The Season of Movies I Want to See*

Ok, so it's not a whole lot of movies that I want to see, but it's two! Two whole movies. That's pretty rare for me to have multiple options for what I want to see in the theater. Poor husband loves going to the movies, and I always narrow down our options to almost nothing.

*Disclaimer: I'm not endorsing these films, as I haven't seen them yet. They just both make me want to see them.

The first: The Mighty Macs
http://themightymacs.com/

I L-O-V-E sports movies. The triumphs and failures, the coming together as a team, the personal growth, the overcoming obstacles -- how can you not love a feel-good sports film? And now they've added Catholic sisters at an all girls' college to the mix? Hello!!! It's all I can do right now not to run out of the house and buy a ticket at this very moment.

Oh, and having David Boreanz on the billing doesn't hurt either.



The second: The Way
http://theway-themovie.com/index.php

My senior year in college, I interned for a magazine intended for American pilgrims who had or would be walking the Camino de Santiago. The professor who ran the magazine also taught a course about the Camino, and he'd walk it with students during the summer. I never really wanted to walk the Camino because it seemed totally out of my league physically. I've never been camping or long distance hiking, and though I love the outdoors, I've never been outdoorsy. Also, I think you should do a pilgrimage with a specific purpose in your heart, and I didn't have anything in my life that inspired me to go on pilgrimage. Does that make sense? Anyway, I do have two friends who took the Camino class, and then walked the Camino after we graduated on their own. I thought they were both crazy and amazing. This is all to say that I have a lot of Camino in my life without ever dreaming of doing the Camino myself. I think this movie is required viewing for me.
Things might be changing in the Camino direction though. I heard an interview that Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen did on NPR last week, and while it made me want to see the film, it also set me to thinking about the Camino de Santiago for the first time in a long time. Then my grandmother brought up the film when we were talking on the phone, and said how she'd like to see it. Later that week, I sat down to write Grandma a letter and found myself telling her that I think I might finally have realized that I have something in my life that would inspire me to undertake a pilgrimage. Granted, I was feeling very blue about our childlessness that week, but it really struck me that this very thing making me come apart at the seams could be a reason to walk the Camino. Most people, back in the medieval times, walked the Camino de Santigo as a big request or a big thank you to God. I always envision it being something like "Dear God, if You spare my family from the plague sweeping the countryside, I will do whatever You ask of me. I will walk el Camino de Santiago to show you my deep and abiding gratitude, faith, and love." This is only my imagination of course, but you can see why I didn't feel like I had a good reason to go with my friends after college. There was nothing life or death related in my little world. Now there is a big life request in my world.

Of course, I know that going on a pilgrimage is not making a deal with God. Just because you do this, doesn't mean God gives you what you want. However, I think it's sort of like a big neon sign of faith and worship to Him, and that makes Him happy. Since I'm not currently bringing about the Kingdom of God by raising children, even though that's how I want to be doing it, clearly it's not happening yet, and I need to find another way to praise God. Walking the Camino is an immensely difficult physical sacrifice, and frankly I've not done much of that. Maybe it's time to start. What do you think? Any Camino walkers out there? And any other movies you really want to see?

-January