So What Does It Mean to be Human

That was the question I wondered after watching "Moon" with Sam Rockwell. I don't want to give too much away from this 2009 film in case you haven't seen it, but...Sam Bell is an astronaut (or is he?) who has left family behind for a 3 year contract on the Moon mining a substance that has freed those of us on Earth from dependence on fossil fuels.

What a great guy. What a great company. Except is he? Are they?

Sam remembers his life on Earth. His wife. His daughter. He even remembers his life on the Moon. And he is confused when ... well, "he" appears a bit younger and healthier in the same space --- and actually rescues him from an accident.

It's a lovely spooky film that raises questions only fiction can -- if we try to think about them rationally, we quickly lose our way. That is why, I believe, only story tells the "whole" truth -- it asks the questions we want to ask, struggles with the questions we want to ask, and dares to leave us unanswered.

Is that not the essence of faith? To go where reason ceases to make sense and to venture into the realm of ... the myterious? The spirit? The soul?

And, as a Friend who believes "there is that of God in everyone" it raised anew the question of who is "everyone"? Everyone like me? White? Privileged? Human? Animal? Clone? "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" (Psalm 139:7).

It is, I think, a frightful, wonderful question. A question we all should struggle with. Especially when we feel confident that God's presence is with us. Is it not equally with others? Recognized by us or not?

Well, I probably waxing too philosophical about a mere movie -- wonderful piece of entertainment or not. But, because I think it was a wonderful piece of entertainment, it also challenged me -- which is what good art does.

"Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?"

Indeed!

-- Brent