Love me tender, love me sweet, never let me go.
-Elvis
It is as healthy to enjoy sentiment as to enjoy jam.
-GK Chesterton
I have a certain love for the ridiculous. There is a special place in my heart for b-movies and sappy songs. I can’t get enough action movies, 80s TV shows, and tidy British murder mysteries. I will happily watch gooey alien movies, predictable musicals, and sweaty-palmed thrillers. And when it comes to music, my favorite singers are usually unapologetic crooners and seemingly over-the-top feelers, including Chris Isaak, She & Him, Brandi Carlile, Patsy Cline, Elvis, and Roy Orbison. The ridiculous can be a marvelous way to break through our modern cynicism and embrace the wonderful, silly, and even heartbreaking things in our lives.
For instance, I love most genres of film, and there are so many reasons for loving each. You have to read each genre differently. The reason I love b-movies, for example, is that they are remarkably like real life. In a b-movie, the script is usually flat, never delivered pitch-perfect, the casting feels off, and the props probably came from Goodwill. And how much like everyday life does that feel like? How many times do I feel like I messed up all my lines with friends and family? I wince all the time at my delivery. I playback scenes in my head and laugh at myself. I look in the mirror and see the opposite of an A-lister. B-movies are worth watching because they remind us that life is not perfect, that you can’t take it too seriously, that you have to laugh at the ridiculous that happens all the time. They also remind us that even though our artistic visions or life goals may not always be realized, it’s still worth it to create, to try, to give something to the world. I think that’s really wonderful.
Jesus’ life on earth was actually full of strange plot points, crazy cast members, and unlikely settings, too. He should have come to earth like a celebrity, shrouded in mystery and glamour and totally un-relatable to the everyday person. Yet Jesus was born to poor parents in a scandalous situation, worked long days as a laborer most of his earthly life, and had the most contrasting company of friends ever described. He should have shown his power to everyone, yet chose to live a common life, and He was no stranger to the sorrows of humankind. I would say He was no stranger to the joys of humankind either. He must have taken great joy in having His first miracle be at a wedding celebration. He loved community and friendship; He even said to His disciples, “I no longer call you servants but friends.” What a thing for the King of the universe to say. This could be an unbelievable story, if it were not for the presence of the ridiculous, the miracles in our own lives.
I love expressive, emotional songs, too. During a very dark time in my life a few years ago, I would lay on the floor in my little studio apartment and listen to Patsy Cline and Pat Green over and over again. I had become icy and hard, staring without seeing. These songs taught me to feel again. Patsy’s crooning reminded me that it was okay to feel whatever I was feeling. Sappy songs show us that feeling is normal, and that feeling makes us human. Feeling is not everything, but we must know what we feel to make sense of our lives. To feel is to know ourselves, to begin moving in a right direction. Emotional songs remind me a little of David’s Psalms, which are packed with feeling and emotion and questioning and sorrow. David, though, always ends on a note of determined hope, of a settled center in God’s faithfulness, no matter the circumstances. I really love that. To feel what we feel and always return to the God who is bigger than our fears, our regrets, our disappointments. Return to the God who can and who will redeem all things. Return to the God who feels. The God who wept over his dead friend, the God who was touched with compassion for the demanding crowds who followed him, the God who freely forgave His enemies.
I want to practice looking for the things that make me laugh and embrace my life as it is, the things that help me feel my way through this world, whatever they might be. The Apostle Paul says that God chose what is foolish to shame the wise, what is weak to shame the strong. I love that.
