Movie Review: The Rite (Part One: Taking a Risk)

Normally I avoid movies about demon possession. I have not seen The Exorcist, and I waited until adulthood to watch Poltergeist. I will probably never see Lovely Molly, even though it was filmed by my dear brother.

You see, I believe in the existence of demons. And I remember exactly when this belief began. A couple brave (?) girls in my third grade class were experimenting with the supernatural. They claimed that, if you went in your room, turned out the lights, and recited “Bloody Mary” 20 times into the mirror, that Bloody Mary herself would come out and scratch you. I was a skeptic, so I went home and tried it. Nothing happened, thank God.

But the experience continued to creep me out for some time. After-the-fact, I decided to ask my dad about it: “There’s no such thing as demons, right, Dad? They’re just pretend, aren’t they?” My father’s response floored me. “No, Laura, they are not just pretend. The spiritual world is real. God has his angels working for him, and the devil has his demons. So demons do, actually, exist.”

This response did nothing to cure my heebie jeebies. In fact, they got worse. Some nights later, when I couldn’t take it any more, I snuck into my parent’s bedroom, and whispered, “Dad, I’m scared.” That’s when my father shared a wonderful verse with me, 1 John 4:4, “…the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

“You see,” my dad said, “when you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit lives inside you. And the Holy Spirit in you is greater than the devil who is in the world. You don’t have to be scared of the devil or his demons. Now -- go back to bed!” I did go back to bed, and prayed to God, and believed, and was comforted.

Since that time, I have tried to avoid films that feature demonic activity. I know that I can run to Jesus for safety. But the heebie jeebies take on a much darker tone when you know the evil is real. Why associate with demons casually, for entertainment?

Nonetheless, I thought The Rite might be worth a gamble.  It is PG-13, stars Sir Anthony Hopkins, and is “inspired by true events.” My husband ordered it on Netflix, so perhaps I will blame the decision on him.

The movie’s main character, Michael, is a likeable fellow. Michael’s mother died when he was young. In a macabre twist, Michael’s father runs a mortuary. To escape his father and the family business, Michael enrolls – of all places -- in Catholic seminary.

At the end of four years of study, Michael is still not certain of his faith. He decides to resign from school and not enter the priesthood after all. However, one of his professors encourages him to try one more class – Exorcism 101, taught at the Vatican. [Question: Shouldn’t the prerequisite for that class be above-average faith?] Michael decides to take the church-funded trip to Rome.

In Rome, Michael shadows a local priest/exorcist named Father Lucas, played by Anthony Hopkins. Father Lucas uses various incantations and religious objects to treat symptoms of demonic possession. At least once, when treating a young boy with nightmares, Father Lucas resorts to outright deception. According to Father Lucas, treatment can take months or years.

Rosaria, a young pregnant woman, is a particularly dramatic patient. [SPOILER WARNING] She writhes, coughs up nails, speaks profanities in languages that she never studied, and has psychic powers (“guess what is in the bag”). Michael remains skeptical; he thinks Rosaria needs a psychiatrist. Ultimately, Rosaria succumbs to her illness and dies, along with her unborn child.

Not long afterwards, Michael begins to personally experience visions and other creepy, unexplained phenomena (a dark mule with red eyes; a bedroom overflowing with frogs; a phone conversation with the dead). Even more horrible, it appears that Father Lucas is now possessed by Rosaria’s demon.

Can Michael save his friend from an evil he does not believe exists? As Father Lucas warned, "Choosing not to believe in the devil won't protect you from him."

The possession scenes are over-the-top, as you might expect from Hollywood. Yet the movie appears to take demonic influences seriously and raises several legitimate questions:

1. How can demonic influences be recognized?

2. How can demonic influences be treated?

3. How can demonic influences be avoided in the first place?

More to come.

P.S. The fact that the movie raises legitimate questions does not mean the movie is suitable for viewing by families or church groups. It is not!

