Sanctuary: Steel Magnolias

Whether you saw the 1989 version of Steel Magnolias movie starring Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Darryl Hannah, Sally Field, Julia Roberts or the 2012 contemporary remake starring Adepero Oduye, Queen Latifah, Alfre Woodard, Jill Scott,  Condola and mom Phylicia Rashad, this beloved classic film is the subject of this post! I hope you enjoy!




I just rewatched the 2012 version of this movie on Lifetime in December. Sorry, I have no time for  a full summary. I will skip to the end. At the end of the movie, M'Lynn (Queen Latifah) and the gang were gathered at Truvy's Beauty Parlor in a small parish in modern-day Louisiana after attending her daughter Shelby's funeral. 





M'Lynn breaks down in hysterics in front of Ouiser, Clairee, Truvy, and Annelle stating that she was supposed to "go first", for which she was always ready. She also wonders if Jack Jr. will ever know just how wonderful his mother was, and she also wonders if he'll ever know what she went through just to bring him into the world, and that she wants to hit someone until they feel just as bad as she does, but soon, the other women (mostly Clairee) give support to M'Lynn through both humor and love. M'Lynn then apologized for her stray from southern lady likeness and Clairee (I think) says,  " DON'T EVER BE SORRY FOR ANYTHING IN HERE..."




In HERE, where? Truvy's Salon. THE SALON to me is a type of SANCTUARY for the women in this movie. What Clairee was saying was that the salon was a place where they could be themselves, cry, laugh, not put on any airs, not apologize for breaking down after one's daughter died. A Sanctuary is a place of safety. The ladies could just BE without adverse consequences from each other. The salon is designed for women only, it serves as a type of barrier from the men in their lives. They can take risks in their conversations with each other. 

 I used to go to the salon, before my natural hairdo :) Saturday morning meant getting your hair done! But it means more than that to so many women. You were going to see your group of people who you saw every week (two weeks, monthly, etc.) Saturday morning was meeting gathering.   There were many times I would stay well past the time I was done. I would sit back, relax, and enjoy the fellowship because it was just a time of security, friendship, and love. We would just have wonderful conversation. Joking, laughing, crying, and listening were all part of the agenda. 

This portion of the movie and my story remind me of Hebrews 10. The New International Version of the Bible titled the section containing verses 19-25: A Call to Persevere. The apostle is telling the believers to continue to hold on the the confession of Christ Jesus. He gives three ways of how to do this: 
1) by considering one another to provoke to love and to good work,  (I know I am out of order) 
3) to exhort one another, ourselves and each other to warn ourselves and one another of sin and backsliding and... 

2) by NOT forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. Interestingly enough in verse 25, the saints are told to continue to gather together and then to do so even more.  The communion of the church is a way to mutually strengthen ourselves. 

Just like the women in Truvy's Hair Salon, we are a community in church protected in a special haven. So whether we feel like going to church or not, we really should go.  

Just like being at the salon, Sunday morning church service is a gathering time.  I love going to church! I cannot wait to see everyone because it is time for our weekly Celebration of God! We pray together, praise together, hear the Word together.

Our motivation for going to church should not be so the pastor can notice you or for you to walk down the aisle stylin' and profiling your new outfit! No, we the saints of God must understand that this special forum, the assembling of ourselves, is one way of helping us persevere. 

Have you ever noticed that those who fall away from the church start to do so by missing a Sunday? Then that becomes a few Sundays. Their low attendance is a dangerous practice because it usually means folks' faith is wobbly and unstable and leads to a decrease in the faith, not just leaving the church.

LESSON LEARNED

Remember how important it is to congregate and worship together to edify each other.  It doesn't matter if you meet on Saturday or Sunday or whenever, just get there! It helps us to stay connected to our faith, it reminds us of our duties and enables us to watch over each other in love. 

Love, Peace, and Hair Grease! KIM 

Love Jones: A Time for Everything

BET aired a throwback love story a couple of weeks ago on December 14; Love Jones starring Larenz Tate and Nia Long. This movie came out in 1997 and is a member of BETs Top 25 Black Love Movies. However,  for my post today, the race of these character do no matter to the takeaway I had from this particular viewing.

Quick Synopsis:

Darius and Nina meet in a blues club in Chicago and the movie deals with their inability to decide what to do about their attraction. Nina is fresh out of a relationship and is trying to get a job in photography. Darius is a writer and is trying to finish a book. In the mist of trying to reach these personal achievements, they dance in and out of a relationship that just doesn't work out. Bad timing. Long story short Nina gets her job in NY and Darius publishes his book in Chicago. Nina returns to Chicago and realizes that she wants to be with him. Here the dialogue from the end of the movie:

Darius: "I enjoyed your poem up there... look, there have been a lot of mistakes and we both made them and I apologize for my part in that, but all that nonsense I don't give a damn about that anymore. . . I want us to be together again for as long as we can." Nina: "As usual your timing couldn't be worse. You always want what you want when you want it, why is everything so urgent with you?" Darius: "Let me tell you something. This here, right now, at this very moment is all that matters to me. I love you, and that's urgent as hell." Nina: "How do we do this?" Darius: "I don't know."Nina: "I live in NY." Darius: "I don't care."

