Today the movie that everyone has been talking about opens in theaters.
The one based on the book everyone's been talking about.
Ya, The Da Vinci Code.
There has been a lot written about the book and the new movie. Frankly, more than anyone should attempt to read. And there's been a lot of debate and controversy. A lot.
I don't really want talk about all of that here. Many others have done a lot more research and are able present the facts in a much better way than I can.
What interests me is how such a conspiracy story became so popular. Grabbed the public's attention in just the right way. Made us more and more interested in things like Mary Magdalene, the Holy Grail, and Opus Dei.
While there are probably a lot of reasons, I suspect some of it has to do with boredom. What I mean by this is that many times life just seems too routine. As far as we can tell nothing special or exciting ever seems to happen and there is little magic left.
Whatever wonder we once held when looking at the world has regretfully faded away with the passing years of childhood.
What's left? Just life. And it seems far too plain.
It's why, I think, stories of adventure and fantasy really grasp our attention. Wizards and hobbits and space adventurers--despite their seemingly impossible actions--continue to draw our focus. They do so because they take us to another world that seems more alive than our own. More exciting. More wonder-full.
Conspiracy theories and tales of secret societies do the same thing, which is part of the reason why Dan Brown's story has become so popular. They make us wish for a more interesting universe and feel woefully dissatisfied with our own.
The effect of all such flights of fancy? Well, I don't know. Some would say that they can cause us to lose touch with reality. Others might consider them a waste of time. And they can be.
Me? Well, even if our worlds of wonder are factually inaccurate (like The Da Vinci Code) they still draw on some sense of yearning within all of us. And like my friend C. S. Lewis, I have a fair idea where all of this yearning is ultimately directed.
Our sehnsucht? Our longing? It is partially addressed by these stories but really seeks to point us farther up and farther in to a world far beyond human understanding--the world of God.
It's a world that does make our own pale in comparison, because it is so much more real.
2 comments:
I appreciated this post, Mister President. Keep on rocking...
-Job Tate
Great post. I stumbled across your blog searching for "Lewis" and "sehnsucht," and there you were. You said that you have a fair idea where all of this yearning is ultimately directed: farther up and farther in to a world far beyond human understanding--the world of God.
Yes. Absolutely. Without question. And yet, why do you think that, at the end of Surprised by Joy, Lewis said "the subject [of Joy] has lost nearly all interest for me since I became a Christian"? He says it's only a pointer to God, and that now he ignores the pointer to look at what it's pointing to (pardon the prepositions). But by what else can we see God here on earth than by the pointers? Is there any more direct connection possible? Does he mean prayer and Scripture reading and worship and Christian fellowship? What do you think?
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