What Matt Damon Taught Me About God

Every now and then, when I've exhausted all my other favorite radio stations (i.e. they are all playing songs I do not like at the same time), I land on NPR for a few minutes. I know certain people who are much more avid listeners to NPR (Elisa, to name one), so I hardly feel qualified to share anything on the subject. Nevertheless, it gave me something stimulating to think about today.

It was on Fresh Air, with Terri Gross (yes, that's right, I know what I'm talking about). She was doing an interview with Matt Damon and one of his directors, Steven Soderbergh. Mostly they were talking about the latest movie that they worked on together, "The Informant," but in typical Terri Gross fashion, other interesting discussion surfaced. Somehow Matt Damon began talking about what he appreciated about good directors (including the one interviewing with him, thankfully). He said that as an actor, it's easy to get lost in a scene or in a moment, and sort of forget the bigger picture. Good directors have a good way of keeping sight of the "view from 30,000" and giving just enough direction to help keep that feel. Good directors give only enough direction necessary--it's not a time for philosophizing about a character, just enough to make it happen. They work with metaphors that are specific to each actor, in the way they can best understand what needs to happen. A good director is easy to trust, and makes an actor successful.

Maybe it's a little weird to find a spiritual application from an interview with Matt Damon, but I felt like I was hearing a sermon illustration that never got to the punch line. So here's my own punch line: God is our Director. We are the actors. He gives us simple directions to keep us going the right way, consistent with His overall plan. (Can you imagine us even trying to understand if He started philosophizing?) His view from 30,000,000,000 feet (plus a few more zeros) keeps us grounded and looking to Him for direction, so that we don't get too lost in the moment or in the current scene. God works with metaphors--lessons in our lives--that are very specific to each of us, to help us be the the best we can be in our part. When we realize the success our God has in the work that He does, we learn to trust Him, and His view of our life story. And when we trust Him, we can ultimately know success. Perhaps not in the Hollywood sense of the word, but a success in His Kingdom. And it really doesn't get any better than that.

The moral of the story: God is a good director. We all would do well to work under Him.