“Do you know what the scariest thing is?”
It’s the key question in the M. Night Shyamalan film, Unbreakable. It’s asked by Elijah Price, one of the two main characters.
The film is the first in a trilogy (Split is the second and then Glass) by the creative person who brought us The Sixth Sense. It’s the story of two extraordinary men. The first is David Dunn, a man who is forced to accept that he is invulnerable after he is the only survivor of a horrific train accident. It’s also the story of Elijah Price, a man born with bones that break very easily.
Because Elijah Price was so breakable, other children dubbed him “Mr. Glass.” His affliction fills him with fear, but not the fear you might assume. He fears that all the pain, every surgery, each hospitalization, all the plaster casts, and all the metal pins in his bones, may all be for nothing. He fears he may be afflicted this way—for no reason whatsoever.
Elijah Price supplies an answer—his answer—to his own question: “To not know your place in this world, to not know why you're here.”
To Elijah Price, that is the scariest thing.
In this week’s scriptures, we read of four people who also experienced pain and fear. Despite many fearful life experiences, King David persevered because he had a close relationship with God. He knew his place in this world.
The prophet Ezekiel was surrounded by people God compared to briars, thorns, and scorpions. He persevered because he was chosen by God to bring God’s word to them. He knew his place in this world.
The Apostle Paul was afflicted with his “thorn in the flesh.” He knew its purpose was to show the extension of God’s grace to a flawed vessel. He knew his place in this world.
On a visit to His hometown, Jesus had a shocking encounter with the life He might have had. Because He couldn't do, there, the kinds of amazing miracles He had done everywhere else, He left. He had to carry the good news elsewhere—to people more receptive to His message. He knew His place in this world.
Elijah Price, out of his desperate need to know his place in the world, decided he would create that place. He shaped his life around a vision of whom he might be. It was a vision he formed in isolation—and it was very dark.
Alternately, each person in this week’s scriptures was open to God’s leading and instruction concerning who and what he was. Yes, it’s true they also experienced fear and pain in their lives—but not a fear of what purpose they served. Each, because of his relationship with God, knew his place in this world.
The scariest thing is not the conclusion reached by Elijah Price. It could be if, like him, you pursued the answer in isolation.
The scariest thing is to live your life without God in it. Your place in this world is with God; and when you choose that, no one can separate you from God’s love.
That relationship is truly unbreakable.
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PHOTO (and how Kintsugi—the art of reassembling pieces of broken pottery back together with gold—perfectly reflects our relationship with God):
https://derekjwheeler.wordpress.com/2023/09/28/kintsugi-and-jesus-redemption-through-brokenness/
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We continue to meet for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast every Friday morning at 8:00. Join us this Friday on Zoom** or at Our Breakfast Place for an hour of food, fellowship, and scripture.
Eat. Think. Discuss.
Blessings,
Steve
**Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.):
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK
Find them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=209
Print them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Bx_Proper9.pdf
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
Psalm 48
Ezekiel 2:1-5
Psalm 123
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13
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