SOLACE, WITH ANTHONY HOPKINS, MOVIE REVIEW

The 2015 movie Solace, directed by Alfonso Poyart, was released in 2016, and stars Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Abbie Cornish, and Colin Farrell. This movie was pitched as a science-fiction film, which I initially found to be  intriguing, because it involves a contemporary setting (rather than the usual futuristic setting which many sci-fi movies are), no aliens, and no robots trying to take over the world, just a couple of detectives and a consultant trying to solve a murder. The FBI consultant, Dr. John Clancy, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, is called upon by Agent Joe Merriwether (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to assist the FBI psychologist Katherine Cowles (Abbie Cornish) in solving this crime. Yet from the outset, we discover that Clancy and Cowles are unlikely to be willing to work together - and this is where the science fiction becomes apparent.  

THE CONTRIBUTION OF ANTHONY HOPKINS

I suspect Anthony Hopkins (December 31st 1937 - ) is in the enviable position for an actor that he gets to choose which roles he wishes to accept. And based on the actor’s most recent starring roles, he must have a lot to choose from. And when one considers the types of movies that Sir Anthony has selected there is an interesting golden thread through this particular selection including: 

Solace - John Clancy (2016), 

The Two Popes* - Pope Benedict XVI (2019), 

The Father - Anthony Evans (2020), 

One Life* - Nicolas Winton (2023) 

Freud’s Last Session - Sigmund Freud (2023) 

Mary* - King Herod (2024)    

This is not an exhaustive list of Hopkin’s movies, but this selection reveals a consistent supernatural and ethical thread through this particular selection. Half of this selection are true stories.* The movie I am commenting on, Solace, is not a true story but it is an example of Hopkins choosing to do a film which has supernatural and ethical themes which was oddly presented as science fictions by the producers.

ABOUT SOLACE

How is Solace a supernatural-ethical movie? Dr. John Clancy is a man living with a dark secret which comes to haunt him with his reengagement as an FBI homicide consultant. Clancy is a deeply spiritual man who has spent most of his life as a physician working with the dying, whom the FBI regard as psychic with his ability read people and situations.  This ability was perhaps heightened after the unfortunate death of his only child, his daughter, Emma. Katherine Cowles, the FBI psychologist is a sceptic and materialist who finds the invitation of Joe Merriwether for Clancy to be involved in this homicide case to be pointless. But as Cowles and Clancy spend time together investigating this murder she becomes aware that he is rather unusual with his ability to detect and see things that others can not. She then challenges Clancy to tell her what he sees when he looks at her. Clancy’s insights into her previously secretive past stuns her.

The case they are working on together leads them to finally track down the serial killer in the hope of preventing him from killing again. As they eventually trap the murderer, what happens is a significant twist where it is revealed that it was not only Cowles who was carrying a painful secret. The lead FBI detective, Joe Merriwether, was also carrying a painful secret - a secret which only Clancy had perceived. As the murderer is caught by Clancy's clever perception of his next move, we then learn that Charles Ambrose (Colin Farrell) also had a dark secret which Clancy had failed to perceive. But what no-one had perceived was that Clancy was carrying an immensely painful secret that had also contributed to the temporary estrangement from his wife. The irony of his secret is only grasped after his exchange with Charles Ambrose, the murderer, by attempting to explain to him that killing people is not a merciful act, and definitely not a compassion one. Clancy speaks to him as an experienced physician who has been at the bedside of numerous dying patients and tries to help to understand that in a person’s final moments there is a lot of what I might call ‘soul-cleansing’ that happens as a patient settles accounts with those they may had haboured unforgiveness toward and is able to share their final moments conveying their love for those closest to them. But Ambrose is fatally indifferent to Clancy’s admonitions.    

I appreciated this movie’s ‘science fiction’ label and it’s profoundly connotative presentation of the unmeasurable value of human life and why our final moments in natural death are sacred. I am aware that the subtleties of such connotative messaging may be lost on most viewers of Solace but I think that many people who appreciate their ethical instructions wrapped in fantasy will find this movie much more than just entertaining - and perhaps even heart-warming.

