It takes a rare movie to make me cry. My internal cynic keeps the tears under tight lock and key, guarded from exposure unless a story skillfully negotiates their release. I’m a shrewd jail-keeper, however, so this seldom happens.
Which is why I am still appalled over my complete emotional breakdown last week while watching P.S. I Love You. Not only did I weep like a Tara-less Scarlett O’Hara, I did so before the beginning credits even began to roll. What is up with THAT? I knew ahead of time it was a shameless chick-flick, for heaven’s sakes. A two-hour attempt to manipulate my feminine emotions. And, yet, from the first note of the soundtrack, I was a goner. The initial scene so completely sucked me into it’s web that my heart remained inescapably entangled and anguished until the very end. Unbelievable.
Which is why, as I sit on South African Airlines Flight Number 208 sweeping the cabin of 317 other passengers, I can tell you EXACTLY who is watching P.S. I Love You on their private little back-of-the-chair movie screen. Peppered throughout the cabin are women unabashedly crying, tears falling like swollen rivers down faces, leftover dinner napkins used–ineffectively, I might add–as tissues to mop up the overflow. I am vindicated.
Though I don’t really enjoy crying–alone or in public–shouldn’t some stories warrant a response? Crazy, but this is what I’m thinking about as I watch grown adults weep without restraint at 3:10 in the morning. I’m sure the next couple weeks will be packed with compelling stories, far more real than a Hollywood movie. And, for once, I don’t want to keep my emotions under tight lock and key. I want to let go of restraint and emotional guards. I want to find myself so pulled into the lives of the people around me that my heart can’t help but be inescapably intertwined.
Now that I think about it, that is exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t keep his heart under wraps–not for a second. Instead, he poured out everything, even his very life, in the hopes he would become forever intertwined in the threads of their story.
Now that’s something worth crying about.
Wow, how incredible that you’re posting on your trip. Goes to show how little I know about Africa and technology. I never thought you’d be able to get Internet access.
Now that I know, I’m excited to read about your journey.