Skip to main content

a little obsession

so, i have a little obsession. several months ago, i bought the movie guys and dolls from barnes and noble. i hadn't ever seen it, but i figured i'd like it because i love musicals, old movies and it starred frank sinatra and marlon brando. i was right. i liked it from the beginning. and i've watched it on and off since then, but lately, i just want to watch it all the time. and listen to the soundtrack. and sing the songs. and share it with people.
besides just being a good story, there are some great songs and some really good lines in the movie, such as:

Sarah: You want to take me to dinner in Havana, Cuba?
Sky: Well, they eat in Cuba the same as we do.

Sarah: That bacardi flavor, it certainly makes a difference, doesn't it?
Sky: Oh, yeah. Nine times out of ten.
Sarah: You know, this would be a wonderful way to get children to drink milk!

Brannigan: What brings all these senior delinquents together?
Nathan: They got lonely. How am I supposed to know?
Brannigan: Why are they all wearing red carnations?
Nathan: They are also all wearing pants.

anyway, there's a random connection i want to make. a big part of the plot of this movie is that miss sarah brown runs a mission and they're looking for sinners. the gamblers are obviously the sinners the movie revolves around, namely sky masterson and nathan detroit. anyway, at one point in the movie, sky tells sarah he needs a more personal help to stop gambling. later on in the movie, sarah says something about how she's going to help him in whatever way is needed, "day and night, night and day." even though he didn't really want the help at first (he's just trying to win a bet) and she's totally drunk when she says it, hear me out.
last night at church, ellis talked about the parable of the lost sheep. shepherds give of themselves when they take care of the sheep. when the one gets lost, the shepherd goes and gets it and carries it back. sheep are heavy. it was not an easy task. and sometimes it's that way in our lives. relationships with others are not easy. they take work. sometimes we need to carry our friends or the people we're discipling, just as the shepherd did with the sheep, because they really need us or they're really hurt and they can't make it on their own. often, though, we stop with just being friends or getting someone to simply say they believe. we don't keep on with them, because it's hard. and sometimes it hurts us, too, because we're in the mess with the other person. so we stop.
in the movie, the way the mission tries to attract sinners is by holding prayer meetings and getting the 'sinners' to confess their sins (which is we stop a lot of the time). but sarah says that she's going to do whatever it takes to help sky, because he needs it. don't we all need it? and shouldn't we all be doing it? helping each other, no matter what it takes. carrying our friends. being there "day and night, night and day."
won't that hurt? won't it be hard? won't we get tired? of course. and we may not always want to do it, but it's what we're supposed to be doing. carrying each other. living in true relationship with each other.
day and night, night and day.

it made me think. because i know i'm not doing this the way i should be.


and on a totally different note, but kind of related, here's a fun story for you.
last night, lauren and i were in fell's point. i had just told her how much i'm loving this movie right now. as we were walking a few minutes later, some guy bumped into me and he said, "oh, sorry, doll."
it took me a minute to register what he had really said. and then i laughed. i didn't know people still talked that way.

Comments

Lauren said…
haha those really are some of the best lines in the movie.

I like the connection you made.
I agree. It's SUPER hard.

That was pretty hilarious when that guy called you "doll." Thanks for helping me relive that moment. It gave me a giggle.

-Lauren

Popular posts from this blog

His Straight, Not Mine

Whenever I have a huge decision to make, I stress. My default mode is "what if I'm wrong??" This has been true for the last 10+ years of my life. College, mission trips during college, where to teach after college, quitting teaching, moving to Baltimore, leaving Baltimore, beginning seminary. All decisions fraught with questions, doubts, fears. And I'm there again. Graduated from seminary, looking for the next step. Wondering. Doubting. Questioning. Hoping. Dreaming. Fearing.  Every big decision is the same. You'd think I'd have learned by now just to decide or jump or trust or whatever. But no. The reason for this struggle is that I so badly long to do what I am meant to do. I long to follow God where He is leading, to fulfill the purpose He has planned for me from the beginning. But I'm only human. And so how on earth do I know what God has planned for me? And how on earth can I possibly do that without screwing it up completely?  I look at vers...

34.

One of the things I love most about my birthday is that it falls so close to the beginning of the year. A new calendar year and new life year start together.  I also love that I share a birthday with Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.  You know, the important things.  I've thought a lot about this year and what it would be like. Not because I've now officially hit my mid-30's (oh my goodness, really??) but what will 2019 and 34 hold? The last two years have been the hardest I've faced. Everything felt like it was breaking to pieces, and I was never fast enough to gather them all up before they landed, or good enough to keep everything together. These pieces were significant chunks of my identity. Things (and people!) I had placed a lot of value in, that I thought defined me, were gone. Slowly, suddenly, systematically, chaotically. It felt very much like I was being stripped away, and that there wasn't much else there.  At the same time, the world also se...

my feet

are killing me. because i decided to wear heels on a field trip to atlanta because i didn't want to be too casual at the state capitol. haha :) we had fun, no matter whether our feet got tired or not. i love those kind of experiences because they're different and unique and fun. we were worn out when we got home, but it was a good day. we started at the cnn center. i'd never done that tour before, but it was interesting. i still have trouble thinking that all that news is done right in atlanta...it's kind of amazing. i always see those anchors on the news and it seems as though they are in some far away place, but no. they're here in atlanta. i learned that the floor of the food court is also a map of the world. the tiles are laid out in the shape of continents. a plus of going to the cnn center for a field trip? starbucks in the middle of the school day :) after the cnn center, we headed to the state capitol. it's been awhile since i'd been there, but it wa...