WACKY WEDNESDAY WISDOM- Here We Go Again For the Umpteenth Time

     It happens to me occasionally and it's happened to you. You're flipping through channels on your television and you see a movie on the screen that forces you to stop. Your life then comes to a halt at that moment. Simple reason why: You can't not watch. It drives you crazy that "your" movie is on and you're not watching it. Forget the fact you can rent it or watch it anytime you want with all that On Demand stuff. You can't stand the fact that someone else might be watching your movie at the moment and you're not.
     My middle son and I have one such movie. I personally have more than one but he and I share the movie in question. Before I tell you what it is I will say that the version I watch now is the cleaned up TV version with the language toned down considerably. This makes it bearable and enjoyable for me. So when it appeared on my TV screen recently, I had to stop for a few minutes. Fortunately (I guess) I had other business to take care of so I wasn't stuck there for three hours. But it was certainly gut wrenching to walk away from it.
     Here are some of my favorite quotes from this movie:

"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way."

"Why do you like them so much?"
"Because they stand on a wall and say, 'Nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch.'

"You don't need to wear a patch on your arm to have honor."

(Said by a Marine)- " I like all you Navy boys. Every time we've gotta go someplace to fight, you fellas always give us a ride."

"Don't call me son. I'm a lawyer, and an officer in the United States Navy, and you're under arrest, you (fill in the blank). . . the witness is excused."

C: "I need my bat. I think better with my bat. Where's my bat?"
G: "I put it in the closet."
C: "Don't ever put my bat in the closet."
W: "He does think better with that bat."

"If I had to choose between you or your father to represent me in this case I'd choose you any day of the week and twice on Sunday. You should've seen yourself thunder away at Kendrick."
(Incidentally, I didn't know what "twice on Sunday" meant so, as a favor to both you and my curiosity, I looked it up. There is no definitive answer, but the best explanations involve traveling ministers in the old days who preached two services on Sundays, and/or stage actors and musicians who performed two shows on Sunday to try to make more money. Or it could have something to do with the NFL broadcasting two games on Sunday, an east coast game early and a west coast game later. Maybe but I don't think so. Besides, nowadays they show three, which would make it thrice on Sunday).

"Take the night off, we've been working twenty hours a day for three and a half weeks straight, just take the night off-  Sam go see your wife and your daughter. Joanne . . . (pause) . . .  go do whatever it is you do when you're not in court".

"You want me on that wall. You need me on that wall."

"I want the truth!"
"You can't handle the truth!"

     There's more but unless you're not a fan of military movies, I think you've figured out by now which movie it is. Every time I watch it, I see something I hadn't noticed before. Funny how that works.
     Easter was this past weekend. And as usual, I read and heard about the Sunday morning resurrection story for the umpteenth time. Normally when someone says "umpteenth", it is spoken in a derogatory manner, as in: "Here we go, Uncle Bob is about to tell us about his ingrown toenail for the umpteenth time." But that's not how I feel about the Easter resurrection story. I love to hear it over and over. And when someone is telling it, I can't not listen. It's the greatest story of all time and it happened on the greatest day in history (so far).
     And I get something new out of it each time. This year it was something really simple. I always knew the disciples would have had no motivation to "steal" Jesus' body after He died. Why would they steal a body, lie about it being resurrected, and then go and proclaim a lie about Jesus to the world that would eventually get them all killed? In short, they wouldn't. But here's what I heard this year as well. The Jews wouldn't have had any motivation to steal the body either. By stealing it, they would have been leaving open the possibility that Jesus had risen from the dead. If they wanted to prove He hadn't risen, all they would have had to do was produce a dead body! Stealing it and hiding it would have been the last thing they would have wanted to do. Wow! Everything points to a resurrected Jesus! One who is alive and well with His Father in Heaven and who also lives within those of us who have chosen to invite Him into our hearts here on earth today.
     So that's the story I love to hear over and over. One man conquered death and then a few good men went out and proclaimed His Kingdom to the World. Maybe the world can't handle the truth, but it's a true story I can live with every day, and twice on Sunday.