Blizzard

In Akira Kurosawa's 1990 film Dreams, a solitary mountain climber has been straining against a blizzard for an undetermined amount of time. Near to death, he suddenly beholds a beatific vision, a Japanese Madonna, who gazes with pity on him and invites him to sleep in the folds of her cloak. The weary man begins to sink into her warmth-and then instantly rouses himself, narrowly escaping death. The seductress, now transformed into a witch, ascends into her own smoke and disappears. The man finds that he was only a little ways from his camp and safety.

What I have been learning about Christianity is that it is only lived in the moment; all else is illusion. And what I learn about this moment-by-moment life is that there can be no rest of a certain kind (save resting in Christ). One must move quickly-by a muscular act of will-from discouragement to faith if one is to live authentically.

If you need to repent, repent. If you need to reflect, reflect. But make it a point to praise God with every other breath. Do not roll yourself around in sorrow indolently. I find, personally, that guilt brings the most deadly somnolence of all, if one is not vigilant. The Madonna would have you rest in her cloak. But there is only death there. There was a time when you had made the good confession about Christ's power and forgiveness and love. If that truth is good for anything, it is good for this present blizzard.

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