Saturday, April 14, 2012

Blue Like Jazz, Forgiveness, and Doubt

Casey and I saw Blue Like Jazz (a movie based on the book by Donald Miller) last night. I will be completely blunt and say I liked The Hunger Games far better. It's hard to beat that one. However, I read Blue Like Jazz a while ago and was really looking forward to seeing what they did with the movie. I was super curious to see how they'd form this very contemplative book into a typical movie plotline.

a scene from the end of Blue Like Jazz

In my opinion, they really didn't follow the "story" of the book at all (which happens with so many movies based on books) and there were a lot of obvious changes to the plot. It was entertaining though, and did use some themes from the book. I could definitely relate to some of his spiritual questions, as I'm sure many others will as well. If we are honest with ourselves, we know we all struggle at times with questions such as "does God exist" and "if he does, what sort of God is he." I also don't think I'll be giving anything away by revealing there is a definite theme of forgiveness, especially toward the end of the movie. The writers used some very interesting and engaging circumstances in the main character, Don's, life to present this struggle.

I deeply appreciated the writers presenting Don's questions about God and Christianity. I fully believe even the people who seem most sure of their faith have doubts as they walk their spiritual journey. Donald Miller's book is one of my absolute favorites, because he was so incredibly and beautifully honest about his struggles with his faith. It made me relax a bit in my heart because I have been there, and I fully expect myself to be there again. I am so grateful for people who share their journeys and invite others to struggle through their own questions to arrive at the truth.

It is one of my most favorite things to discuss spiritual issues and how people struggle and journey through their questions about God. What about you? Have you read/seen Blue Like Jazz? What did you think about Don's spiritual journey?

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