Four Keys to a Healthy Weight

In conclusion, I will tell you the four keys to a healthy weight (drum roll please. . . . ):

1. Exercise regularly.
2. Eat more vegetables, fruits, lean protein and whole grains.
3. Eat less sugar and processed foods.
4. Adjust portion sizes so that your calorie intake is appropriate to your calorie burn.

There you have it. Four points, everything you need to know, free of charge. Thank you very much.

But I think you already knew those. So why do so many Americans struggle with their weight?

Perhaps the problem is spiritual. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. . .” (Romans 14:17). Perhaps we need to master the four spiritual keys to a healthy weight:

1. Recognize all food is provided by God.
2. Be content with the food God has provided.
3. Embrace hunger and self-denial.
4. Dedicate your body to God’s purposes, and care for it accordingly.

In an earlier blog post, I blamed my weight gain on a sedentary office job, teenaged boys at home, and getting older. I was not being honest. I gained weight because I violated the physical and spiritual keys described above. I do not know how long the journey to wholeness will take, but I am grateful to be on a better path.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.” (Philippians 3:12-13). Thank you for taking this little trip with me. Part of me was afraid to share with you, since I have only been meditating on these things for a couple weeks. I was afraid I would fail to live up to my own standards.

Of course, I will fail, continuously, and hope to rise again. The change I am seeking is not primarily physical. I have been medium-sized and uncoordinated my whole life. Will I be seized, like my beefcake brother, with the sudden urge to run a triathlon? Unlikely. Will I ever feel comfortable in a swimsuit? Also unlikely. Will you be seeing before and after pictures on this blog? Extremely unlikely!

But God willing, I will press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). I will learn to hear God’s voice, and when he calls me to refuse the donut, or the mantou, I will joyfully obey.

What If God Asks Me to Eat the Donut??

We have all heard stories about the missionary being given fish eyeballs, or some other local delicacy, and choking it down in order not to offend the natives.

James Herriot wrote one of my favorite tales of this genre. Herriot was an English countryside vet, with a “pathological loathing of fat.” During one visit, a farmwife proudly presented him with two large slices of cold, boiled bacon, “one hundred per cent fat without a strip of lean anywhere.” According to Herriot, “My position was desperate. I could not possibly offend this sweet old person but on the other hand I knew beyond all doubt that there was no way I could eat what lay in front of me.” (All Things Bright and Beautiful, Chapter 29).

In desperation, Herriot smothers the fatty slabs with pickle relish, chews and swallows – over and over. He ends with the statement, “Looking back, I realize it was one of the bravest things I have ever done.”

We live in an age of balkanized food choices. Some diets ban carbs, some ban refined sugars, and some require believers to eat an apple before every meal. Traditional wisdom tells us to limit fat, but the Keto Diet says we can “eat fat to lose fat,” (a concept which would surely disturb our friend James Herriot). Some families SuperSize their meals at McDonalds, while some spend their whole paychecks at Whole Foods. And dare I mention gluten-free, locally sourced, and vegan diets?

How do we choose among such eating extremes? The wise teacher of Ecclesiastes tells us “There is a time for everything,” and “The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7:18). The New Testament makes clear that no foods are categorically off-limits. God created all foods to be received with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:3-5). We should not let anyone judge us by what we eat or drink (Colossians 2:16), since God has given us freedom (Galatians 5:13).

Yet there is another principle at work here. Galatians 5:13 goes on to tell us, “But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” Even though God has declared all food to be clean, “it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.” (Romans 14:20-21)

So how do we make wise food choices? How can we tell what God has provided? A good starting point is to ask the question, what will best encourage those around us?

If your secretary is trying to lose weight, don’t eat chocolate chip cookies at her desk. But if your secretary has made chocolate chip cookies special for you, you should eat them with gusto (at least one!), even if you are trying to lose weight.

