Horror Movie

“Horror Movie”
Lent 2009 – Day 17 (Mar 16)

By Deshi Ramadhani, SJ

Had you come to my place at one o’clock A.M. during these past two days, you would have met three of our young Jesuits awake in front of the TV. To everybody’s surprise, these young men have suddenly become fascinated by horror movies! I’m not really a fan, but I can tell that a horror movie can be so attractive precisely because of its constant surprising uncertainty. The more uncertain you are drawn to be through the movie, the more exciting it is. Before long, you begin to think: “Wow! That was scary and unexpected, now give me something scarier!”

Welcome to one of human paradoxes! Facing real life, we want everything to be certain. We even lament when life becomes so uncertain. Strangely, we can be entertained and even relaxed by horror movies with all their uncertainties. Unconsciously we are often torn apart in our own expectations: “certainty” or “surprise”? Naaman, the commander-in-chief, has to learn about this. He needs to learn to accept that sometimes God’s ways are no surprise at all. Instead of being asked to wash himself in a beautiful river, he is asked to go to the Jordan River. Oh please…! No surprise? Too simple! Too certain! Give me something bigger and more uncertain!

Same thing happens to Jesus’ hometown’s people. They know Jesus too well. No uncertainty, no mystery, no hidden surprise about this man. Had Jesus lived in this age, He would have said: “No prophet is accepted and respected by his own friends on the Facebook! All these friends know his every ‘status.’ No more surprise!” When God becomes so simple and certain, we can even doubt: “Is this really God?” Yes, we may be off-track if we always apply the enjoyable uncertainty of a horror movie to God.