Wednesday, February 25, 2004

10:41 AM You can view the latest photos from the Costa Rica men’s ministry trip here and here. 6:21 AM I can hardly keep my eyes open. Last night after the “Ask Pastor Ray” Q&A with the 20/20 group, I was thinking on the way home how tired I was. When I got home Marlene said that Mark had called. Several days ago I asked him if he could find a theater with a midnight showing of “The Passion of the Christ.” Since this is opening day, and since the movie has garnered so much publicity, I figured that some theater in Chicago would probably have a 12:01 AM showing. Mark checked and told me several days ago that he couldn’t find one. That’s when I made arrangements to see the movie later today. But last night Mark called to say that sometime yesterday a Loew’s Cineplex in the city added a midnight showing at the last minute. Mark and some Moody friends decided to go. He called to say he had an extra ticket and did I want to come along? It was 9:45 PM when Marlene told me. I thought about it and decided it was one of those “Let’s make a memory” moments. So I called him and said I’d go. He was pumped and told me to be at Moody by 10:45 PM. When I arrived, he jumped in the car, all excited because I was going. He said all the guys were excited too. So we got to the theater by 11 PM and found ours seats. Along about then I started thinking that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. At about 11:40 PM a woman from the theater announced that they were sold-out, that they had turned away a ton of people, and that this was the first true public showing of the film in Chicago—meaning not a preview, not purchased by a church group, and open to the public. By the time the movie started I could hardly keep my eyes open. Everything people say about it is true. The movie is unlike anything else I’ve ever seen. It slaps you in the face and never lets up for a moment. I can testify that the first scenes are well-done. The scourging by the Roman soldiers presents a level of violence unlike anything I’ve seen before. I noticed that the theater became quiet and stayed that way for the entire movie. I fell asleep several times, and slept through most of the crucifixion. What I saw seemed realistic. I woke up in time to see the Resurrection. I finally got back home around 3 AM. This isn’t much of a review, but that doesn’t matter because I’m going to see the movie again in 6 1/2 hours.