Dr. Andrew Corbett

THINGS CHRISTIANS CAN'T TALK ABOUT, PART 4 - Death

I have long said that my primary role as a shepherd-pastor is to help people to die well. To do this, as I have often said, requires that we learn how to live life well. Of all the normally uncomfortable subjects that Christians find it difficult to talk about, death should not be one of them. But it is. This is because, of all the world religions, only Christianity has a positive view of death. After all, we have a divine Saviour who confronted and conquered death. As a result the original apostles mocked death.

“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
¶ The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.”
First Corinthians 15:55-56

These apostles refused to be intimidated by death which was ultimately evidenced by their martyrdoms. The apostle Paul could look forward to his death with the obvious lament that he would no longer be available to help those he had led to the Lord (Phil. 1:23-25). But he could face his impending death with the assurance that it would mean that he would immediately be in the presence of his Lord — and so should we! And like Paul, we too should be be able to talk about death in a very different way to those who do not know what we know.

 

A NON-CHRISTIAN VIEW OF DEATH

For the non-Christian, death might be thought of as “the end” – especially for the one trying to think like an atheist. For the Hindu or Buddhist death might be considered the end of one “life cycle” and/or depending on whether they had attained nirvana or not it might be thought of as their dissolution into the all-powerful Brahma (this is known as reincarnation). For a Muslim man, death might be thought of as the doorway into Paradise where all of his erotic pleasures will be perpetually satisfied. Mormons (“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”), who share many similarities with Muslims, also see death as a doorway to this ‘Paradise’ but as separate planets for each Mormon male who will attain to the status of a god equal to God the Father. For Seventh-Day Adventists, death is the end of this life and when the soul will transition into a state of “sleep” (this is known as soul sleep). Jehovah’s Witnesses see death as a doorway where 144,000 chosen people will get to get to heaven and the rest will be given a choice to either live again on the New Earth for a thousands years, or be annihilated. 

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:4-5

HOW JESUS VIEWED DEATH

Death is not the final end. It is an end, but not the end. Biblically, ‘death’ means separation. James writes that faith separated from works is dead, just as the body separated from the spirit is dead (James 2:26). Thus, physical death occurs when the body is separated from its life-giving spirit. In a similar way then, spiritual death (referred to in Ephesians 2:1-5) occurs when a person is separated from God, the Source of True Life.

After the eternal Son of God was born of a woman, He saw physical and spiritual death as a result of the Fall from innocence into sin which led to the first man and woman’s expulsion from the garden of Eden’s Tree of Life (Gen. 3:1-7). The evil one (who became known as the devil)  had manipulated a serpent illegally (witchcraft always involves deceitful manipulation) to ruin the woman and the man. The writer to the Hebrews states that Christ came to destroy the one who illegally had gained the power of death:

¶ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood,
He Himself likewise partook of the same things,
that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death,
that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Hebrews 2:14-15

Throughout Christ’s earthly ministry, he frequently demonstrated His power over death by raising several dead people back to life (Matt. 9:18-26; Luke 7:11-16; John 11). Jesus certainly did not see physical death as the end and warned people that it was matter of far greater concern than their physical death that they be reconciled spiritually to God in this life so that they would not be separated from God the Father for all eternity:

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28

After Jesus had risen from the dead and thereby demonstrated that He had conquered death, He appeared to the banished apostle John:

¶ When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead.
But He laid His right hand on me, saying,
“Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one.
I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
Revelation 1:17-18

The writer to the Romans declared that the Risen Christ had conquered death once and for all and He could never die again (Rom. 6:9). Ultimately, he tells the Corinthians, death itself will eventually cease to exist when it is finally destroyed (1Cor. 15:26). Because of Christ conquering death, the imprisoned Apostle Paul could write:

¶ Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me His prisoner,
but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling,
not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace,
which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus,
who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel
Second Timothy 1:8-10

HOW THE APOSTLES VIEWED DEATH

As persecution began to intensify and the number of Christian martyrs was increasing, Paul wrote to the Thessalonians and told them:

¶ But we do not want you to be uninformed,
brothers, about those who are asleep,
that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
First Thessalonians 4:13

Jesus had told the father of a dead girl that his daughter wasn’t dead, but that she was sleeping (Mark 5:39) before He raised her back to life. And Paul described the death of the Thessalonian martyrs also as sleep. The apostles viewed death as a toothless lion for the believer. They were certain that the grave was not the end for the believer – Christ’s resurrection had guaranteed that. The apostle Peter referred to what awaited the believer after their death as “a living hope”:

¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
According to his great mercy,
He has caused us to be born again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
First Peter 1:3

James, the brother of Jesus, became the apostle over the churches in Jerusalem. When he wrote his epistle he wrote to Christians about how to care for the dying. Those in the last stages of life, with only perhaps hours left to live, should be surrounded by people who know how to pray, and then the elders should visit and ornamentally anoint the dying with oil to prepare them for their death and burial with the symbol of the Holy Spirit (oil) to reassure them that they would be “raised up” in the resurrection, because their sins had been forgiven –

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church,
and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.
And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
James 5:14-15

Many people fail to see the context of what James is telling believers. When someone is dying as a result of injury or illness, it is not necessarily the result of a curse, or lack of faith, or some secret sin. But how should we talk to someone who has been given a prognosis of how time they have left to live? 

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment
Hebrews 9:27

 

HOW TO TALK TO A DYING PERSON

The apostles spoke of death as a defeated foe. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis noted that the ‘world’ (under the sway of the devil) has long attempted to use death to eradicate Christianity, through persecution and martyrdom, and with each burst of persecution and round of martyrdom the world has been disappointed. Lewis said, this disappointment began with the crucifixion and has only got worse for the world and devil with each failed attempt to dissuade others from becoming worshipers of Christ.

When we are with a loved one who is in their final moments, which can be painful and disconcerting for them as their longing for relief magnifies, God is gifting His beloved with an appreciation for lies ahead:  a resurrected, glorified, body, incapable of pain, sorrow, or weariness (Rev. 21.4). This brief time of transition from this life into the presence of Christ is an act of God’s grace. It is an essential part of true euthanasia (Gr. “eu” = ‘good’ + “thanos” = ‘death’) which has long been called natural death. 

What man can live and never see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
Psalm 89:48

We are culturally conditioned to use polite questions in our ordinary social interactions. This is the basis for a civil society.

“Hello”
“Hello”
“How are you?”
“Good thanks. How are you?”

This works perfectly well when both involved in this polite conversation are well. But when one person is terminally ill, it can be awkward — especially when the terminally ill doesn’t look ill. We may not be aware though that someone, who responded to our polite enquiry with a “Fine thanks”, is actually gravely ill. From experience, I have found that such people can get weary about talking about their health challenges and would rather just answer with a “Fine thanks”. But there are times when you might want to follow up your polite question with: “May I ask how you really are?” But what do you ask a terminally ill person whom you know only has months left to live?

When someone you know has told you plainly that they are terminally ill, then you might consider these alternate questions (I don’t offer them as replacement questions for conversations with your healthy friends) :

“Is your soul well?”
“Is your heart at peace?”
“What is left for you to do?”
“How would you like me to pray for you?”

I have not taken the time to discuss how not to talk with a terminally ill person. But I will offer these very brief thoughts: (i) Do not offer false hope for their recovery; (ii) Do not assume that it is always God’s will for someone to be healed; (iii) Do not tell a non-Christian (or an unrepentant) atheist that they “will be going to heaven.”

Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD,
and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
Ezekiel 18:23

 

HOW TO GRIEVE

¶ Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.
Psalm 116:15

Grief is the impulsive emotion that we each feel when we experience loss. It often induces tears. Weeping is now considered by psychological researchers to be extremely therapeutic. Grieving may include something as petty as the emotion we feel when Geelong loses its rightful place in the AFL season’s ending finals (even though it has definitely resulted in tears;). Or, the more weighty loss of losing a job or marriage that we enjoyed. Or, the weightiest of all losses, the unexpected passing of a loved one. We are created to be able to grieve. There are stages of grief that are common to all people. In summary, these stages include: disbelief > sadness > anger > withdrawal > acceptance > learning to live with a wound and the memory of what has been lost. Therefore, when interacting with the grieving, listen carefully for which stage of their grief they are experiencing, and be patient with them. Please do not say such things as, “Shouldn’t you be ‘moving on’ by now?”      

Pastor at Large,

Dr. Andrew Corbett

I hope some of these thoughts help you to be more comfortable talking about death and dying. Let me know in the comments  if these thoughts have helped.