As another example, I enjoy eating brown rice. However, my husband and four boys hate brown rice. They can sniff it out even when I mix it 50/50 with white. Thus, for the sake of harmony in our family, I have made the choice to cook white rice at home. But when I eat out, especially with health-conscious friends, I choose the brown rice option.

The goal of healthy eating is a good one. But it should not take priority over the goal of serving each other. Jesus humbled himself to serve us, and it is (or should be) a hallmark of Christians that we serve others. (Matthew 20:25-28; Philippians 2:5-8). Just this morning, our pastor talked about how the early church experienced community. “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. . .” (Acts 2:46). Our pastor encouraged us to open our homes and eat together regularly. To accomplish this, we will have to be flexible in our food choices – both in what we serve, and in what we eat.

Going back to Brother Yun, we know that there is sinful about mantou (Chinese steamed bread). Yun was not on a gluten-free diet; in fact, he was starving! Yet, for the sake of the prisoners around him, God asked Yun to give up the mantou. And Yun turned food into something sacred.

More to come.

If God Asks Me to Refuse a Donut (Part Four): Glorifying God vs. Glorifying My Body

It is a modern paradox: at the same time Americans are getting fatter, we glorify stick-thin celebrities. I was looking at a catalog for my favorite women’s clothing store, and noticed that the women had no curves. Instead, the illusion of curves was created by ruffles and contrast trim. Even Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck have gotten a skinny makeover.

Extra padding used to be a sign of prosperity. You had more food, you ate more food. Now, it’s just the opposite. Wealthier Americans use their money and leisure time to hire personal trainers and shop organic.

I’m going to step out on a limb here and say that outward appearance is the number one reason we go on a diet. It was for me. I looked in the mirror, I looked at the size tags on my clothes, I joined WeightWatchers. Sure, some of the “Success Stories” point to a heart-to-heart with their doctor as the catalyst for change. But the primary focus of WeightWatchers, particularly for women, is looking good in clothes.

WeightWatchers instructs us to “Get rid of all the clothes that make you look or feel bad. Throw out anything that's too big — don't give yourself the option of ever fitting into those clothes again. Move the smaller clothes up to the front to help motivate you. Soon, you'll be fitting into those too-tight jeans you couldn't bear to part with.”

But for someone who is learning to trust God’s providence, learning to be content, learning to deny myself – am I really dieting just to enhance my shopping experience at the mall?

God told Samuel long ago, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7). The Apostle Peter instructed his women readers, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment. . . Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 3:3-4). To God, fat is not the problem – but spiritual flabbiness is!

Physical training is hard. My brother is training for a triathlon. Just thinking about triathlons makes me tired! I so admire my brother’s determination (and his muscles :)) But we forget that spiritual training also requires determination. The Apostle Paul says, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever . . . I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (I Corinthians 9:26-27).

Brother Yun gave up his food when he was starving in prison. This was an exercise in spiritual discipline. It had nothing to do with weight loss.

And yet, there is an intersect. The Christian faith does not require us to neglect or punish our bodies. Each one of us was individually crafted by God, fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14). To again quote from the Apostle Paul, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

How can I eat in a way that will honor God with my body? How can I eat in a way that promotes both physical, and spiritual growth? And – putting aside the world of photo-shopped celebrities -- at what weight am I most able to accomplish the works that God has prepared for me to do?

More to come.

If God Asks Me to Refuse a Donut (Part Three): Denying Myself vs. Tricking Myself

When we go on a diet, what are we most afraid of? Being hungry! No one wants to go around feeling hungry all the time. The holy grail of dieting is to eat fewer calories without feeling deprived – without letting your mind and stomach know that you are eating fewer calories.

WeightWatchers seems to agree that hunger is the enemy. Common slogans include “Don’t deprive yourself,” and “You don’t have to deny yourself all the time!” Of course, WeightWatchers has tons of tricks for masking hunger. For example:

• Drink lots of water. The volume will physically fill up your stomach.

