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Post by Noelfitz on Dec 25, 2008 19:28:34 GMT
I have been watching "It's a Wonderful Life", as I do every Christmas day. This year it meant more to me than in previous years, as 2008 was a difficult year for me. as it was for so many around the world.
Many people are struggling financially with the loss of jobs and even homes. Others feel they are close to losing their jobs and/or their homes. Also at least the start of 2009 does not seem much better than 2008. Let us hope we will be able to hang on and with the help of God and friends we will get by.
However I hope for all of you that 2009 may be more than just getting by, but that it will be a most successful year for you, your friends and families.
This year people close to me have died. Please pray for them and may the Lord be merciful to them.
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Post by hibernicus on Dec 26, 2008 17:38:52 GMT
Agreed, Noelfitz. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE gets its power from acknowledging the reality of suffering, which a lot of "uplift" films glide over -like IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER, which is one of my favourite carols. Enough for Him whom cherubin hourly obey, A breastful of milk and a manger full of hay Enough for Him whom seraphim fall down before The ox and ass and camel, who adore. Some of my older relatives are seriously, perhaps terminally ill, and others have suffered financial loss, so this is a worrying time as well. I ask your prayers, and you have mine. Happy Christmas and a fruitful New Year to us all.
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Post by Noelfitz on Dec 26, 2008 19:12:43 GMT
Hibernicus,
many thanks for your post.
I think 2009 will be a great year for this forum, as I hope it will be for us all.
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Post by hibernicus on Dec 26, 2008 20:02:26 GMT
God grant it.
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Post by guillaume on Dec 27, 2008 12:08:18 GMT
"Wonderfull Life" is a great movie. I was very bad at Christmas, sick morally and physically. I spent Xmas with my 3 friends : BBC1, ITV1 and sky One ;D..... Thanks to BBC in particular and their LOTS of movies without commercials (unlike RTE which got the same movies.... but interrupted 5 times at least... ). On 26 dec there were 5 films on BBC. They showed again " Chronicles of Narnia", which I rediscovered. Really wonderful film and great story with strong religious items. It gave me the desire to read the entire 7 books. God Bless
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Post by hibernicus on Dec 27, 2008 19:03:44 GMT
Best wishes, Guillaume. Hope things improve for you. The CHRONICLES OF NARNIA are indeed very moving, though I think the later ones are a bit weaker because they tend to "externalise" evil in the Calormenes. It should also be borne in mind that they are written for young children and there is a little "talking down" in the narration. Have you read Lewis's cosmic trilogy - OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET, VOYAGE TO VENUS (also known as PERELANDRA) and THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH? (The first is the best.) They are written for adults. I suggest we start a thread on CS Lewis in the near future. He was a High Church Anglican rather than a Catholic (the reasons why he never went all the way are interesting) but he was one of the foremost Christian thinkers our island has produced in the alst century, and a great scholar and imaginative writer. Nowadays secular critics tend to emphasise his oddities - they did exist, but much of this sort of writing(such as AN Wilson's dreadful biography, full of factual errors) operates as a way to avoid takin ghis message seriously - a process which Lewis himself referred to as "Bulverism".
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Post by Noelfitz on Dec 28, 2008 8:59:09 GMT
Guillaume
I hope you are feeling better now.
Thank you for all your contributions here.
We are becoming a small community of like-minded friends, who can help each other by support and prayers.
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