Photo by: Jonathan
It begins with Hubble pictures of the cosmos and the whispered question, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4,7)
As a film, The Tree of Life, written and directed by Terrence Malick, and starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, and Jessica Chastain has gotten mixed reviews. Some are captured by the visual poetry, spirituality and realism that tell the story of “lost souls” through the journey of life. Others don’t appreciate Malick’s use of the book of Job as a point of reference.
Tracking the lives of 3 brothers growing up in the 1950s, this slow moving, powerful story shows the profoundly tested influence and heart of a mother who believes there are two ways to live in life: the way of nature and the way of grace.
According to the mother’s (Jessica Chastain) whispered thoughts: “The nuns taught us there were two ways through life – the way of nature and the way of grace. You have to choose which one you’ll follow… Grace doesn’t try to please itself… Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked… Accepts insults and injuries…Nature only wants to please itself… Get others to please it too… Likes to lord it over them… To have its own way… It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it… And love is smiling through all things… The nuns taught us that no one who loves the way of grace ever comes to a bad end…” (before her life is shattered by bad news).
The father (Brad Pitt), by contrast, tries to prepare his boys to be strong in the strength and, at times, severe and over-controlling ways of a man. He’s a father who says, “It takes fierce will to get ahead in this world…” and, “I’ve just wanted you to grow up strong, be your own man…”
Viewers watch young Jack (Hunter McCracken) come of age (Sean Penn) in a world where “loss of innocence” is everyone’s experience.
The result is a film that holds in tension the beauty, wonder, and design of the universe with the unanswerable questions and probing realism of the book of Job.
So what happens if viewers are intrigued enough by the quote from Job, and check out its context and what it contributes to the bigger story of the Bible?
In what may be the oldest “book” in the Bible, we are reminded that:
1. Some human suffering is the result of bad choices (Job 4:7-8)
2. Some suffering comes from a spiritual enemy who is trying to prove that we only trust God for what we can get out of him, and that if he doesn’t come through for us, we’ll show God what we really think of him (Job 1:6-22).
3. It’s a mistake to believe those who have taught us that we all prosper or suffer in proportion to the character of our choices.
4. Sustained suffering can disillusion even the best of God’s servants.
5. At the lowest moments of our lives, God may use the wonders of we call “natural” to remind us that he has given us reasons to trust him, and that the story of those who do trust him will eventually have a good ending (Job 38-42).
In addition, though, it’s important to remember that the question that shows up in the prologue to Malick’s Tree of Life also needs to be read as a prologue to the Bible– rather than its conclusion.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” is a question that reminds us of the immeasurable wisdom, power, and glory of our Creator. The rest of the story of the Bible brings us eventually to another question that reflects the immeasurable love of our God.
The same Creator who tested Job with questions eventually cried out to his own Father, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46). In that moment The Tree of Life took on a whole meaning.
Who could have foreseen that the beauty of the original tree of life could be one day surpassed by an executioners cross? Who could have predicted that our God would prove his love for us, and enter into our deepest sense of abandonment…
A hurting Mrs Obrien (Jack’s mother) whispering to God …”Where were You?… Did you know?”
Young Jack asking his own questions of his Creator...”Where were You? You let a boy die. You let anything happen. Why should I be good ? When You aren’t.”
…While turning a tree of death into the ultimate Tree of Life?
(+61 rating, 63 votes)
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