• Don’t give up your favorite foods (because then you would feel deprived!) Swap non-fat and sugar-free foods for their higher-calorie versions.

• And one of my favorites: “Chop high-calorie foods like cheese and chocolate into smaller pieces. It will seem like you're getting more than you actually are.”

Are you taking notes? :) When I was on WeightWatchers, I bought into all of the tricks. I enjoyed drinking diet soda and chewing sugarless gum. The soda provided a “full” feeling, and the gum kept my mouth busy. Sometimes I would go through a pack of gum a day, especially when driving in traffic.

But even though my mouth was busy, and even though my stomach was “full,” I wouldn’t describe them as satisfied. It seemed like, rather than curbing hunger, I was training my mouth to crave artificial sweeteners. At any rate, I certainly wasn’t training them to be content.

The Bible views hunger in a radically different way from WeightWatchers. It calls the hungry “blessed”! “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6; Luke 6:21).

Jesus knew hunger. He fasted in the desert for 40 days, and the Bible tells us that he was hungry (Luke 4:2). The devil tempted him by challenging him to change a stone into bread. Jesus replied by quoting Scripture: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4).

Christians have nothing to fear from hunger. (Even famine cannot separate us from the love of Christ, Romans 8:35). Its pangs are messengers, reminding us to hunger and thirst for righteousness, and encouraging us to feed on the word of God. By embracing hunger, we share in some small way the sufferings of our brothers and sisters who are persecuted for the gospel.

Jesus does not sugar-coat his diet: we are called to deny ourselves. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24). The grace of God teaches us to say “no” to our worldly passions – we don’t have to trick them or appease them. (Titus 2:11-12).

Recently I went to a breakfast presentation. I did not know quite what to expect, but in the spirit of “God will provide,” I did not eat beforehand. As it turned out, breakfast consisted of a small table with fruit and pastry. The room was very crowded, and there was no polite way for me to make my way over to the breakfast table before the presentation. Let's just say the presentation itself did nothing to distract me from my stomach.

Praise God, I got to experience hunger! The feeling itself was not particularly pleasant, but it reminded me to meditate on the Word of God. Before, on WeightWatchers, such an experience would have left me anxious. Instead, I was able to experience a measure of peace. (I am a work in progress; I hope next time I will experience only peace!)

More to come.

If God Asks Me to Refuse a Donut (Part Two): Contentment vs. Scrounging

So I’m in the office. It’s about 10:15, 10:30 a.m. Breakfast was three or four hours ago, lunch is still two hours away. The phone is ringing, my email is pinging. And my stomach is growling.

I walk nonchalantly past the office library. But today, there is no candy in the candy jar. I head over to the office kitchen. But today, the vendors have neglected us. No donuts, no cookies, nada. Feeling desperate, I dig into the emergency stores: instant soup packets and saltines.

But my stomach is not satisfied. I want more!

Later that evening, the family is finishing up dinner. I’m thinking about something sweet to top it off, just a little dessert. I check the freezer, but the ice cream is AWOL. (With four teenaged boys, why am I surprised?) I check the freezer door, but there are no hidden candy bars. For the second time that day, I start digging in cabinets. My day is not complete without dessert!! What can I eat?? A cup of Lucky Charms? A spoonful of Nutella?

Until recently, I never stopped to evaluate this behavior. Here I am, a child of the Eternal God. He has promised to provide for all my needs. Why am I scrounging for scraps, junk food that will not satisfy body or soul?

Of course, WeightWatchers has an answer for this problem. Plan ahead, take control of your food choices! You can bring healthy snacks to work. You can stock your freezer with WeightWatchers treats. And there certainly is a place for planning.

But . . . there is also a simpler and sweeter alternative. It came to me when I was meditating on the trials of Chinese Christian Pastor Brother Yun. The opposite of scrounging is contentment.

The Apostle Paul says, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry. . . I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:12-13). The writer of Hebrews tells us to “be content with what you have,” because we know that God will never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

If God has not provided an ice cream sandwich, I don’t have to scrounge. I can just be content.

