Sharing 'Doubt'

Yesterday I finally got around to seeing the movie 'Doubt' (it's at the cheap theater now - this is good). I was drawn to this film for obvious reasons - it's about a church, is critically acclaimed, and features fantastic actors: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, & Amy Adams.

I recommend it. If you are at all interested in religion or stories that deal with moral ambiguity, then it will give you a lot to think about.

In the film there are several short clips of sermons given by Father Flynn (Hoffman). In the first, he talks about the way that hardship and shared experiences of fear and doubt bring people together. At the time of the film, the people had recently experienced the death of JFK, and he cites that as an example of the way that being unsettled together can form bonds that are hard to break.

Then, throughout the film, you watch doubt and fear tear a church community apart.

This begs the question: do our doubt and fear bring us together? or do they drive us apart?

I think it's both - either one - depending on how we use these things.

When we share our suffering, listen deeply to each other, and create safe space where we can share our feelings honestly, even about unsettling things like doubt and fear - then these troubling things can bring us together and make us stronger.

Instead, too often, we take our doubt and fear and hide them. We pretend to be sure of ourselves and certain of all kinds of things that we cannot ever truly know. And it can drive us apart.

My hope for the church - for Trinity and the church at large - is that it will be a place where we can share our doubt and fear with each other. I hope that we will ask each other how we're doing and take the time to listen, even when the answer is disturbing. And I challenge myself to be more open with my own doubts and fears.

Before I go, a disclaimer: I'm hesitant to recommend movies that criticize the church w/o acknowledging what a wonderful, world-changing place it can be. & I'm hesitant to recommend movies that criticize the Catholic church among Lutherans who can be a little too critical of Catholics in the first place So take the film with a grain of salt...

Enjoy the show! And let me know what your reactions are - I'd love to chat about it.

posted by Marsha.