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Pam and I went to see the movie Dr. Strange at the Alamo Draft House on Saturday, and it got me thinking. Always a dangerous thing....
I
see people like Dr. Strange almost every time I drive on the freeways –
arrogant idiots who endanger other people’s lives with their own recklessness.
The second-best thing that can happen to someone like that is they go
upside-down and on fire all by themselves. The best thing that can happen is
what happened to Dr. Strange.
When
Western medicine can’t give him what he wants, Dr. Strange risks everything on
a desperate attempt to find someone who can fix him. He journeys to the East. He
believes he has risked everything, but he can’t even risk his own arrogance. That
arrogance is stripped away only when he sees for himself that there is a
heretofore unknown dimension of awareness. Only now does he see how lowly his
old keyhole existence actually was. Only now is he humble enough to be a
student.
His
last material possession is useless for its intended purpose, but it’s
inscribed with magic words that will bind him to earth as he undertakes the
supernatural adventure of a lifetime. He does battle with a powerful enemy, but
he also has powerful allies and finds supernatural aids, including a levitation cloak and a double ring of power. His final battle is with the
enemy of life itself.
We
don’t have to be world-class surgeons to be self-absorbed keyhole mongers. We
probably don’t have to be forced into dire straits to begin the Strange
adventure. That is, we probably don’t have to go into it kicking and screaming and
wanting our mommy.
Then
again, maybe we do…. (Cue the evil laughter.)
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