On March 16, 2007, a 96-minute movie entitled: "Premonition" was released. It opened in 2,831 theaters, stayed in theaters for seven weeks, and grossed $47,852,604 in the United States and $84,146, 832 worldwide. The film received mostly negative reviews from film critics with a rating average of 3.8 out of 10. Personally, I liked the movie. Sandra Bullock portrays a middle-class depressed housewife (with two daughters, Bridgette and Megan) named: Linda Hanson, whose marriage is "in a rut," so to speak. On a Thursday, she learns from a sheriff that her husband: Jim (Julian McMahon) had died in a car accident involving a fuel truck on the previous day. That night, Linda falls asleep on the living room couch and wakes up the next morning in her bed dressed in a nightgown and covered with sheets and blankets. Confused, she gets up, walks downstairs to the kitchen, where she sees her husband: Jim at the counter alive and well, drinking coffee and watching TV. Believing the previous day was a bad dream, Linda lives out the day the way she usually did. However, Linda wakes up the next day, finds an empty prescription bottle of lithium with pills scattered in the sink. The label on the bottle states that the pills were prescribed by Doctor Norman Roth, a name totally unfamiliar to her. She walks downstairs and encounters family and friends wearing mourning garb. It is the day of her husband's funeral. For a time, she is convinced that her husband is NOT dead, but is proven wrong that day. Linda continues to be confused because the next day, her husband is alive and well once again. Desperate for answers, she seeks out Dr. Roth (Peter Stormare) to no avail because at THIS point, she is convinced that her husband IS dead. He prescribes her the lithium that she noticed in the bathroom sink, believing she is delusional. Later that day, what Linda begins to realize is that, for that particular week, she is living the days of her life out of sequence. She realizes the fact that Thursday was some sort of "portal day," since everything was "normal" up to the point that the sheriff came to her house to inform her of her husband's death. She is the only one conscious of this phenomenon, which creates the premonition of the title. Linda decides to play the scenario out to find out why this phenomenon was happening, beginning to believe it was to prevent her husband's fatal car accident. When she wakes up on the previous Sunday (before her husband's death), she sends Jim off with the kids while she drives to the church to seek spiritual guidance. There, she speaks with a Catholic priest named: Father Kennedy (Jude Ciccolella) and explains that she is scared. He’s surprised to see her, because it’s been a while since she’s been in church. Father Kennedy had an entire book detailing incidents that were similar to hers. For example, in a dutch trading colony off the coast of Carolina in 1632, an hysterical midwife claimed to have walked through the aftermath of a terrible hurricane that hadn't happened yet. She was hanged as a witch. Two days later, the entire town was destroyed by a hurricane with gale force winds. In a more recent period, a father living in Boston in 1918, at the height of the Category 5 Influenza Pandemic, told friends that he had been to the future and saw the graves of his two small children. Story had it that he went in insane and shot them both to spare them from the pain of dying of the disease. However, the autopsies conclusively confirmed that the children were never infected. He shot himself a week later. Linda asked who those people were and why these things happened. Instead of assuming that Linda was "insane," the way Dr. Roth, her family and friends did, Father Kennedy believes what she is experiencing is real and comes up with a possible theory of it. The conversation goes as follows...
Father Kennedy: "You see, history's full of explained phenomena. Nobody knows why. Some people thought they suffered from what the ancients called: 'Blasphemare absens fides.' 'The dangers of the faithless.'"
Linda Hanson: "The faithless?"
Father Kennedy: "It's the notion that nature abhors a vacuum, even a spiritual one. People who've lost their beliefs, they're like empty vessels, more susceptible to having their lives taken over by forces bigger than themselves."
Linda Hanson: "Almost like a curse."
Father Kennedy: "Or a miracle."
Linda Hanson: "Yeah, well, I don't believe in miracles."
Father Kennedy: "Every day we're alive can be a miracle, Linda."
