Movie Date
“I have a theory that movies operate on the level of dreams, where you dream yourself.” Meryl Streep
My granddaughter, Zoe, and I have been having a date for many years on Friday afternoon to watch old movies. I wish we could swim together or walk in the woods or walk down some of Little Rock’s beautiful trails, but my physical disability makes that too difficult. But we can curl up in the king bed in our bedroom each covered by our favorite blankets with all the lights out, eat popcorn, and watch movies. We have watched almost every musical made. Occasionally we watch drama and less often comedy. This week Zoe saw for the first time, Some Like It Hot. I forgot to mention that Zoe is going into the ninth grade and usually I get permission from her parents for certain movies. We usually talk a little about the movie after it is over. Sometimes there is much to talk about, at other times, very little.
In the past I have shown her paintings from my favorite art museums and rarely have we read poetry together. There is so much grandparents want to share with their precious grandchildren. Mostly, however, it is just the pleasure of being in their presence. I have learned to drop everything I am doing and be with her if she sends a text about a possible movie date.
This movie date has become for me an icon of what prayer time may be about. I think there is some built in homing device where both we and God yearn for each other’s presence. Prayer is occasionally words, but mostly presence. I think God longs to share God’s experience, God’s amazing world with us, but mostly God longs for our presence just as there is a conscious and maybe even a stronger unconscious longing in us just to be in God’s presence as well.
Joanna joannaseibert.com