My Reality:

Movie critic Ebert loved the fact that this movie didn't have a perfect ending. Yes, they loved each other and NO we have no idea how it worked out. I can completely relate to trying love at the wrong time. My husband and I tried to date three different times before the last time leading to our engagement. I wanted him then it was the wrong time for him because he was in school. He wanted me but it was the wrong time for me because I was thinking I wanted someone else. We both wanted each other and it was horrible timing for both of us for so many many reasons. But there was finally a time when we realized that this was the right thing, at the right time.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever known you are supposed to be with someone, or have something, or be somewhere but it just will not happen? You cannot shake the fact that you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that is supposed to be, but it is not the right time.

The Word:
This part of the movie brought to my remembrance of a very familiar passage of scripture. Thank God for Ecclesiastes 3:1. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. The following verses go on to list all of the events we encounter in life. Everyone is going to experience love, harvest, death, and laughter. We in Christ have to know that our time and our seasons are in God's hands and there is an appropriate time for every activity.

And This Means What?

Don't give up, maybe it's just not the right time. Pray God's will be done, trust that His timing for this earth is perfect, and surrender your will. Just know that everything will work out for your good! This is saying that God arranges even the smallest details of our surroundings.

Love Peace and Hairgrease! KIM

Coyote and Road Runner: No Weapon

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I say, "That's ALL Folks!"as a farewell to 2013 and a welcome to my 2014 post on a classic Looney Tunes episode.

Monday, I saw one of my favorite episodes with the famous Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, titled Fast and Furry-ous, that originally aired on September 17, 1949. We all know the ongoing plot of these two characters: The coyote watches the roadrunner running through the desert with his binoculars, licking his lips with a napkin around his neck as he dreams about catching that road runner for dinner. He paces back and forth thinking of what he could do to to catch him and he devises some incredibly ingenious ideas to do so. But, no matter what crazy scheme that coyote would design up to try to catch the road runner, it wouldn't work.  Wile E Coyote would work so hard to carry out his well thought out plans, but they were never successful. 

What tickled me as a child yet peaked by curiosity as an adult was the fact that there were unimaginable things that the road runner could do to escape the coyote. However, if Wile tried to do the same thing, it would not work. For example, in this episode the coyote painted a tunnel on the wall of a rock, intending for the road runner to run and smash himself into the rock. Instead, the road runner ran down this illustrated tunnel road. When Coyote tried to chase after him, HE ran and smashed himself into the rock. He was even run over by the roadrunner on his return trip out of this tunnel and out of the rock. Go figure!

Fortunately, I have an artist for a son (Hi Malcolm!) and found out that the creator of these animated creatures wrote a book entitled The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist.  (Jones, Chuck. Chuck Amuck: The life and times of an animated cartoonist. Macmillan, 1999.) Interestingly enough, he exposed that there were unwritten "rules" that were in place for the storylines of all of the Coyote and Road Runner Cartoons. Some of the rules were:

1. The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going "beep, beep."
2. No outside force can harm the Coyote. 

There are many others, however, there is one rule that I will focus on for my post today: The Coyote is not allowed to catch or eat the Road Runner, unless he (the road runner) escapes from the grasp. Are you thinking what I am thinking????!!!!


Let's talk about ourselves shall we?! We ARE road runners, running on our own roads of life. Let's refer to those ROADS as PATHS. THE BIBLE speaks about the path of righteousness the path of life, the narrow path, the path of prudence, the broad path, the upright path, and the straight path. We may be busy running our path, and on top of that, there is a coyote called the devil out there watching us, waiting, plotting, thinking, designing: trying to steal kill and destroy us. But thanks be to God that, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper." Isaiah 54:17a.  Isaiah 54 has an important message from this prophet: Isaiah speaks to the Gentiles regarding God's covenant and promises of His protection and righteousness. Isaiah shares God's declarations and professes their safety, their deliverance, and their preservation.  Different Bible translations use the term prosper (to become very successful ) or succeed (to do what you are trying to do : to achieve the correct or desired result) or prevail (to defeat an opponent especially in a long or difficult contest.) Nonetheless, I love the International Standard Version, "No weapon that is forged against you will be effective." Effective is defined as:  producing a result that is wanted : having an intended effect. Basically, God will protect, deliver, and/or deliver us from the successful effect of a weapon. 



AND THIS MEANS WHAT?
That darned Wile E. Coyote tried to make a weapon effective in catching or killing the roadrunner. He would make traps that would end up not operating correctly. He would draw blueprint plans that did not represent what the final product was. In spite of all of that EFFORT, none of the plans had the desired effect he wanted. Wile E. Coyote had an unlimited supply of ACME products and boulders in the desert,  he set up every trap, spring, or tried to find every hiding place. His weapons did NOT WORK. The devil does the same thing. He watches us, he designs traps for us, he sets up weapons to destroy us, but none of it will NOT work. Satan has to follow the rules, just like the unwritten rules of the cartoon.  The Coyote is not allowed to catch or eat the Road Runner, unless he escapes from the grasp. 

LESSON LEARNED:

Whatever weapon is raised against you will not work. GOD can remove the weapon right out of the devil's hand. GOD can have the weapon destroy itself. GOD can even allow the weapon to strike, but to no avail. Or GOD could even have the weapon bring about some greater good that eliminates the pain from the blow. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

That devil can try every crazy trick, but we are able to do all things through Christ who strengthens us! We, with God, can break the rules, run through rocks, and confound the enemy as to how we are still alive! 




So I leave you with a LOUD BEEP BEEP! (That means Hallelujah and Thank you Jesus that no weapon will prosper Think of that every time you hear the road runner.)

Love, Peace, and Hair Grease! KIM