One time our church hosted a guest pastor from Sri Lanka. In his village, people sometimes struggled to obtain daily food. Someone asked what do families do, when there is no dinner? The pastor replied, “We fast.” They reframed hunger into fasting, an act of worship. Now that is extreme contentment.

More to come.

If God Asks Me to Refuse a Donut (Part One): Trust vs. Control

The WeightWatchers Plan is intended to encourage healthy food choices. You check the points value of a particular food, you check how many points you have available, and then you choose whether or not to eat it. To be successful, you must control every bite that enters your mouth. If you have a party or special event, or if you are going to a restaurant, you plan out in advance what you will eat. If suitable food choices are not available, you bring your own food with you.

WeightWatchers publicizes many “success stories” where members describe how the Plan has helped them. A key success factor appears to be planning and control. Successful members don’t let friends or family tempt them with goodies outside their points values. Nonetheless, if that donut is really important to them, they plan ahead, save up their points, and exercise their choice to eat it. To stay on track, some members track their food before they eat it, following the Plan like a script.

Dare we return to Brother Yun, starving, in prison? God forbid I trivialize Brother Yun’s experience. At the same time, the contrast between the WeightWatchers Plan and the Pastor’s Prison Plan is instructive. The Pastor’s Prison Plan strips away any illusion of choice. You eat what you are given, because the only alternative is starvation. And then, under these extreme circumstances, God takes away what little control you might think you have. God asks you to refuse the mantou.

If you have been trained under the WeightWatchers Plan, how will you respond to God’s request under the Pastor’s Prison Plan?

I think the starting point is to recognize, in all circumstances, God is the one in control. We may think we are in control, or we may think the prison guards are in control. But they are not. Scripture tells us,

“The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.
You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:15-16).

And again, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26).

I think we need to recognize that God is the provider of all things, including food. What we eat or drink -- or whether we eat or drink -- is ultimately God’s choice, not ours. Thankfully, God is good, and he works in all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

So here is the question that has been rattling around in my head. What if, instead of trying to pre-plan and micromanage our diet, we simply trusted in God’s provision? What if we simply asked the Father, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11), and then accepted it from his hand?

What if we looked that donut in the eye and prayed, God, is this your provision for me today?

More to come.

A Brief History of Food and Me

A Brief History of Food and Me

I was born in the early 1970s, to a middle-class Southern family. We grew up eating middle-class Southern food.

For breakfast, we had Raisin Bran or Grits. Sometimes we had Burnt Biscuits and Bacon (my father’s specialty).

For lunch, we had PBJ or Cheese Sandwiches, on Wheat Bread. With Fritos.

For snack, we had Apples-N-Peanut Butter.

For dinner, we had Chicken Casserole, or Hamburgers, or Soup.

This was before the days of organic foods, whole foods, or gluten-free foods. We thought we were pretty healthy. We had frozen green beans with our hamburgers. My dad experimented with carob chips.

Raised on this middle-class diet, I grew up to be medium-sized. Not skinny, not fat, just medium. I was also bookish and uncoordinated. Nervous energy substituted for athletic ability. Like all teenaged girls, I would occasionally try to lose weight. Such attempts produced no noticeable effect.

Nonetheless, while I was growing up, the issue of weight was frequently on my mind. For many years my mother struggled with being overweight. Back in the 1980s, this problem was less prevalent than it is today. My mother’s weight caused tension and embarrassment in my family, much more than it should have. (As a postscript, my mother has grown into a svelte and glamorous older woman).

Three times, I became fat for the beautiful cause of pregnancy and childbirth. Otherwise, my medium-sized life continued into my early 30s.

At some point in my mid-30s, I noticed the scale was pushing the heavy side of medium. The contributing factors were obvious. My job was sedentary and occasionally stressful. Donuts and other sugary treats loitered in the office kitchen. At home, I was cooking for the palate of four growing boys. And to add insult to injury – I was (am) getting older. The metabolism just isn’t what it used to be.