Linda Hanson: "Well, it doesn't feel that way. Not to me. Father, something bad is going to happen. I need your... I need your help. I need your direction. I need faith."
Father Kennedy: "Faith is just believing in something beyond yourself; something you can't feel, or smell, or touch... like hope or love."
Linda Hanson: "I believe I've let all that go."
Father Kennedy: "Maybe you should try and get it back again, huh?"
Linda Hanson: "What if it's too late?"
Father Kennedy: "It's never too late to realize what's important in your life, to fight for it."
Linda Hanson: "I don't know what to fight for."
As we see, Linda was unable to save her husband, but the movie had a "bitter-sweet" ending. On the Wednesday of his death, during her attempt to save him, the two have a touching reconciliation. In addition, although her husband dies, she is now pregnant from their last night together (the previous Sunday before his death). So, here is what we can assume about the movie, based on its premise.
- A premonition is: a forewarning of a future event. We will talk more about premonitions in a later article.
- Every day is real, not an illusion.
- For the purpose of my explanation, "EARLIER DAYS" are: Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and "LATER DAYS" are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
- Linda experiences days out of sequence, however, time is still linear. What I mean by that is: Anything Linda does on a "later day" does not affect an "earlier day" that she has not yet experienced. However, things she does on "earlier days" affect "later days" she has not experienced. In a sense, her confusion was due to her experiencing the "effect" before the "cause," which would confuse anybody because we live in a world bound by "cause-and-effect."
- Since time is still linear for everyone else, no one remembers what happened on "later days" while Linda is experiencing an "earlier day."
- Even though every day is real, "later days" are also "premonitions," because in "earlier days," Linda has knowledge of events that have not yet happened in the linear timeline.
- There are no "premonitions" on Sunday, as it is before every other day on the linear timeline. However, Linda and Jim making love had changed the future, and thus, the course of the rest of that week.
It's actually a compelling and intriguing contention. Think about the people who claim to have premonitions. Perhaps if someone tells you on Tuesday that something is going to happen on Friday, maybe it's because they "lived" Friday before they "lived" Tuesday, and that's WHY he or she knows the future. Of course, even for me, that's pretty far-fetched. Still, I have always found the scene where Linda Hanson talks with Father Kennedy quite captivating. I really liked the way Father Kennedy explained things to Linda. History really IS full of unexplained phenomena. And although scientists and philosophers have theories on the reasons for them, nobody really knows WHY they happen. The next thing he told her also interests me. He said: "Some people thought they suffered from what the ancients called: 'Blasphemare absens fides.' The dangers of the faithless." "Blasphemare absens fides" is a Latin phrase (the Greek: Vlasfimoún apousiázei i písti), but the literal translation is not entirely accurate. Let's look at the words and translate what they literally mean in English.
- Blasphemare - is a verb meaning "to blaspheme" or "to curse."
- Absens - means "absent."
- Fides - means "faith."
