Sunday, November 29, 2009

Kingdom Of Heaven

Kingdom of Heaven is another "Wild At Heart" movie that I love. This one has lot of amazing lines and scenes, I picked two of my favorite scenes;they are shown in the clips below. Before I delve into it I do want to mention how the father initiates his son to masculinity. The father is a Lord who had been away from France for a long time on Crusades to the Holy Land and eventually had become the Baron if Iblin. Many years later he comes back looking for his son, in the course of events that follow his son Bailion at first refuses to join his father back to the journey to Holy land but later catches up with him as he murders the village priest. At an encampment early morning his father throws a sword at him and invites him to defend himself, one of the servant's tries to stop him saying "My Lord his hand is injured" but the Father insists he needs to get up and defend himself. Initiation, teaching and bonding, closing of a wound. There is indeed something profoundly mysterious about the Father and Son relationship. Every man carries a father wound somewhere but smart and wise Fathers realize this and come alongside their sons filling in the companionship and most importantly closing of a father wound. Bailion later on in the movie is knighted by his dying father who won't make it with him to Jerusalem. I love the words of the knighting, "Be without fear in the face of your enemies, Be brave and upright that God may love thee, speak the truth always even it means to your death, safeguard the helpless, do no wrong, that is your oath and that you will remember it" - Rise a Knight.



The second clip is Balion standing before King Baldwin of Jerusalem. The king in this scene tells Balion that though kings and people in power may move pieces on the battlefield of life a man does not truly begin his game till he has started moving himself. The most important lesson here is the final words of the king that one day when we stand before God we are answerable to the Judge and King of all ages for every action we have committed, we then don't have any excuse that we didn't do the right thing because, people in power told us to do so or virtue was not convenient at that time or opportunity was not there...each one of us is answerable to Him for our souls.



Balion in the course of the movie commits adultery with Sybilla the king's sister but redeems himself by remembering these words that he will not be bought off by the world or gain the whole world and lose his own soul. When the King offers to arrange the death of Sybila's husband and promises him the Kingdom Balion refuses, and thus becoming a perfect knight and a better warrior in the Kingdom of Conscience.

Blessings,

3 comments:

Bryan Raile said...

Great vids. A father "maning up his son" is a rare commondity these days. Correction brings "peacable fruit of righteousness."

Anonymous said...

Thanks Bryan. Your observation is well noted and worthy.

Joshua Michaels said...

These Videos are awesome! Thanks for posting.