WISDOM FROM COUNTING

 WISDOM FROM COUNTING

A brush with death will sometimes have a dramatic effect upon a person. It can (and has) cause(d) people to re-evaluate their priorities and reset their life on a completely different course. This phenomena has been the basis for several Hollywood blockbusters including, Big Fish (starring Albert Finney, Ewan McGregor, Danny DeVito), and Meet Joe Black (starring Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt) are two great examples. But it’s not just the stuff of movies. Throughout history there have people who have had a brush with death which has shaped them to live a life without fear and accomplish extraordinary things. Examples include Martin Luther, who nearly died in a storm and cried out to God to save him (he is now the second most written about person of all time), and Winston Churchill who nearly drowned as a child. How differently would you live if you knew when you were going to die?

¶ So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12

MAKE YOUR DAYS COUNT

Talk to an older person and you’ll often hear them say that the years have flown by. In fact, I heard one man nearing his 70th birthday remark, “The years fly by while the days drag on!” The apostle Paul was someone who knew that he was about to face death. Before he left this life for the next, he wrote to his protégé, Timothy and said:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. ¶ Do your best to come to me soon.
Second Timothy 4:7-9

Paul described his life as like running a race and his death as being like a finish-line — but not the end of his life (since he went on to describe receiving a crown after the race). The grave is not the end of our life. Paul had lived a life where he had reasons to be confident that he could finish well. He wasn’t saying that he had been perfect, in fact, he describes himself as the greatest of all sinners (1Tim. 1:15). What Paul did do though was to make the most of the negative circumstances he was in so that he could be a blessing to others. From his imprisonment in Rome he wrote his epistles to the Ephesians (Eph. 6:20), the Colossians (Col. 4:18), to Titus, Philemon (Philem. 1:9) and to Timothy (2Tim. 2:9). And while he refers to be imprisoned, he never asked for his recipients to pray for his release or for his circumstances to be improved. Rather, his concern was for those he was writing to. To the Colossians, the death-row apostle counselled-

¶ Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
Colossians 4:5

Making the best use of time requires wisdom. The psalmist said that when we realise our days are numbered we will develop a heart for wisdom (Psalm 90:12). I guess therefore that the opposite is also true — that when ignore that our days are numbered and we assume that our lives will continue on indefinitely, we are more inclined to live foolishly. This is why the story of King Hezekiah’s final years is even more tragic than it ordinarily would be.

 

THE MAN WHOSE DAYS WERE NUMBERED

How different would you start living today if you knew when your life on earth would end? One of Israel’s greatest kings became horribly sick. He called for Isaiah the prophet to pray for him. Instead, the LORD spoke to King Hezekiah and told him that he was about to die. Hezekiah then wept bitterly and made an impassioned plea to God to preserve his life. Remarkably God did. Before Isaiah had left the palace the LORD once again spoke to him and gave him the remedy for Hezekiah’s illness and the news that God was going to give the king a further 15 years of life. Hezekiah’s days were then literally numbered (5,478 days left).

And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment,
Hebrews 9:27

What Hezekiah did with his 15 years of grace stands as a solemn warning for all God’s people. Rather than doing what the apostle Paul would later do, Hezekiah tragically grew increasingly arrogant and conceited. He mistook his increased wealth and fame as God’s blessing and approval. Rather than working at leaving a material and spiritual legacy, Hezekiah sired a successor who would commit the most godless atrocities in all of Israel’s history, and lead Israel into idolatry, apostasy, and its eventual destruction.

Plan for the future but live as if this day may be your last!

Not many of us will have the historical and global impact of a Martin Luther or a Winston Churchill, but we can gain a heart of wisdom to live our remaining days well by learning to number our days. While getting your golf handicap down or taking a cruise to another south Pacific island may be high on your Must-Do list, they probably shouldn’t be at the top of your list. The wisdom that comes from numbering your days should drive you to what the Westminster Shorter Catechism declares is the “chief end of man”, or, ‘the highest purpose of every person’ : The chief end of man is to know and enjoy God forever. Jesus described this as –

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ¶ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:33-34

We may not know when the finish-line of our race on earth will be, but we can still make sure that we run our race well and make each of our remaining days count by sowing seed into the soil of the future and taking deliberate steps to walk more closely with Christ through prayer and the guidance of His Word.  

