On the Right Flight

Garland Green is a serial-killing, mass-murderer who joins the cast of characters (in the movie, Conair) just after the Convicts take over the plane. The cons, posing as security guards, are forced to make one stop in the midst of their getaway to pick up this additional prisoner. If they fail to make this stop their cover will be blown to early in their escape.

Upon learning of this development Poe deadpans, "He's on the right flight."

That's a very dramatic attempt to see something "right" in a very "wrong" scenario!!

But sometimes with all the spin you can spin, all of the positive thinking, all of the optimism you can muster and looking for that silver lining behind that cloud there are just some situations that seem to be destined to be desolate and anything good.

And when just one more bad thing is thrown onto the pile we're not really surprised.

But here's a spoiler: good things do happen in this story . . . and it has a happy ending for our hero.

Believer's in God have been prophetically given the promise of good things even in bad times . . . . and a happy ending. That is a part of our faith. A part of what we are asked to anchor ourselves to.

When one bad thing after another is added to an already bad situation --- it doesn't necessarily mean that we are on the wrong flight. Not on the wrong path, or out of God's will.

It is possible that, even though your life seems to have been high-jacked, you are on the right flight. You are exactly where God wants you to be.

Hang on. Don't lose hope.

God Exists . . . When things are going to Hell

You can find God in the most unusual places. The movie Con Air is one of those places. If you've watched the movie, you've seen that the film is violent and crude with lots of tension and melodrama. It's not a family film (a great deal of violence --- some adult situations and language) but it does portray some very good values in it's heroes.

Though the question about the existence of God is not a central theme of the movie it is one of the threads in the story where God makes a direct appearance (so to speak). The other threads of godliness are found in friendship, loyalty, devotion, commitment and courage in the face of overwhelming odds and circumstances.

Synopsis of the Movie: The name Con Air is a play on the airline named ComAir. The movie name refers to the fact that an airplane is being used to transport a group of dangerous criminals ("Cons" or "Convicts") by air to a high security prison facility.

Most of the passengers (all in shackles) are violent, high-risk, high-security criminals. Only a few are your average run-of-the-mill convict. One in particular --- our protagonist, Cameron Poe --- is a very low-risk prisoner who has really already served his time and is on the flight only as a means of transferring him from where he served . . . . to freedom.

But things go wrong almost immediately . . . the cons take over the plane . . . and the authorities are after them in hot pursuit to bring them down.

Poe is caught between the violent criminals on board the plane and the Feds --- trying to survive so that he can be reunited with his wife and see his daughter for the first time while at the same time trying to save the lives of the prison guards and his best friend who is first in diabetic shock and then wounded by gunfire.

It's complicated and moves fast --- but if you're paying attention you can see some very good qualities surfacing all through a very bad situation.

Con Air
1997
Touchstone Pictures
Directed by Simon West

Great Compliment

The Best Compliment of My Life

This scene starts out with Melvin saying, "I have a great compliment for you." This frightens Carol but she braces herself because she knows there's no stopping what's to follow.

And what follows is one of the greatest compliments I have ever heard.

It's a little complicated (like Melvin himself) and requires some setup and explanation. But it's worth it.

"You make me want to be a better man."

Nicholson's delivery and acting is superb as he fidgets and fumbles to say the lines as Melvin would. But what is priceless . . . perfection . . . and unforgettable . . . is the speechless changing expressions on Helen Hunt's face as Melvin's meaning dawns on her.

Watch her face. The camera zooms ever so slightly. There are actually about 5 different phases to her expression. Her eyes glisten with tears and ungraspable emotion.

I can watch it (and I have) over and over again. It always touches me.

"And the winner of the award for best female actress in a leading role is: Helen Hunt!"

She has my vote.

When Melvin says, "You make me . . ." Carol knows that he is describing something that is coming from a different place than all of the other voices and demons that he is a slave to every moment of his life.

He's not talking about a compulsion . . . he's not obsessed with her . . . he loves her. And what is coming from him now is something that he genuinely wants to give to Carol.

He's saying, "You inspire me," "You stir me," "You lift me up," "You empower me."

Is there anyone or anything in your life that makes you want to be a better man, a better woman?

This is what puts every thing that I "hate" (I'm using the word "hate" here) or every thing that I don't like or every thing that I wish was different in my life or in the the world in general a proper perspective.

I can do it, I can bear it, I can withstand it, I can surpass it. Because those very things -- my troubles, trials, and tribulations . . . have the greatest possibility of making me a better man.

And I want that.

OK. Here I go . . . . Lord, I want to offer you praise. You make me want to be a better man.

                      Give someone a great compliment today.

There is no spoon.

I  don't know how metaphysical you are, but for me . . . I get tired of reality and all of its limitations. 

To realize the truth (make the truth real) you have to edge off into some deep water, get out of your comfort zone, and let your mind think outside the box.

Even farther than outside the box.

There is no box.

There is no spoon.

I believe that it has always and ever been true that we cannot bend the spoon.  That would be impossible!

The only thing in God's universe that He has given me the power to bend is me.

YOU are not my problem.  You are not my obstacle. You are not my hope. You are not my source. You are not the key to my success or failure. You are not the center of my life. I value what you think of me, but ultimately it does not matter. 

You and many others wish me well . . . or ill. But that does not matter in the scheme of all things.

I furrow my brow, clench my fists and my teeth. I focus and concentrate . . . spending day after day after day aiming the force of my entire being staring with laser attention at spoon, after spoon, after spoon.

Take another look at happy people.  At contented people.  At successful people. At the people that you admire for their peace, calm, and state of being. They are not spoon-bending . . . nor are they trying to bend you.

I have discovered people who know the truth.  

We cannot change, order, manipulate, or bend others. We can only bend ourselves.

There is no spoon.

It's a metaphor.

This is the kind of loser I am . . .

I swing . . . I make contact . . .

Then I always try something that I NEVER try . . . do more than I can do . . . be more than I can be.  To accomplish something that I have never accomplished before.

And I fail.  And I fall.

Down.  Embarrassed.  Humiliated.  Mortified.  Crushed.  Exposed.

And all the time . . . . . I knocked it out of the park.  

It's a metaphor.

Just enjoy the show . . .

I think I'm just like Billy Beane . . . I'm such a loser . . .

Did he get it?     I think maybe he did.

Will I?

I think that this could be my "Let It Go" song.

My "Let It Go" movie.

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