However, if you knew your Latin, you would know that the Latin word for "dangers" is: "periculis." The Latin word for faithless is: "perfidus." However, the translation is closer to the English word: "perfidious," which means "deceitful and untrustworthy." The better Latin word to use for "faithless," in this case, is: "infidelis," which means "unbelieving." or "infideli," which means: "unbeliever." So, if you want to literally write "The dangers of the faithless" in Latin, it would be something like: "In periculis in infidelis" or "In periculis in infideli." In Greek, it would be something like: "oi kíndynoi tou ápisti." And in Hebrew, it would be something like: "ה סכנות של ה כּוֹפֵר," or in Yiddish, it would be: "di deynjerz fun di aumgloybiker." But that's the LITERAL translation. Latin phrases are not always literal but symbolic. So, it's not necessarily the words themselves that mean anything, but it's the meaning behind them. So, when we say: "Blasphemare absens fides," or "Blasphemantes absentem fide," what the actual meaning of that phrase is: "Blaspheme absent Faith." or "Blaspheming the absence of faith." Now, the word: "blasphemy" came the Late Latin "blasphemare" as you see, (from the Greek "vlápto" = "harm" or "injure" and "omilía" = "utterance, talk, speech." From blasphemare also came the Old French "blâsmer," from which the English word: "blame" came from. Blasphemy: "from the Greek: "blasphemia," which means "a speaking ill, impious speech, slander," which itself originated from a more compound ancient Greek word: "blasphemein" meaning "to speak injury" or "to speak evil of." Now, the Encyclopedia Britannica defines blasphemy as: irreverence toward a deity or deities and, by extension, the use of profanity. It has been mainly associated with the use of speech and religion. But this is not be confused with heresy. Heresy is: a theological doctrine or system rejected as false by ecclesiastical authority. The difference is that heresy consists of holding a belief contrary to the orthodox one. Thus, it is not blasphemous to deny the existence of God or to question the established tenets of the Christian faith UNLESS it is done in a mocking and derisive spirit. But blasphemy goes further than just "words." The New Testament Greek word that is translated as "blaspheme," is a form of the same Greek word indicated in number of Old Testament Hebrew words. There's the Hebrew word, pronounced "naw-awts," which means "to scorn." There's the Hebrew word, pronounced "baw-rawk," which means "to kneel," but when translated as "blasphemy" referred to "revering a man, or one's self, rather than God." There's the Hebrew word, pronounced "naw-kawb," which means "to puncture," as in "to belittle or to denigrate." There's the Hebrew word, pronounced "gaw-dawf," which means "to hack with words (i.e. to revile)." And finally, there's the Hebrew word, pronounced "khaw-rawf," which means "to pull down," as in "to belittle or to denigrate." Notice from the literal meanings of the original Hebrew words, God's Name can also be blasphemed without even saying it! Blasphemy isn't just something that's spoken, it's something that's done. So, blasphemy means: the act or speaking of or addressing with irreverence or in a way that does not show respect (e.g. to God). A synonym for the word: "blasphemy" is "curse." The verb "to curse" means "utter offensive words in anger or annoyance." However, the word: "curse" is also a noun. When used as a noun, it is a malediction. A curse is defined as: a source or cause of evil. So, it's an evil, misfortune, or trouble that has been invoked upon someone. Furthermore, in the Christianity, blasphemy has been regarded as a sin. In fact, St. Thomas Aquinas described it as a sin against faith... Are you kind of seeing a pattern here?
Then, Father Kennedy explains further that "It's the notion that nature abhors a vacuum, even a spiritual one." The truth is: the notion that nature abhors a vacuum is an actual theory in reality. The "Nature abhors a vacuum" argument was first presented by the Greek physicist-philosopher: Parmenides in 485 B.C. in his essay "On Nature,", in which he stated, via reasoning and argument, that a void or rather a vacuum, in nature, cannot exist. Aristotle (student of Plato) is known for declaring the famous dictum: horror vacui in 350 B.C. Horror vacui ("hɔrər 'vɑ kjuːaɪ"; from the Latin "fear of empty space"), also cenophobia (sɛnəˈfoʊbɪə, from Greek "fear of the empty"), is the filling of the entire surface of a space. Cenophobia, by definition, means: an abnormal fear of a void, empty rooms, barren spaces, or of large spaces. This famous two-millennia old postulate can be said to be directly responsible for the invention or development of a number of things from Atomic Theory (450 B.C.) to the science of Thermodynamics (1865). In physics, horror vacui (commonly stated as: "Nature abhors a vacuum"), a.k.a Plenism ("fullness", from Latin "plēnum," English "plenty", cognate via Proto-Indo-European to "full"), is the belief that nature contains no vacuums because the denser surrounding material continuum would immediately fill the rarity of an incipient void. Aristotle based his conclusion on the observation that nature requires every space to be filled with something, even if that something is colorless, odorless air. In