Fan-dom and God

In the past year or so, I have discovered the interesting world of fan-dom. Up to this point, I have occasionally admired actors, directors, authors, and politicians but the desire to connect with them never became acute. I figured that there was nothing I could say or do that would ever register on their radar, and so there was no particular point in making any effort.

And then, in the process of doing some personal research on Bollywood, I stumbled on the blog of Amitabh Bachchan. I admire the man's work, and would ordinarily have left it at that. But in the blog, I discovered an invitation to see the world through his eyes, to be a part of his "FmXt" (as he calls the extended family of his blog readers and commentators). Having never gathered an autograph in my life nor wanted one, I even joined the throng of those who asked for a "yellow line," the virtual equivalent of an autograph, Bachchan's way of responding to comments on the blog. It shows you that Amitabh himself has actually read your comment--he claims to read all of them--and taken a moment to respond. Yes, the day I got one, even though I asked for it, it made my day, even though I felt silly about caring so much.

All of this got me thinking about what it is that these throngs of fans actually want from the person that they clamor to be near. A movie star comes by and is inundated with requests for photos, handshakes, autographs--some proof that we have been in their presence, some acknowledgment that we exist. "Me, me, me, look at me" we cry. If we could, we would have them actually relate to us, though I suspect that most of us would be tongue-tied if we really came face to face with these greats that we admire. What would you say, what could you ask that would be meaningful? "I love you, I love your work, it has touched me so deeply." Here's what happened to one person.

So what does this have to do with God?

First of all, God is greater than any person that I may admire. I fervently hope that my admiration for any person does not approach worship. And yet this pale copy may show me something of what real worship entails. "Dear Sir, I am in awe of your work." "O God, all that you have made is amazing. When we look at the stars, we see the work of your hands; even a handful of sand or dirt is an amazing thing full of complexity and wondrous possibility." "Dear Sir, your book or your performance changed my life." "O God, you heal my heart, you transform my life in ways beyond counting."

God is greater, and yet he is also much more willing and able to pay attention to us than these human stars. We clamor for a Tweet or a wave, an autograph or a handshake. For years, fans have been mobbing Amitabh Bachchan's house in Mumbai every Sunday evening that he is home,just for the chance to see him wave to the crowds.
Yet when we pray, we have an assurance that God hears us, that he knows us through and through. For God, we are not one face in the thronging masses of admirers. We are intimately known and personally loved. It's a wonder to me.

--A Fan of God

Make a Wish

Amitabh Bachchan as Genius, the genie, in Aladin

My grown son, David, and I went to Aladin this weekend, the new Hindi movie starring Amitabh Bachchan as the genie. See a promo for the movie. The movie has subtitles, and is available for a little while at a few movie theaters in the US. After that, I think that your best bet for legal viewing in the US will be www.erosentertainment.com. I will not call this a deep movie, but it's fun.

I respect Amitabh Bachchan greatly as an actor, and have also been delighted to get to know him a bit as a person through following his blog, which he is amazingly faithful at writing. Since he is one of the most famous actors in India, I was initially startled to find that this one is not a fake, the man actually writes a daily blog, the quality and consistency of which is an inspiration to bloggers everywhere.

On the way home, we got talking about wishes and genies. David pointed out that in the stories, and certainly in this version of the story, people seem to have given very little thought to what wishes they would make if a genie showed up. He allowed as how this is a topic that he has given a great deal of thought to over the years (presumably to be ready, should the opportunity arise. One never knows what the day may bring.) The key issues in his mind were that you have to wish for things that would be useful, but not to wish for anything that would change your nature, or the nature of people around you. His suggestion for this was to wish first for a large amount of money (he suggested that a hundred billion dollars would be nice, if you could also request no accompanying hyper-inflation) followed by the ability to play all musical instruments well, and the ability to speak and understand all languages fluently.

It got me thinking about the fact that the Bible has a "wish fulfillment" story, though not the traditional three wishes of the fairy tales. Solomon was given a wish after he built the Temple (2 Chronicles 1:7-12). God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." Wow! And Solomon chose pretty well, too, asking for wisdom and insight to be able to lead the people and thus fulfill his duties as king. He doesn't wind up with a sausage glued to the end of his nose, or with a gift that destroys everyone around him. His request actually makes God happy, and he not only gets what he asked for but lots of other stuff as well, "wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have," thrown in as a bonus. But it still goes sour in the end, because Solomon lacks the one key thing that his father David had, a heart fully devoted to God. And in the end, all of Solomon's wisdom does not provide the blessing of a heart that is turned to God.

The thing that Jesus suggests we seek, rather than riches, rather than wisdom to rule a kingdom, is the kingdom of God, a gift that he says the Father is pleased to give us, though perhaps we would do well to remember than right after the assurance that it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom comes the command to sell our possessions and give to the poor (Luke 12:31-33). Something to think about.

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 1:20)