Thursday; March 21

For several weeks Jeane had suggested that I should watch the movie, “Saving Mr. Banks” so we watched it the other night.  For those of you who haven’t seen it, it is the story of how Walt Disney obtained the rights to the book “Marry Poppins”.   I have to admit that the setting and costumes were very good and Tom Hanks was remarkable in his portrayal as Walt Disney; however, I did not like the movie.  As I reflected on the show, I think the reason I didn’t like it was that I just couldn’t connect with P. L. Travers.  I don’t know if it was Ms. Traver’s nature or the way Emma Thompson portrayed her, but I found her disposition to be self-serving and augmentative.  I might have been able to tolerate a little bit of it, but it lasted too long which soured me on the rest of the movie.
The reason I bring this up is not to critique the movie (and honestly, I don’t figure that the director, John Lee Hancock, really cares about my opinion), but I did get to thinking about how people perceive us as Christians.  Our goal should be to teach the gospel to others, but what happens if we come across as negative and unlikeable?  We might convince ourselves that it doesn’t matter what people think of us, but the truth is that the opinions of other people do matter.  No, we will never please everyone, but unless we try to be pleasant and appealing to the people around us, we aren’t going to be effective ambassadors for Christ. 
As Jesus began His ministry He challenged His disciples, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16).  If that verse doesn’t connect with us, maybe this saying will – a spoonful of sugar can help the medicine go down.
           Think About It!

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