Category: A Spiritual Look At All Forms Of Entertainment…

I’ve been reading a book lately that was given to me by a friend and it’s titled “When God Winks at You”. It’s a collection of real-life stories about how God speaks to all of us through the power of coincidence. I’ve really enjoyed it thus far and am further convinced that many of the things we often write off in this world as simply coincidences could actually be God blessing us. And what’s ironic is that my partner and I personally had one of our own experiences with this just over a week ago.

It all began with two tickets my sister had gifted us this Christmas to see Jeff Dunham who was coming to Detroit in late January. If you don’t know who he is, he’s a pretty well-known and very funny ventriloquist. Anyway, as the date of the show loomed closer, we grew more excited. But then my partner suddenly got a job with the postal service and didn’t know whether his schedule was going to conflict with the event or not. When he began his first day, six from the date of the show, he completely forgot to let them know of this prior engagement. Unfortunately, much to his dismay, during the next day’s class, he was assigned to shadow someone on their existing mail route on the very day of the performance. When he inquired on when that work day would end, he discovered it would be too late for him to make the show. I must admit, when I found out about this that evening, I was livid and didn’t do a very good job handling it at all. In fact, I pretty much threw a temper tantrum that I’m not very proud of. By the time I finally calmed down, I began to think of someone else I could ask to go with me, but I also decided to do something else in the meantime, and that was to start praying to God to provide a way for Chris to still go with me. With the performance being only four days away at this point, I didn’t have much hope of it happening though.

But then something quite interesting happened. Chris was in one of his training classes when he randomly befriended another new postal worker who just so happened to be someone that grew up in his neighborhood and whose mother had been great friends with his own. As they proceeded to get to know each other, they also discovered they had both been assigned the same postal route. When Chris inquired as to when she was doing her shadowing, it was two days after his. He then told her about his schedule conflict and how he was going to probably miss the event when she said she’d be willing to switch with him. Except when Chris asked their teacher for permission to do this, he was subsequently turned down with an answer that basically said their shadowing assignments were set in stone. Yet, with one final hope, Chris opted to go the very next day to the actual post office where their new assignments were and ask the manager directly for permission. When he came home later that day, I must say, it didn’t sound like that had gone over so well. Even so, I prayed again and asked God to make the decision and I’d accept the answer. And wouldn’t you know, the next day, less than 24 hours from the start of the Jeff Dunham show, Chris received a phone call that gave him the approval to switch.

While this might seem like a trite thing to you, maybe quickly being written off as a coincidence like so many things can often be, look at the number of “coincidences” that had to happen to make this possible:

• I was given a book about how God speaks directly to people through the power of coincidence less than a week prior to the event.
• Chris made one new friend during his first week of postal training who just so happened to be connected to his family and grew up in the same neighborhood as he.
• Chris’s new friend was the only one assigned to the same route as he in their 18-person class.
• The day that Chris’s new friend was assigned to shadow was actually Chris’s day off and vice versa for her
• Neither had any scheduled conflicts with each other’s days of shadowing.
• Both were willing to switch with each other (which is something many frequently don’t like to do these days with fellow co-workers on their days off).

So, are all these things merely coincidences that allowed for this to happen? Are they all part of some strange sort of randomness of the Universe that occasionally blesses people along the way? Or, does God truly exist and operate on a level that is far beyond anything we could ever imagine, placing the right people, in the right places, at the right times, all to make the necessary things happen that are meant to happen for God’s glory?

I leave you to come up with your own answer.

As for me, I already have my answer and have written today’s article as a personal thank you to God for winking at me through the power of coincidences and reminding me that He’s always working on my behalf. It just may not look like anything my small ego could ever come up with…

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

I haven’t eaten at a McDonald’s restaurant in a very long time, really ever since I saw the movie “Super Size Me”, which highlighted much of the unhealthiness of the food that’s regularly served there. Recently I became even more turned off to this fast food chain when I watched a film called “The Founder” that chronicled all the deceptive ways that went into making this huge franchise what it is.

The movie revolves around the man who made it all possible, that being Ray Kroc (played exceptionally by Michel Keaton). From the beginning, the viewer is introduced to him as a washed-up ice cream shake machine salesman. But one day, upon calling his secretary, she informs him of an establishment out in San Bernardino, California that wants to order six of his machines. Given his ongoing lack of sales and string of poor luck, Ray instantly thinks there must be some mistake, so he decides to contact the restaurant. Ironically the place is named “McDonald’s” and is owned by two brothers, Dick McDonald (Nick Offerman) and Mac McDonald (John Carroll Lynch), who in turn inform him there’s no mistake and that business is so good, they probably need to order at least eight of his machines. Ray, being the salesman he is, instantly is curious as to their success formula so he decides to head out west, driving across the country to see what this place named McDonald’s has to offer, that no one else seems to. There, he finds the McDonald’s brothers have created an ability to serve food faster than any other existing restaurant out there and with pretty great quality. Seeing the potential for a franchise and huge dollar signs, Ray immediately wants a piece of the action, except Dick and Mac aren’t so thrilled with the idea due to some of their previous attempts to expand it themselves. But Ray is that relentless type of salesman, who always seems to know what to say and how to say it, just to get what he wants. When the McDonald’s brothers finally cave in to his repeated pressures, albeit it reluctantly, Ray promises fortune and fame will come their way because of it. But eventually, when Ray’s profits from expanding the chain are not measuring up to all the effort he’s put into it thus far, it becomes overly apparent just how much of a salesman he truly is and how far he will go to get what he wants, no matter who gets hurt in the process.

