Friday the 13th and the Pain of Letting Go

           

           Tommy Jarvis appears in three Friday the 13^th Movies (4, 5, and 6). The first movie, he is a child and attacks Jason Voorhees who is attacking his sister. The second, he is in a troubled home for youth. He keeps having flashes of Jason until Jason appears. The third begins on a stormy night. Tommy and a friend are walking through a graveyard to the grave of Jason Voorhees. Jason has destroyed Tommy’s childhood. Jason had broken Tommy mentally too. But now Tommy, who wants to make sure Jason won’t return, digs up the grave of Jason Voorhees.

            In a fit of rage while looking at the decaying body, he grabs a metal spike from the fence and begins stabbing the lifeless body. “Die!” he keeps shouting. And then leaving the spike in, he grabs gasoline to burn the body when lightning strikes the metal spike reviving Jason Voorhees.

            Slasher flicks aside, I really do like the Friday the 13^th movies. I don’t know why. I think they are predictable, but even the off humor and gore is funny. I don’t watch them a lot, but sitting down to watch this, I was struck by something.

            If Tommy hadn’t dug up Jason’s body, Jason would’ve stayed dead. If Tommy hadn’t gotten lost in his pain and anger, Jason would have remained rotted. But refusing to let it die, Tommy brought back the darkness to the world.

            I think of my own life. Are there things that I am hurt or angry about that I can’t let go? Well, yes. I think it’s true for everyone. Being hurt isn’t a bad thing and even being angry about being hurt isn’t either. I think it comes down how do we treat people when we are hurting. I know I push people away. I know I’m not the nicest person when I am going through something. And for some reason, I am highly skeptical of everyone too when I am hurting.

Matthew 11:28-30

            “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”                        

            Do we go to Christ when we are feeling overburden? Do we honestly and sincerely seek him to help us with our pain? Do we really believe that in Christ, we can find peace? I can honestly say no.

           

            What makes the 6^th Friday the 13^th movie scary is this whole slaughter is from one man’s inability to get past his own past. If Jesus is offering us a way to carry our pain, our weariness, our sadness, our burdens – then why don’t we let him? 

WHAT IS A ZOMBIE?

                A zombie is dead. Yup. That pretty much settles it. A zombie is dead and doesn’t really do much. Well until it is reanimated. But essentially most zombie lore says that zombies are dead. They have no heartbeat. They have little or no higher brain function. Dead. It’s not that zombies are dumb. Well, maybe they are, but I think it wise to say they are ignorant. A zombie doesn’t ask how this bite, harsh comment, or groan will influence the living around me. 

                A zombie is reanimated to life. Whether by a virus, an alien satellite, a voodoo doctor, cell phone signals, demonic influence, pollution, or a chemical agent created by some secretive company. The great fear of zombies is not that they are dead, but dead come back to life. How do you kill something that is already dead? You don’t. And wherever you go, zombies will be there. 

                A zombie is hungry for human flesh. He devours other people to satisfy his own needs. A zombie doesn’t think of other people. They don’t feed on each other because the flesh is rotted. In the 1985, “Return of the Living Dead”, the zombies feed to make themselves feel better. A zombie torments the living around him for his own needs. You could say a zombie derives pleasure from torment but is ignorant of his actions based on his own desires to feed. 

                A zombie has no control over his/her actions. A zombie is controlled by instinct and desire not by choice. We have for some reason connected free will to an attribute to the living. And a zombie has no free will. He is a victim of his rebirth into death. And even more frightening, a zombie doesn’t seem to be aware that he or she is a zombie. 

                How many zombies do you know? They feed on your misery to make themselves feel better? They live and feed but thrive on the decay of the world. Found throughout the Bible, is the concept that we are born separated, different from God. We possess the beautiful form and perhaps potential, but we are dead because of our evil ways. Are there zombies around you who want to eat your flesh? Are you one of them? 

                The movie “Warm Bodies” (2013) has a zombie that doesn’t want to be a zombie anymore. And what gives him the ability to overcome his desire for feeding? Love. And while zombies may not know that they are zombies, we who are alive, can help them change their desire to feed by simple love. Just don’t get eaten.