Don Wimmer has a dream. Don’t we all? Isn’t there something each and every one of us wants to do, to accomplish, to experience, to become? Isn’t Don each of us? Aren’t we all Don?
Don wants to be a professional skateboarder. Don is on the downhill side of middle aged. Don doesn’t really do anything other than dream. Maybe we aren’t all like Don after all. Or maybe we are.
We have a chance to find out. A documentary film crew learned about Don’s dream and decided to follow him around with a camera as he pursued it. The resulting film is Dropping In: The Don Wimmer Story, and Reel Spirituality is proud to screen the film this Friday (4/15) night at 7 PM in Travis Auditorium, a discussion with the filmmakers to follow.
I also encourage you to visit the website for the film (www.droppinginmovie.com) to see footage of Don in action and to view the film’s trailer. I wish I could include the videos for you here in this article, but alas, we have reached the limit of the SEMI’s technological prowess in the words and images on this page, well designed as they are. Once you’ve watched a video or two, some back here to read more.
Now, you’re probably asking yourself, is this a true story? Let me ask you a question – What is a “true story?” For a tale to be “true,” must it be factual? Must is be based in historical happenings? And even if Don Wimmer’s story is based on fact, is it then necessarily true? Doesn’t the filmmaking process itself, in the selection and editing of the images shown create a tale from what is true? Might we better call a story true if it contains truth, if it shows us something about its subjects, about our world, about ourselves?
Don Wimmer’s story, whether factual or not, is, I dare say, true, because it illuminates a bit of human experience in a way that is faithful to my life. Matthew Manus, the creative mind behind this film has called it the “most Christian” film he’s ever made for this very reason. Don Wimmer’s story is true no matter how you see it.
So, drop in Friday night (4/15) at 7 PM for an investigation of the truth contained in Don Wimmer’s tale. Dare to be illuminated by truth.