other words, completely empty or unfilled spaces are unnatural (or improbable) as they go against the Laws of Nature and the Laws of Physics (i.e. nature will try to fill the space if it can). For example, if you try to create a vacuum inside of a bottle, nature will try to fill it with air if it can. You can maintain a vacuum in the bottle for as long as it is perfectly sealed. But the moment the bottle is punctured (even a puncture as small as a pinhole), air molecules will rush into the bottle. The vacuum will be replaced within seconds. The theory of repugnance to the void, which would make nature prevent the production of a void at any cost, was used to explain various phenomena, such as the workings of the pump and the syphon. It seems odd, but saying that nature abhors a vacuum is almost like personifying emptiness itself. Nevertheless, emptiness longs to fill itself with "something." "Nature abhors a vacuum," is a quote attributed to the 17th-century social and metaphysical philosopher: Baruch Spinoza. He was famous for the elaborate development of his Monist Philosophy, which has become known as: Spinozism (which defines "God" as a singular self-subsistent substance, with both matter and thought being attributes of such). Spinoza, no doubt, had a brilliant mind. However, he did not believe in a personal God, nor could his brilliant mind come to terms with the idea of God becoming a human, as Our Lord and Savior: Jesus Christ did. I would say that Spinoza had a problem understanding "Love." And as 1 Timothy 1:5 says: "The goal of the command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."
Father Kennedy then elaborates that "people who've lost their beliefs, they're like empty vessels, more susceptible to having their lives taken over by forces bigger than themselves." This indicates that the notion that emptiness longs to fill itself with "something" is also true in the spiritual realm. This would not difficult to understand if you believe in the Spiritual Warfare that is mentioned in Ephesians 6:12. Jesus Himself also expressed this principle when He said in Matthew 12:42-45 and in Luke 11:24-26 that: "'When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.'" You see, a Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit should fill his or her life with God, worship, Christian fellowship, Bible Study, witnessing, and sharing Christ with others. If that person allows a "spiritual vacuum" to exist in his or her life, they need to be careful. Yes, at the moment of "conversion," the evil spirit is cast out, but that evil spirit hasn't gone far. And if that evil spirit sees a "spiritual vacuum" in that person's life, it will return. It will re-infest that life. Jesus said that not only will that evil spirit return, but that it will not return alone. It will bring seven more spirits, and that person's spiritual state will be worse than ever before. If you leave a "spiritual vacuum" in your life, it is only a matter of time before your life is reoccupied by the same old sins and habits that plagued you before your conversion. Something will eventually rush in to fill that "spiritually vacuum." The question is: what could rush in? New Age idealism? Astrology? Eastern mysticism? Islamic fundamentalism? The occult? Base hedonism? Voracious materialism? Feverish nationalism? Nihilism? It's hard to say, but it will most likely be something "worldly," as opposed to something "Godly." Why would any such "spiritual vacuum" exist? Well, people tend look at the problems in their lives and want to be rid of the problems and work on what they should not do. And that's all fine and dandy, but Jesus is reminding us that getting rid of bad things is not the complete answer. There must be something good, vital, powerful, and real to put in place of the bad. If all we do is: stop doing what is wrong and just get rid of what is bad, sooner or later, something even worse will fill the void of the old sinfulness. We must replace the old bad things with God's presence, power, and purpose in our lives. The only permanent solution to the problem of sin in our lives is to replace it with the love of Jesus, which fills the vacuum. The more we are filled with His love, the less room there is for any evil thing. We don’t need to put our house in order before Jesus comes in; He puts it in order after we let Him in. Paul applies the principle in practical matters in Ephesians 4:25-32: lying or speaking truth, stealing or working, profane or edifying language, bitterness or kindness, anger or tenderheartedness, malice or forgiveness. It is always your choice; a choice you must make. Fill your heart with the right things: leave no place for wrong. Death is the absence of life; start living. Darkness is the absence of light; let your light shine. Fear is the absence of courage; take courage. Unbelief is the absence of faith; choose faith. Disobedience is the absence of obedience; obey. Worry is the absence of trust; begin to trust. Sin is the absence of righteousness; live righteously. Discord is the absence of peace; sow peace. Hate or indifference is the absence of love; prefer love. Sadness is the absence of joy; rejoice. For every "spiritual vacuum," there is a fullness of God’s provision (Ephesians 3:19 & 2 Corinthians 9:8). Every emptiness you feel is an absence of God there.
