First Reformed and the Groaning of Creation

 


We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 
 and not only the creation, but we ourselves,
who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption,
the redemption of our bodies. 
 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope.
For who hopes^[ for what is seen?
  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Romans 8

I saw the film First Reformed yesterday, knowing that it was about a deeply conflicted middle-aged pastor in a failing rural congregation. I didn't realize that a central theme of the story was finding hope in the midst of despair about a planet under siege by human-caused climate change and environmental degradation.

The Rev. Ernst Toll is asked by a pregnant young parishioner to meet with her depressed husband. It turns out that Michael is in deeper despair than the pastor. He is an environmental activist and part of his angst is that he doesn't want to bring a child into a world in free-fall. By the time this unborn child is his current age in 2050 planetary systems will be degraded to the point of no return, a conviction supported by charts and graphs on the wall of Michael's work space.


The scriptwriter for this film, Paul Schrader, also wrote Taxi Driver and The Last Temptation of Christ, a couple of iconic pictures. It turns out that Schrader grew up in a strict Christian home and didn't see his first movie until his late teens. Schrader certainly has cred for creating portraits of male figures who address demons, and Rev. Toll is no exception. As one reviewer sums it up well:


Rev. Toller both has and has not lost his faith. Like writer/director Paul Schrader, and like the Bible’s Jacob, Toller still wrestles with God and thus also with the inescapable question of theodicy: i.e., if God is good, gracious, and powerful why do the innocent suffer? Tellingly, Toller discloses in voiceover that he actually feels a little like Jacob when he engages in dialogue with Michael, a young environmental activist, convincingly played by Philip Ettinger.

There are a number of references to scripture, including Romans 8, and discussions which include nods to Soren Kierkegaard and Thomas Merton. Its obvious that Scrader has given considerable thought to the complexity of our environmental challenges as well, and as someone who regularly wrestles with how to sustain a sense of Christ's earthy and earthly Good News in the midst of so much grim news I appreciated the exploration.



Heady stuff but the story is visceral and compelling. I won't reveal more because it is a film worth seeing. In a time when big budget action films dominate the screens this improbable Indie flick with an enigmatic ending is such a change of pace.

I've written about First Reformed in my Lion Lamb blog as well today, musing in a different direction.
http://lionlamb-bowmanville.blogspot.com/2018/07/first-reformed-and-journal-writing.html