The Cosmic Game of Tag
In previous posts, I expound on the topic of humans pursuing God. Pursuing God requires spiritual transformation. This transformation allows humans to “see” alternative realities; that is, the journey from seeing a different perspective to ultimately absorbing God’s kingdom through all mediums presented by God. Why should humans want to engage in this pursuit? Ricky Fitts in American Beauty “sees” the mediums presented to him, actually using a video camera to document them so he doesn’t forget. He proclaims to Jane:
Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take it… and my heart is going to cave in.
Lester Burnham — after he dies — “sees” the enormity of the beauty that Ricky Fitts “sees.” This concept is so critical to the film that it is reproduced by Lester and he adds the following at the end of American Beauty:
I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me… but it’s hard to stay mad, when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst…and then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life… You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure. But don’t worry…
The question then becomes: Why does God pursue human beings? The answer lies in God’s role as “creator.” One of the greatest satisfactions human beings experience is creating, whether it be an art project, do-it-yourself remodeling of a home, or birthing a child. Common to all creations is the desire to protect it, demonstrating pride in the creation and even enhancing it. Logically, God pursues human beings because he created them. Human beings possess the ability to choose their paths - pursuing God, eschewing God or randomly drifting. Because God created human beings, God pursues them regardless of the paths chosen. In keeping with the divine spark inherent in all forms of God’s creations, God pursues human beings across all genders, sexual orientations, and religious preferences. That is, God does not pursue Christians to the exclusion of Muslims nor does God pursue heterosexuals to the exclusion of homosexuals. God just pursues, and will keep pursuing.
This is the “game” of cosmic “tag.” The continuous pursuit of God and of God toward human beings culminates in the explosion of “seeing,” of experiencing beauty often clouded and distorted and even hidden by the meaningless pursuits of human beings contrived by the current culture. The emerging reality are the lies and delusion suffered but overcome by Lester Burnham. A key question emerging from American Beauty is this: to what extent do you employ strategies to survive a reality you know is meaningless? Ricky Fitts dealt drugs to generate money so that he could document beauty. In a meaningless reality, what is morality?
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