So, what does the Holy Bible say about "the faithless" or "the absence of faith?" Well, first off, it does not please God and it is not even possible to please Him. Hebrews 11:6 says: "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Second, the faithless do not obey God. Psalm 119:158 says: "I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not obey your word." He see the faithless are "disloyal" are "as unreliable as a faulty bow." (Psalm 78:57). Proverbs 14:14 implies that they will not reap anything good by saying: "The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways..." However, this does not mean that the Lord God will not take you back if you've gone astray. Our God is a merciful God (Deuteronomy 4:31, Nehemiah 9:31, and Daniel 9:9); a forgiving God (Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 99:8, and Daniel 9:9). 2 Timothy 2:13 says: "if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself." Once we have received Jesus into our hearts, He will never leave it. Isaiah 55:11 says: "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." To receive Jesus in to our hearts, you must first listen to His message to receive His grace and reap faith. Romans 10:17 says: "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ." And anyone who listens to the message and receives it will be "saved." Romans 10:13 says: "for 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Receiving His grace is nothing you have to work for. It's nothing you have to have to earn. It is the grace itself that "saves" your soul. Eternal life is a gift. Ephesians 2:8-9 says: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." If you have gone astray, the Holy Spirit is still inside you, and the Lord God will always take you back. Jeremiah 24:7 says: "I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart." Zechariah 1:3 says: "Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty."
Does nature abhors a vacuum in God's eye's? Absolutely! God did NOT create the world to be empty. Isaiah 45:18 says: "For this is what the Lord says — He who created the heavens, He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited—He says: 'I am the Lord, and there is no other." God did not create the earth to be empty. He created it to bear fruit And God did not create US to be empty, either. He created US to "bear fruit," as well. "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10). "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you." (John 15:16). "So that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way:bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God," (Colossians 1:10). "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." (Galatians 6:7-8). Are you fulfilling purpose in your life? Are you achieving the "good works" He prepared for you? Are you "bearing fruit" in your life? Are you "sowing to the flesh" or are you "sowing to the Spirit?" "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them. (James 4:17). Thinking about vacuums helps us to understand the importance of what the Apostle Paul was saying to the Ephesians when he prayed that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith and that they would "know the love of Christ . . . that they may be filled with all the fullness of God." He said: "and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19). So, there is no room for "just me" or "just you." There are no "I's, my's, me's, or mine's," but completely filled with God Himself. Makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, it wouldn't be in God’s Word if it wasn't. "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:2-3). "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Father Kennedy then elaborates that "people who've lost their beliefs, they're like empty vessels, more susceptible to having their lives taken over by forces bigger than themselves," Linda Hanson replies: "Almost like a curse." And, from what we've seen so far, that is what it seems like. Then, Father Kennedy response is: "Or a miracle." A miracle, huh? Well, let's look further into what a miracle actually is. Baker's Dictionary of the Bible defines a miracle as: "an event in the external world brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God." It goes on to add that a miracle occurs to show that the power behind it is not limited to the laws of matter or mind as it interrupts fixed natural laws. It is an event not ascribable to human power or the Laws of