Ark Builders

So it has been a blessed day. We found a place that will rent us movies. Justino brought home movie, popcorn, and a small bag of M&M's and a coke. If you eat a small handful popcorn while you still have chewed up M&M's in your mouth it is the most exquisite taste in the world, that followed by a swig of coke... Well there just isn't a more perfect snack trio. Justino some how knew I have this funny food fetish while watching movies and I couldn't believe that he even knew, let alone remembered or thought of providing me with my favorite movie treat. He just laughed and said, We have been seeing movies together for a while now. The best part was that they aren't pirated copies, like most DVD's here, so we could watch it in English.

We rented Evan Almighty and Oceans 13. We watched Evan Almighty, and all be it cheesy religious humor, We both loved it because we feel like God is asking us to something just as impossible as build an ark with no modern tools, while barefoot and with the help of many exotic animals, here in Martinez de la Torre. I saw it in the states when I visited in June, and at that time thought, hmmm, cute show, nice message. Today it struck such a different chord as we are one month away from being a whole year into this mess.

The leading man, Evan, US Senator, visited by god and told to build an ark because there is a flood coming. Suddenly he can't shave his beard, it won't come off. His hair is growing several inches a day, and God has replaced his suits with flowing robes that he has no other choice but to wear. We feel like God is asking us to things just as ridiculous as stand up in the United States Senate and announce that in the middle of a drought there is a flood coming and that we need to build an ark, with a long beard and a gauzy set of robes. We have unusual absurdities in our life , just like strange animals in pairs following us on to capitol hill. In several places in the movie he looks to the heavens with the attitude I have which is, " Are you kidding me God?" At one point near the end when there is blistering sun and the city has sent a wrecking ball to demolish his ark he rolls his eyes and says, " A little precipitation, is that too much to ask?" His tone echoes my sentiments exactly.

There was also the nice morale about family unity. The wife, thinking her husband has totally lost it, leaves him. Then she comes back and says, " We got into this as a family, we will get out of this as a family. Side by side"

Of course in the end, it is a miracle and Evan is a hero and saves the day on capitol hill, and everybody is happy. Then he chats one last time with God, and Evan says, " you knew all along" and God says something about doing everything he does because he loved him, and Evan says,
"But I fought you the whole time" and God says, " Yes, but you did it" So it ends, and I look at Justino and say, what part are we at, are we still building or are we just standing on the ark waiting for the flood. Who could know. God is the only one, but we are still here, side by side, working on some part of our own ark, and hoping it floats when God finally decides to send the flood. It seems sunny but we are hoping for rain real soon.