People often ask me where I get the ideas for my blog, and I always give the same answer ... "I have no clue." What I do know is that, so far anyway, the ideas keep jumping into my brain all the time. All the time. While I'm eating or walking or showering or working or reading or talking or listening or biking or cleaning or sleeping or doing a multitude of other things ... the ideas never stop coming. And though most of the time, I write about the ideas as they present themselves, every now and again an idea comes along that I need to mull over and contemplate for a while before I actually type words into my computer. That's the case with tonight's post ... I've had it churning around in my brain for several weeks, and tonight I'm ready to write it. But before I get to my subject matter, I'd like to say something first. It's interesting to me and sad at the same time that my posts with titles that people assume are going to be about something controversial or something revealing are the ones that garner thousands of hits. I'm not sure what that says about people, but I am sure that tonight's title caused some of your minds to head in a certain direction concerning what I might say and therefore caused more of you to read. And that's a good thing, because tonight's post is one, as I said, that I've been mulling over for quite some time, one that I believe will cause you to stop and think for a bit. So ... here ... we ... go ...
I'm sure many of you probably hated the movie Pretty Woman starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. And I know the reason why, too ... because one of the main characters is a prostitute, and the other main character pays her to spend a week with him. Some of you would argue that the film paints a glamorous picture of prostitution and has too much sexual content. And for those of you who do feel that way about the movie, this is one of those times when we will have to agree to disagree. Pretty Woman is without a doubt one of my favorite flicks of all time, and it always will be. From the opening scenes that so vividly pull you into the two very different lives of the main characters to the final words that are sung ... "Welcome to Hollywood," the movie is ripe with lesson after lesson about the human condition, about breaking down societal barriers, about how powerful love truly can be.
To those of you who think the film promotes or condones prostitution, I would argue that it does quite the opposite. I would argue that the movie poignantly tells the story of redemption ... the story of a woman who dreams of being more, doing more, living more ... and the story of a man who dreams of being truly loved, of being valued for who he is rather than how much money he makes, of building rather than tearing down. It's a story about despair being transformed into hope. It's a story about believing in oneself. It's a story about embracing change. It's a story about love conquering all obstacles. It's a story about extending forgiveness. It's a story about understanding acceptance. It's a story about showing respect. It's a story about demonstrating honor. It's a story about never giving up hope. It's a story about pursuing dreams that seem unattainable. It's a story about realizing that beauty lies within the heart. It's a story about integrity ... about character ... about redemption. It's a story that reminds me of another story ...
"But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.' And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, 'I will, sir'; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? They said, 'The first.' Jesus said to them, 'Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.'" Matthew 21:28-31
No comments:
Post a Comment