Exciting and dangerous
October 9, 2009 (Friday)
Reruns of the television series, ‘Lonesome Dove,” have recently been broadcast. Not exactly written to be presented at church, the series nonetheless presents a part of American history that stirs the heart and makes a man secretly wish he had been around those days.
It’s a great story. Down on the Rio Grande, a couple of old Texas Rangers cross over into Mexico, steal herds of horses and cattle, gather together a motley crew of cowboys and head out with their herds to Montana, a place they’ve only heard about. The TV series catalogs their adventures along the way. People liked the show a lot when it was first shown; they seem to enjoy the reruns too.
The show is popular with many people because it exhibits an absolute disdain for arbitrary rules while promoting a basic individualistic morality of integrity and honesty, living up to one’s own personal code. I suppose a lot of folks secretly wish for such a world to exist again.
We don’t have to rebel against authority and plot to destroy existing authoritarianism in order to be free. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” He never intended to create a new religious system that would further bind the hearts and souls of human beings. He came to recreate us from within, give us a love for him and a desire to enjoy helping others and alleviating some of the miseries of this world.
“Lonesome Dove” is a great story; so was “Stars in My Crown,” A 1950 movie with Joel McCrea, who starred as Josiah Doziah Gray, a Civil War veteran who went to an Old West town to preach the gospel. He had his “ups” and “downs,” preaching his first sermon in a saloon, calling the crowd to order with his six-shooters, ultimately facing a lynch mob and surviving to make an impact for the Lord. You don’t see movies like that any more. They should have dusted it off and shown it in the weeks following “9-11.” Many were thinking about God in those days. But they got over it.