Nature and consequently attributed to a supernatural. The term: "supernatural" refers to something "unable to be explained by Science or the Laws of Nature, and relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe." So, the term "supernatural" applies quite accurately. But notice that it doesn't say that supernatural BREAKS Laws of Nature, it only says that it goes beyond it. Does something have to break a natural law for it to be a miracle? C.S. Lewis defines a "miracle" in his work by the same name as an interference with nature by a supernatural power. Obviously, to interfere with natural law may not necessarily mean to break the natural law. In fact, nature and "supernature" become interlocked after a miracle occurs and nature carries on according to the change wrought by that event. Let's use a Science example: Galileo's Law of Inertia (Newton's First Law of Motion) states an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. If an object is at rest, Inertia is: the tendency of an object to remain at rest until acted on by a force. If an object is in motion, Inertia is: the resistance an object has to a change in its state of motion. All objects resist changes in their state of motion. Since all objects have this tendency, they have Inertia. But do some objects have more of a tendency to resist changes than others? Absolutely! A more mass an object has, the greater tendency to resist changes in its state of motion. Thus, the more Inertia that an object has, the more mass that it has. But what is meant by the phrase state of motion? Well, the state of motion of an object is defined by its Velocity (the speed with a direction) Thus, when an object is in motion, Inertia could be redefined as: the tendency of an object to resist changes in Velocity. Now, what exactly is meant by the phrase "unbalanced force?" What is an unbalanced force? Now, when we speak of the supernatural, a force is: a Being or thing regarded as exerting power or influence. When speaking of the natural, a force is: a push or pull upon an object resulting from the object's an interaction with another object. This an influence that produces a change in an object's motions or state of rest. The force itself is called: a Vector Quantity. A Vector Quantity is: a quantity that has both magnitude (The measurement of the amount of an applied force) and direction (the path that an object takes when it moves). An object is said to be acted upon by an unbalanced force only when there is an individual force that is not being balanced by a force of equal magnitude and in the opposite direction. An unbalanced force changes its state of motion or state of rest, and therefore, the object is not at Equilibrium and subsequently accelerates. Unbalanced forces cause accelerations. Acceleration is: the rate at which the Velocity (the speed with a direction) of an object changes with time. So, nature can only move from event to event through supernatural intervention. It's very interesting that a common word used for "miracle" is the word: "sign." A miracle is a sign that God uses to point to Himself. According to "Systematic Theology, chapter 52," a miracle is a less common kind of God's activity in which he arouses people's awe and wonder and bears witness to Himself. This definition does not say that a miracle is a different kind of working by God, but only that it is a less common way of God's working, and that it is done so as to arouse people's surprise. So, in a sense, Father Kennedy was telling Linda Hanson that God wasn't cursing her but calling her back to Him. And even though she said that she didn't believe in miracles, Father Kennedy reminded her that everyday that we're alive can be a miracle. So, until we take our final breath, we have every opportunity to come to God (or come BACK to God).
Now, observe the last part of the conversation...
Linda Hanson: "Well, it doesn't feel that way. Not to me. Father, something bad is going to happen. I need your... I need your help. I need your direction. I need faith."
Father Kennedy: "Faith is just believing in something beyond yourself; something you can't feel, or smell, or touch... like hope or love."
Linda Hanson: "I believe I've let all that go."
Father Kennedy: "Maybe you should try and get it back again, huh?"
Linda Hanson: "What if it's too late?"
Father Kennedy: "It's never too late to realize what's important in your life, to fight for it."
Linda Hanson: "I don't know what to fight for."
