Interstellar

We went to Tel Aviv on Sunday and got to go to beach again! We went on a bike ride which was a blast. After a day on the beach and biking we drove to the IMAX theater near TelAviv to see Interstellar!

I was hesitant to write a blog post on a blockbuster movie while here in Jerusalem, especially one that's gotten enough hype throughout the rest of the world without my help. I'm sure some were disappointed but I wouldn't be surprised if the majority left overly satisfied with Christopher Nolan's new masterpiece. I loved the action and the intricate plot with huge twists at the end. More than anything I loved how I felt afterwards.

It wasn't a particularly happy or hopeful feeling. Instead I felt inspired and elevated. I was left in awe at how a human being could conceptualize such a story and then portray it in all it's beauty, glory, and complexity so effectively. It was wonderfully executed.

I was so engaged throughout and was grateful that there was no "fluff." No unnecessary sex or violence, no pointless plot twists. It was pure. There was a purpose and everything contributed to that purpose. For me the purpose was to illustrate the limitlessness of the universe, the infinite potential we have individually and collectively, the transcendence of love across time and space, and the omnipresence of God. That's pretty ambitious. 

For three hours I soaked in all of the dialogue, images, body language, and symbolism and then sat in silence for the entire 45-minute bus ride home from the IMAX theater. I sat and reveled in the elevated sphere of thought and feeling I found myself in. I didn't want to come back down to earth. I didn't want to go back to homework and job applications. I wanted to stay up there, looking out over time and space and seeing my place in the universe. I had been drowning in my own glass of murky water and then lifted out, so high that I could see my glass standing beside millions of others. A sea of experience, pain, and potential.

Every so often we need an experience to pull us out of the tiny world we create for ourselves. We can see how insignificant and imperfect we are, how invisible our dot in the universe is. And then we can imagine God, looking out over all his creations, turning his head towards our tiny world and deciding we were worth something more than just a glance. 

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Sunset at the beach in TelAviv.