You Welcomed Me by Kent Annan, Free for CAPC Members
You Welcomed Me is a slender, but powerful, meditation for Christians living in relative economic, political, and spiritual comfort, challenging us to reflect on how we think about the strangers who live—or seek to live—among us.
2 Comments
It reminds me of some of C.S.Lewis’s poems and lines about “the pang of the particular,” the love of specifics that angels cannot sympathize with…
Stephen,
I went to your article based on a recommendation from a friend of mine (he loves your reviews and I love well-done anime). Your article here is spot on. I believe you hit on something for me that was very different from what I’m used to Christian reviewers doing. By looking at Your Name from a thematic perspective, you found a prevailing theme in the film and related to a root Biblical truth (we have an aching longing for fulfillment) and brought a Biblical Worldview to bear. I’m used to the reverse, trying to mine a Biblical approach or answer to a story, which does not have me leaving the theatre in a powerful awe of how this film at one point in time points to something deep within our hearts unfulfilled by worldly pleasures.
Thank you for this. I now want to review other films in this way. My wife and I love many of Shinkai’s films (especially Summer Wars) and Your Name did not disappoint either. I’m glad to know that there are film reviewers, such as yourself, that are not afraid to take on very different genres like anime and point all humanity back to basic Genesis 3 conditions and Romans 8 desires. Thank you!!!
(Also, I had a different take on the café joke. You may have already known this, but when her friend says that they have a café, he may not just be referring to the vending machine, but the coffee inside of it, of which several popular Japanese varieties are french-style coffee like café-au-lait, café-noir, etc. On the can, they often read カフェオレ etc. so his rebuttal of their complaint that they don’t have カフェ (café) could be a play on words jab that they do! I’ve only seen it once, so I can’t confirm that the coffee he got (I believe it was a BOSS Coffee) was one of the french styles, but it, along with several other jokes in the film, gave my wife and I a good laugh!
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