The Director’s Cut

Photo Credit: CAPA

(This week, in honor of the season, I’ll be posting parallels between A Christmas Carol and the issues we discuss on this blog)

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The Director’s Cut

Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus! Why show me this, if I am past all hope?  – A Christmas Carol

When a DVD comes out labeled “Director’s Cut”, then you’ve got me. Because of all the things in a good film I appreciate, my loudest kudos go to the Director who brings it all together. It’s his vision that shapes the way the story is told, which parts of it are emphasized or minimized, how the narrative flows, and what general statement the film is trying to make. The other necessary ingredients, from actors to editors, are vital, but I’m especially in awe of the guy behind the camera who steers the final product into being. The Director’s Cut represents his preference, as opposed to what the studio may have insisted on, and sometimes the difference between the two is pretty significant. Sometimes the ending the director wanted was replaced; sometimes the length he envisioned was more than was allowed, and what finally hit the theaters wasn’t close to what he had in mind. So when I see Director’s Cut, I figure I’m getting the unvarnished, un-tampered with version of the story as conceived by the Man, and my interest peaks.

God has a specific, detailed and exquisitely balanced script put together for you. He chose and foreordained you (Romans 8:29) both to bear fruit (John 15:16) and to be holy. (Ephesians 1:4) He directs your steps calling Action! and Cut! as needed (Psalms 37:23) but as a free will performer you can step outside the script, change the dialogue, and develop a version of your movie far different than the Director’s intended product.

Scrooge learned this by getting a panoramic view of his past transgressions, his present state and the future consequences waiting for him as the inevitable result of his attitude and actions. The near finished product, far from the Director’s intended version, was a completely unsatisfactory rough cut the Player came to hate, and in his anguish he begged the Director to take charge, re-edit and re-film the story as He, rather than he, had originally conceived it.

“Why show me this if I am past all hope?” is both a desperate and hopeful cry from the soul of a man mourning his stupidity and pleading for another chance. I hear it weekly; I’ve made it myself more than once. And whether the plea comes from me or another, I’m reminded, when the answer comes, that God indeed does NOT show us “these things”, as Scrooge said, unless it’s by way of redirecting us back into the original scripts boundaries and terms.

This Winter may well mark a time of cold exposure for you. Hidden sin or unaddressed conflicts may have found their way to the light, discouraging to look at and uglier than you ever imagined. If so, it should be remembered that God reveals what He intends to address, correct, heal and redeem, so that the Players involved can have, as the Director wanted from the beginning, a redemptive and very happy ending.

If only certain courses will be departed from, the ends will change.

Your call.