The Day the Earth Stood Still

There's a 50's movie titled The Day the Earth Stood Still, directed by Robert Wise. It's about an alien that comes to Earth to tell them humans will be destroyed. How did I come about this old film, you ask? Well, I saw it mentioned in another movie I was watching from the comfort of the D'Alessandri couch. It caught my attention because of the title. It reminded me that today, in America, just eight years ago, the Earth stood still.

I woke up today with plans to go to Bondi beach. I had spent the night at a friend's apartment (You-Me, a classmate from Korea) and awoke to warm banana bread, sleepy giggles and soothing tea. Shortly after, I climbed into the car of another new friend, Anna, to drive to one of Sydney's most touristy beaches. I did all of this with the knowledge that thousands of miles away, in the country I call "home", there were families gathered together, all mourning the loss of loved ones.

I don't pretend to have more understanding of the pain of these people than I actually do. No one I know personally died on 9/11. Actually, I recall my wonderment at my own inability to relate to what so many were feeling at that moment: This doesn't even affect me the way I would think it should. It looks like another dramatic movie playing on the television.

And yet, eight years later, the world continues to turn, ever so slowly. Makes you think, doesn't it?

See, for me, I can't help but notice that after 9/11, violence just seemed a little more... numbed. Goodness, do not take this to mean that when I hear about the atrocities happening all over the globe I brush them off as I would a fly buzzing about my dinner plate. It's just that... well...

Darfur. India. China. North Korea. Bombings. Hoaxes. Murders. Kidnappings. Adultries. Pornography. Lies. Births. Deaths. Every day. Every second. Another article, another notice, another life. Why doesn't the Earth stand still for all these, too?

If God were so good, wouldn't He stop all the bad stuff from happening?

Perhaps the single most-asked question by mankind. Also perhaps the single most-used question for denying the existence of God. (If a father let's his kid fall off his bike, and the kid says, "You could have stopped this from happening!", does the father not exist?) I'm not a believer who says that God causes bad things to happen only to those who make Him angry. See, that's not the God in the Bible. Not completely. We are creatures of the here and now, and no, we cannot see the expanse of time in one frame, as God can. But we do have the ability to look at the whole picture, or, namely, the whole Book. So before any presumptions are made, I ask that you would try to do just that--read!

The Old Testament is full of wrath. Full of wars, full of blood. People don't like it. Who would? But then comes the hope. And hope's been there all along, if you take the time to see it. God gave it to us at the same time He cursed us. (Read Genesis) Then there's prophets speaking of a time when blood will not be required any more. Where a light will shine through darkness. And He came just as they prophesied. And He was hung on a cross, for you. And when He sighed, "It is finished", the Earth stood still. And through this final, bloody, costly sacrifice came a word that has turned the world upside-down--grace.

Now, what a lot of people don't understand is that God's grace is not a ticket out of pain. It is the remedy through it.

I recently listened to one of the most riveting talks about September 11, 2001. I have the link here, if you wish to listen. It contains the message from the wife of one of the men that crashed that day, Lisa Beamer.

Acknowledging pain is frighteningly easy, most of the time. Yet, it seems that acknowledging hope and renewal can be quite difficult. I pray that anyone in pain will open their hearts to the latter, for they heal like nothing else.

I've heard many people say that certain things help them remember that the world doesn't revolve around them. This makes my spirit sigh... The view from an ocean shore. The stars. A baby. Death.

I finish with a picture of a day I look forward to with all my heart. A day when the entire world will literally stand still. A day that the Earth has been and continues to groan for with earnest. The day we all realize, "No, it isn't about us, it's about Him."

Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so. Amen. - Rev. 1:7

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around His chest. The hairs of His head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full strength. - Rev. 1:12-16

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written that no one knows but Himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of Lords. - Rev. 19:11

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And He who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also He said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." - Rev. 21:1-5