastic movie. Best movie I've seen this year. (And no, I don't just mean from January 1. If I meant only since January 1 I would have said "Best movie I've seen this month." I mean "Best movie I've seen in the last 12 months" but that sounds stupidly precise. It may have been the best movie in the last 11 months, or last 13 months. Know what I mean? [That's why I call this blog "Steam of Consciousness" after all.] Anyway...)

I'm finding myself crying a little bit more these days, which I think is probably a good thing. (Sometimes an increase in crying isn't necessarily a good thing, because it just means a lot more crap is happening than usual. I know a lot of truly unhappy people who cry a lot, so crying isn't always a good indicator of a healthy emotional life and general well-being. But I think *never* crying isn't too healthy either, which is how I had been operating for quite some time.)

I cried during "The Wrestler." (Although not so loud that my friend next to me could tell. I'm still a guy, after all.)

Why did I cry, you ask? I think for me the movie was so powerful because the images were so close to home. I can't really say too much here, because these blogs are sort of public, right? But suffice it to say that I KNOW people like this guy.

And to see him struggle, and sometimes win, and sometimes (and mostly) lose, and in the end to... [I won't tell you, in case you still haven't seen it]

It's so real to life. Life can really SUCK sometimes. I mean, really, really, really suck. I just did a memorial service this past week for a person who committed suicide. In case you've never done a service for someone who committed suicide, let me just say: it sucks. ("Suck" probably doesn't do it justice, but I probably shouldn't use the other words that come to mind. Feel free to give me a call and ask me what words best describe my feelings about it.)

So, you probably expect me to end this blog post with something uplifting, right (those of you who don't know me very well.) Nope, let me just end it like that. Go see "The Wrestler."