This article continues our Power of Film series, in which thoughtful viewers share their experiences of meeting God at the movies. (SPOILERS are possible in this series.)
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It was a tough for me to choose a single powerful movie, because a lot of films really touch me, and I deeply experience them both during the viewing and in the days afterwards. However, I chose Eat, Pray, Love. I know many critics hate the movie because it does not do justice to the book. I did not read the book (although most people say I should since I so connected with the movie).
Eat, Pray, Love is about a woman who has gone through life finding her identity in other people, particularly her romantic relationships. At no point did she ever truly figure out who she was or what she wanted, but instead jumped from relationship to relationship and whatever that guy wanted or enjoyed. She finally hits a point later in life where she realizes this and decides to go on a year-long trip to Italy, India, and Bali in search of her soul and identity.
The movie portrays this as both a physical and spiritual journey. In short, she begins to find her identity while eating her way through Italy. She continues that journey by praying through India while adding on a spiritual component to her search. Finally. she ends up loving her way through Bali where she continues to connect spirituality and adds on a new romantic relationship that she is now prepared to handle.
I find it beautiful how she tackles each aspect of her life one by one and slowly adds in another component when she is ready. She still struggles with each battle throughout the whole story, but she becomes stronger and stronger as time goes on, and she is able to bring on the added challenges (whether she feels she is actually ready or not).
This movie is ever evolving. Every time I watch it, something new speaks to my soul. No matter what part of the journey I am on lately in my life, there is a scene, quote, or conversation that hits me to the core. It’s as though God is telling me something about my life that I need to hear at that moment. The Divine is bringing me to these examples to encourage me, to get me through tough times.
“Ruin is a gift… ruin is the road to transformation” – I write down quotes like these and keep with me long after I have watched the movie. They continue to move me in everyday moments. Somehow seeing somebody go through a similar situation (or what eerily often seems to be identical) makes me not feel so alone in my pain and struggles. Plus having the character go through the pain and come out smiling and healthier on the other side is uplifting. Especially when I am in such darkness, it can be a light into my soul and hope for a future that I perhaps could not see before.
“God dwells within me as me” – this was one of the things she learned while she was going through her spiritual discernment in India. Whenever I start to feel distant from God or disconnected from life, I am reminded by this quote that The Divine is always with me even when I don’t see or feel it. I believe that She works through me (through all of us) because She is at the core of who I am.
I’m not sure if I put the movie in the DVD player because God is moving me to or if it’s just because I am going through a tough time and know that I will be uplifted from the story and its strong yet struggling female character. Does it matter why I am compelled to press play? I think what matters more is the spiritual experience that I feel during and after the film in the way God speaks to me in those hard moments.