Years ago I realized that no one does
anything without a reason. We don’t
always like to admit our motivation—sometimes we aren’t even sure what our
motivation is—but there is a reason for doing what we do.
I watch “Revenge”. Or to be more accurate, I DVR “Revenge” and
watch it at some later time.
It’s not my usual preference in
television programming. Just the title
goes against most everything in which I believe. There’s no room for “revenge” in Catholic
Christianity if we understand the Gospel correctly. The acting in the show is less than riveting;
the plot lines strain credibility to the max; there is probably one likable
character in the whole menagerie (who isn’t even the centerpiece of the
show). It seems preposterous to me that
it’s in its 4th season on television.
So why do I watch?
For one simple reason: I know one of
the screenwriters.
Or I did know one of the screenwriters
some years ago.
His name is Joe and he was a student
at Ithaca College. He had a difficult
time the first month away from home—homesickness affects many a student in the
beginning, but he toughed it out and did very well. Early on he became part of the Catholic
community and we hired him to work in the Catholic offices at Muller
Chapel.
Joe was bright, had a great sense of
humor, was a terrific worker, and loved all things entertainment: movies, music
and television. I don’t remember the
exact title of his major, but it had to do with television. Joe watched a lot of TV growing up—I was
amazed at how many television theme songs he knew by heart! He also had a wonderfully compassionate heart
(something missing from the characters on “Revenge”). He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do in television,
but his dream was to work in television.
I remember him telling me one time that one of his professors suggested
he pursue screenwriting.
When he first went to LA, he got a job
working with the crew on the long-running show “ER”. He never wanted to be an actor; he wanted to
work behind the scenes, although one time “ER” used him as an extra in a
scene. And then came “Revenge”. A friend told me that Joe was writing for the
show, so I started to watch in the second season. I’m not sure how the writing works because
different people get credit for different segments. Somehow they must work together plot-wise,
although the strained plotlines might suggest lack of communication.
Anyway, Joe is the reason I watch
“Revenge”. It takes me back to my years
at Ithaca College. I never wanted to go
there as a chaplain and yet it turned out to be a great experience. I loved working with young adults, so filled
with hope and determination, questions and compassion. I had a great rapport with the other Catholic
Chaplain, Mary. Those were good years.
But I wouldn’t want to go back. Because we can’t recapture the past. We can learn from the past and we can be
inspired by the past, but we can’t recapture it. We can only go forward. Jesus once said, “No one who sets a hand to
the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” In other words, if you are plowing a field
and keep looking behind, you’ll never keep to a straight path; you’ll go off
course. We follow Jesus Who leads from
the front, not from the back.
Nostalgia has its place, but we’re
doomed to failure if we try to recapture the past. We can only go forward. While the past may look a lot better than the
present in some ways, that doesn’t mean the future can’t be bright. With eyes and ears and minds and hearts set
on Jesus ahead of us, we can only be people of hope. With eyes and ears and minds and hearts set
on Jesus, revenge truly makes no sense.
With eyes and ears and minds and hearts set on Jesus, our motivation
will be positive—and incidentally, we’ll be going in the best direction
possible.
Have a blessed week . . .
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