Imago Gospels - Sacred Sheep
So, I might have been the only one in the theater today at a showing of Shaun the Sheep who had a few tears in my eyes - not from laughing but from emotions from an underlying message throughout the movie. The underlying message is of how the farmer once doted on, loved on, and was present with the sheep who were basically his kids as he is unmarried. Eventually though, it all falls into the everyday routines of the same old same old same old for everyone - for the farmer, Bitzer the dog, and the sheep. Without spoiling the rest of the movie, there is a message about this that runs throughout the movie and probably falls as the “moral” of the film.
As I head back to reality tomorrow as my sabbatical ends, this movie was a great way to spend some time with my dear wife and children. Not only do we all love Shaun the Sheep (and we all LOVED the movie - go see it - its brilliant!) but I really was touched by what I experienced in the film that also ties in with the lesson of the spider yesterday that I wrote about. While our experiences this summer were incredible and we all were changed by what we shared, the everyday is where we will find the sacred. The sacred in soccer practices, in homework, in meals around the dinner table, in claymation movies about sheep, in cuddle time on the couch, in chores that we all share, in worship times, in reading time, in crazy games in the backyard, in fellowship times with church and community members, in meetings, in daily workouts on the elliptical, in doctor appointments, in figuring out who has to pick up who when, and the list goes on.
God really spoke to me in the last 48 hours - everyday sacredness. Its there. Just watch. Listen. Experience.