Eat Pray Love -- Sounds Good! But ...

Eat Pray Love -- Sounds like my life plan. I do eat too much, as food is one of my favorite things! And "pray"? Well, I am in the preacher business -- prayer comes up frequently, and I do much of it. Love? I Corinthians states that "Faith, Hope, and Love abide, but the greatest of these is Love." And Jesus himself is connected more times to love than faith or hope in the four Gospels. (Love -- 58 times, Faith -- 33, and Hope only 3!) So, Love is definitely a key word, goal, and blessing for Christians.

But ... This movie that is out right now with Julia Roberts called "Eat Pray Love" leaves much to be desired in my view. The eating is Italian, which has disappointed me in my few journeys to that country recently. The love is probably the strongest part of the movie, but depends on the pray and that is where I find the greatest weakness. OK, maybe I am prejudiced because the pray is in a Hindu context. I do not understand the new Hollywood fascination with Hinduism (after previous brushes with Buddhism, Kabbalah, Scientology, ...). Why is it that so few take Christianity seriously? Most seem to react to childhood experience or a caricature or I guess what gets covered in the media as "Christianity": big, noisy, conservative, and restrictive. Why don't stars go to a regular Sunday morning service at a regular parish -- try my classmate (Pr. Tony Auer) in Pasadena.

Beyond my parochialism, why not try real Christianity? I found the religious message "Pray" shallow. The main message seemed to be -- worship until you can forgive yourself. First of all that message comes across so selfish in this film. Secondly, I couldn't help but think of the monk Martin Luther prior to the Reformation -- sincere, dedicated, cleaning the floor, but finding no release. I think Luther was right -- the answer cannot come from ourselves and our efforts; it must come from outside of us, from God, when we hear "for you" -- the cross, forgiveness, Holy Communion, new life.

But hey, I liked Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile; maybe that is because my daughter is in that film!