I was becoming uncomfortable in my own skin. My clothes weren’t fitting as well, and finding new clothes was not as fun. So I decided to join WeightWatchers.

WeightWatcher members must log everything they eat, while trying to stay under a certain number of “points.” This highly-controlled approach to weight loss, although tedious, appeared to work well. I lost about 10 pounds, I felt much better, and I stopped participating in WeightWatchers.

Several years later, the 10 pounds were back. My husband, who has no interest in weight loss, tells me this is typical for WeightWatcher members. He even provided a blog cite as proof.

I made some half-hearted attempts to climb back on the WeightWatcher wagon. But my heart was not in it. I kept feeling like I was missing something. Maybe you have felt something similar. Were the only alternatives really a lifetime of fat, versus a lifetime of counting points?

That was when, 2 weeks ago, I read the Heavenly Man (see prior blog post). Brother Yun’s testimony caused me to reconsider how I was viewing food. Like the prisoners, had food become my “god”? More to come.

Thoughts on Weight Loss and the Heavenly Man

The Heavenly Man is a biography of “Brother Yun,” a Chinese house church pastor. For the sake of the gospel, Yun suffered terrible persecution, including torture and several prison terms. At times the book is gruesome to read, and yet it is a wonderful, life-changing story.

I would like to share two excerpts from the Heavenly Man, which I believe are relevant to the struggle of many Americans to lose weight.

In 1984, during his first imprisonment, God called Yun to fast and pray for the advance of the gospel in China. In his words, “Immediately the sense of hunger attacked me. More and more temptation came. I was so hungry I could hardly stand it.”

That night, the prisoners were allowed a special meal for the upcoming Lunar New Year: pork soup, a stick of celery, and one mantou (steamed bread roll). “To the starving prisoners this was truly a lavish feast. The smell of the food floated down the hallways before we saw it. When it arrived the prisoners gobbled it up like ravenous wolves and literally licked their bowls clean.”

Yun describes how the devil tempted him to eat, rationalizing that Yun’s body was battered and starving. However, Yun remembered the command of Scripture to submit to God and resist the devil (James 5:7). Yun gave his food back to the warden and asked him to share his portion with the other men in the cell.

According to Yun, “Food was the god of the criminals in that prison.” Because he had given up his portion of food, the prisoners began to think well of him and ask him why he was so different. This gave Yun the opportunity to share Jesus with the other prisoners. (Heavenly Man pp. 97-98)

Another time, while Yun was still in prison, the director placed a psychotic murderer named Huang in Yun’s cell. Huang was continually trying to kill himself and harm others. Yun called his cell-mates to treat Huang with kindness, washing his wounds and sharing their food. They had to spoon-feed Huang because his hands were manacled behind his back.

At dinner the prisoners were scheduled to receive their one weekly mantou. According to Yun, “When I took the first bite of my mantou I felt like crying. A tender voice welled up inside me, saying, ‘I died for you on the cross. How can you show me that you love me? When I am hungry, thirsty, and in prison, if you do these things to the least of my brethren, you do them unto me.’”

Yun felt that God was calling him to give the rest of his mantou to Huang. Yun cried out in hunger, and was rewarded with a reminder from Scripture: Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35). The next morning, when Yun gave his leftover mantou to Huang, “Huang’s stony heart broke.” Huang trusted Jesus and was released from his burden of sin. (Heavenly Man pp. 144-145).

When I read these two passages, I asked myself: Would I have given up the Lunar New Year "feast"? Would I have given up the rest of the mantou? To be honest, I had to confess that this was beyond my ability. It is difficult for me to turn down food, even when I am full!

These thoughts led to others, until I began to question whether we, as Americans, are approaching weight loss from the wrong perspective. I hope to share some of these thoughts in my next post.