So, Linda points out hat the phenomenon that is happening to her (i.e. living the days of her life out of sequence for that particular week) doesn't seem like a "miracle" to her. At this point, however, Linda knows that she is not in need of psychiatric assistance but needs spiritual guidance. She urges Father Kennedy for direction and says she needs faith. In other words, she knows what she needs, but she's not sure how to attain it. I like the way Father Kennedy explains what faith is to Linda. He says that: "Faith is just believing in something beyond yourself; something you can't feel, or smell, or touch... like hope or love." There are so many definitions of faith, but I've always found that way of explaining it one of the best ways to explain it to a layperson. Let's look at how the Holy Bible defines faith. Hebrews 11:1 says: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen." The Living Bible (TLB) translation says that faith is "the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead." The Voice translation says that it's "the absolute conviction that there are realities you've never seen." So, faith is belief that is not based on proof or empirical evidence. Faith means agreeing with, believing in, and trusting something that you can't know or comprehend on your own without hard evidence. Having faith means being able to live with unanswered questions. And although that may sound more difficult than it actually is, faith gives you the courage to endure and survive without having the answers. So, part of what Father Kennedy was saying to Linda is that what was happening to her was beyond her comprehension and trying to find out WHY it was happening to her was futile. He was also telling her the answers lied not in what she had been able to observe up to that point (i.e. the phenomenon in question) but in the realities that we never see (i.e. in what she was unable to observe from that point forward). To do that, she would have to believe in something "beyond herself;" something that was beyond her comprehension; "something you can't feel, or smell, or touch... like hope or love," as Father Kennedy put it. That's when she said that pivotal statement: "I believe I've let all that go." So, she was evidently one of those people possessing a "spiritual vacuum;" who was an "empty vessel;" one of those people who had "lost their beliefs," and were "more susceptible to having their lives taken over by forces bigger than themselves." When Father Kennedy suggested that maybe Linda should try and get her faith back, she further expresses her lack of faith by saying: "What if it's too late?" When Father Kennedy assures Linda that: "It's never too late to realize what's important in your life, to fight for it," she replies: "I don't know what to fight for."
Honestly, something like that is not surprising to me. Generally, through the tyranny of the harshness that life has to offer, it's not hard to lose heart, and therefore, to lose faith. And once you have lost faith, it truly is hard for people to know what is important in their lives and know what to fight for. We all move through life differently. Some prefer to do as little as possible, others live at full speed. But when we are confronted with the question: "What is most important in your life?" (especially during a midlife), there is no other question that is more powerful. If someone were to ask ME that question today, my answer to you would be significantly different than what it would have been 20 years ago. In 1994, I would have said that what is most important in my life are my aspirations. Back then, I wanted to earn my Doctorate in Psychology and, ultimately, become a Pediatric Psychologist with my own practice, working with children and preteens with maturational or adjustment disorders. Back then, I believed that I would have fulfilled those aspirations by this point in my life. However, 20 years later, what is most important in my life is cultivating the ability to help people be happy, and to relieve them of the suffering they experience. So, my aspiration in life is to leave each person I interact with, at least, a little bit better off than I found them. Keep in mind that: I didn't lower my standards on what is important in my life, I simply broadened them. Another thing to realize is that helping people isn't important in my life because it causes me less pain but brings me more joy. And part of joy is hope and love; things "you can't feel, or smell, or touch." And that's where our faith is. In fact, the Apostle Paul point in his first Epistle to the Corinthians that love is the greatest of all things. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says: "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." But love as much a feeling as it is an ability; the ability to respond to people and all of life with equanimity (the ability to be kind, empathetic, and compassionate to all beings, without bias, whether we like them or not). Still, is it worth fighting for? Susan Elizabeth Phillips once said that: "Anything worth having is worth fighting for." In fact, the Apostle Paul says that when it comes to faith, fight the good fight. 1 Timothy 6:12 says to: "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." To do that, we are to wear the full Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17). 1 Thessalonians 5:8 says: "But since we belong to the day (or live in light), let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet." Wouldn't it be cool, at the end of your life, you could say what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7, stating: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."?
The underlying theme of the film: "Premonition" is that things happen to us in our lives that we cannot control. What we can control is our reactions, and our reactions determine the quality and direction of our lives. Premonition is about whether Linda will understand that truth in time to change the direction of her (emotional) life. The interesting thing about it is the theme of the self-fulfilling prophecy. In the future, she learns that her husband is going to die, but there was nothing she could do to change the present, even with knowledge of the future. She wasn't the cause of the fatal car accident, but she wasn't able to prevent it, either. It sides with the Time Travel Theory that "time travelers" can participate in the historical events, but they cannot change them. It makes sense because if she HAD been able to prevent the car accident, she wouldn't have had the premonition in the first place. It all goes to show that you can fight a lot of things, but you can't fight destiny.
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