¶ So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12

 

Your pastor,

Andrew

THE LIFE AND DEATH CONSEQUENCES BETWEEN BELIEF AND TRUSTING

This week I had the occasion to speak to three individuals about the difference between Christianity and other religions. While all religions have certain beliefs which generally qualify a person to be an adherent of that religion, Christianity is starkly different. Of course there are some essential beliefs that define Christianity, but simply believing that these things are true is not what qualifies a person as a Christian. The reason is that belief is often confused with faith. And unlike all other religions, which are built on their Creed (set of beliefs), Christianity is a Faith with a Creed, not just a Creed. This distinction is not insignificant. It literally has eternal consequences. The three individuals whom I shared this with this week were each at a point in their life-journey where perhaps for the first time in their lives they could appreciate the gravity of the distinction. You see, each one had recently been confronted with the frailty of their own humanity. One of them had been told by doctors that they had only weeks left to live. The other had an incurable disease. The third had just come out of critical care. Here’s what I told them. 

I WANT TO HELP YOU DIE WELL

After listening a bit to the first person’s story and having them tell me that they only had weeks left, I gently told them, “I want to help you to die well.” 

“Thank you” they replied, “I am a Christian, but I’m not one of those church-going Christians.”

“Many believe what Christianity teaches to be true,” I responded, “but they often confuse their understanding of three key words – belief, faith, and trust.”

I explained that a belief was simply an acknowledgement that something was true. Faith was being persuaded by the reasons that a claim was true and had implications for the believer. Trust was the result of that implication.

“For example,” I said, “one may believe that a plane can fly. You can even have good reasons to have faith that a plane can fly. But trust is boarding the plane to fly!”  

This was, I explained, how Christianity was different from all other religions. While religions have sets of beliefs, common to all of them – except Christianity – is the belief that if a person does enough good they can outweigh the bad and qualify to enter Heaven after they die. Reaching for one of the Legana Passports, which will be used in our KiDS Church over the next three Sundays, I drew the analogy that each time we did something wrong it was like receiving a blemish stamp in our life passport. No matter how many merit stamps we may get in our “life passport”, they could never cancel out the blemish stamps. It was like a convicted murderer being shuttled to the court for sentencing when on the way there a school bus laden with children falls over the edge of the bridge. Somehow, the convicted murderer breaks free from his chains and escapes to dive off the bridge and begin rescuing all twenty-eight school children from drowning. After saving their lives, Police once again secure him into the back of the van and take him to court. The Judge declares that this murderer has been found guilty and should be sentenced to the severest punishment. But the convicted man interrupts and says, “Not so fast your Honour! On the way here this morning I rescued twenty-eight lives, so I think we’re even now – in fact, I think you owe me!” As noble as the man’s actions were in rescuing those doomed children, no fair-minded judge is going to be persuaded by this appeal because when the man violently took the life an innocent human being it was a crime with capital (life-long) consequences. How much more then are we guilty when we sin against an eternal and infinitely good God?

Reaching for the other Legana Passport on my desk I continued.

“Imagine if when we die we stand before God with our blemished life-passport and have Him examine it. We cannot bear to look up into the face of God because our guilt and failure is obvious and undeniable. In that moment we know and accept that as the Judge of the Universe we are about to be sentenced and condemned for eternity” I told them. “But then Jesus comes over to us and offers us His perfectly unblemished Passport and tells us that with this Passport we have unfettered access to the best that Heaven offers. He then offers it to us. What would your response be?” I asked.

“Thank you” they replied.

“Precisely. And this is exactly what Jesus Christ did on the first Easter when He died as our Substitute on the Cross.” 

 “This is why” I went on, “we spell ‘religion’ as D, O, – it’s all about what you do. And it’s why we spell ‘Christianity’ as D, O, N, E, – it’s all been done for us by Christ.”

The question now is, I offered, whether you will move from belief to trust and get on the plane (Jesus)?

I had a colleague tell me that he had a man who had come to him and say that despite attending his church for over three decades he felt that something was missing in his life. The pastor listened to his story and then startled the man with, “I don’t think you’ve ever truly become a Christian – because what you are describing is someone who believes it to be true but has never actually put their trust in Jesus as their Saviour.” The man’s response to this was equally startling. “Thank God then, because if this was true Christianity I don’t want it because all I feel is empty!” The Pastor led the man to put his faith into action and to trust in the Saviour. The difference from that point was also startling! 

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  ¶ And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
Second Corinthians 5:17-18

Ps. Andrew