Watching “The Founder” ultimately reminded me so much of all those pyramid-based companies out there I’ve either tried to work for over the years or been attempted to be recruited into. Places like Amway, NuSkin, Herbal Life, various co-op electric companies, or these days, a number of businesses who sell holistic products. Each promising huge dollar signs and great returns if you become a salesperson for them. They give awesome presentations and seem to know exactly what to say to get someone involved, and even when you don’t choose to, they find a way to at least get you to buy their product(s). But if one does get involved, the only concern then becomes where the next sale will come from. In the past few years, it’s grown even worse, as I’ve fielded a number of phone calls and emails from people who I haven’t heard from in years, where they initially say hi and how they miss me, until the real purpose of their call occurs, that being me as the recipient of their sales pitch to the product(s) of one of these companies.

I’m definitely not cut out to be a salesman like that, using my friends as a source to make money off of. I also don’t like lying, manipulating, cheating, or being deceptive in any way, shape, or form, just to make my bank account grow. But regrettably, I must admit I once did just that, using friends and loved ones to pitch product(s) from one of these companies, just to make a buck for myself. And it never did feel right to my soul either. Yet there are plenty like Ray Kroc, and many others in this world, who feel otherwise and believe making money is the only thing that matters. In the process of doing so, they often promise the world to those they pitch to, yet in the end, many are frequently left with little to no return, like Ray did with the McDonald’s brothers.

Nevertheless, “The Founder” is a great film that highlights all the deception that went into creating McDonald’s into the billion-dollar company it’s become these days. And although I’m even more convinced now to never spend my money at any of their establishments, I highly recommend you see this film, at least for educational purposes, and give it 4 ½ stars out of five.

Peace, love, light, and joy
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Watching a movie where the predominant focus is on Christians being severely persecuted isn’t normally my cup of tea. Case in point, when I saw The Passion of the Christ over a decade ago, I was truly horrified for how long the scenes were of the beatings, lashings and torture of Christ himself. Ever since, I’ve avoided pretty much any movie that delved into similar subject material. That changed though recently when a new movie titled “Silence” was released into theaters. Given all the Oscar buzz and good reviews from critics surrounding the film, I opted to not practice contempt prior to investigation by heading to the theater to check it out.

Written and directed by Martin Scorsese, “Silence” is loosely based upon the true story of Jesuit priests who travelled to Japan in the early 17^th century to spread Catholicism. With a running time just over 3 hours long, the film centers around two priests from Portugal named Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Garupe (Adam Driver), who go a mission to Japan to locate their mentor, Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson), who has gone missing, and to continue promoting Christianity as well. Unfortunately, once there they find an incredible amount of fear and resistance to their religion and faith and are met with a dictatorship that predominantly believes Buddhism is the only path to salvation. And it’s not very long into the movie where the similarities to The Passion of The Christ begin as the viewer must endure plenty of scenes of torture and even murder of those perceived to be practicing Christianity. Most of those scenes were incredibly difficult to watch, which is probably why I was rather grateful when the film ended and the credits began to roll.

While all the elements of “Silence” were done quite well from the cinematography, to the costumes, to the plot, and to the acting, I found this film truly disturbing like I did The Passion of The Christ. Disturbing because of how much throughout history those in power have often persecuted various people of faiths that weren’t the predominant one being practiced in a specific region. Sadly, I continue to see this happening today in many places in this world, and on some level, even here in the United States. It may not be so much in the physical sense anymore, but by far, it still does occur frequently in the mental and emotional sense. I have personally experienced this far more times than I can count and have been proselytized to by those claiming their faith was the only one that’s valid. And anytime I’ve ever expressed any dissension to it or talked about my interest in another path of faith, it’s regularly been met with words that have left me feeling like I was wrong and frankly like a piece of crap.

The fact is there has constantly been an incredible amount of religious persecution throughout our world’s history. It always starts with people growing used to believing and following the spiritual path they do. But at some point, that path is met with another type of faith and when it does, they are challenged with either expanding their beliefs or totally denouncing any others that aren’t their own. Unfortunately, the latter seems to be the leading course of action time and time again. And while much spiritual growth on our planet has allowed this to loosen a bit over the years, too many still live in fear that there might be more than what shows up in the Koran, or the Bible, or the Torah, or in any other religious text.

“Silence” demonstrated that fear all too well, so much so, that I hope to not be in a theater any time soon watching another film on religious persecution. All in all though, the film was executed with excellent precision and for that I give it 3 ½ stars out of 5.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson