Finally bought the movie, "Henry Poole is Here." It is not particularly a good movie, and not particularly written or edited well, but it holds enough truth for me to watch over and over without tiring of its message. I had it on DVR when I still had cable in the house. I am glad to have it with me again.
The story is about a man, Henry Poole, who has been told he will die soon. He is a man who lived as a island, very successful, very rich and very alone. The death sentence draws him back to his childhood home, which he tries to buy and is unsuccessful. So he buys a house nearby it and puts inside it things he will need before he dies. A bed, a chair, a television, a plastic chair for out on the lawn. And lots of vodka and frozen pizza. The Hispanic Catholic neighbor, Esperanza, welcomes him with a plate of tamales. He is somewhat polite, takes the plate and shuts the door. The woman who lives on the other side of his house has a child, about 8 years old, who has been so traumatized that she does not speak. She carries around a tape recorder and tapes people's conversations and listens to them in the backyard.
The Hispanic woman does not stop hanging around. We learn that the man who lived there before was her "boyfriend," the first and only love of her life. He died in the house. She can't help but hang around. She is seeking closure. She looks at a stain on the stucco wall in the backyard of the house and sees the face of Christ. She calls Mr. Poole out, "Can you not see Him?" she asks. He says no. "Don't you believe in God, Mr. Poole?" and he asks her to leave. She is relentless, she brings in a priest. He is a good priest and does not "take sides" in the discussion. Mr. Poole makes the comment, "It doesn't matter. I'm not going to live here very long." And the priest follows up. "What do you mean by that?" Mr. Poole tell him to leave him alone.
Esperanza then watches the house and when Mr. Poole leaves to buy more alcohol...at the grocery store from a young woman with bottle thick glasses named Patience...brings in her friends and they begin to venerate the stain. Mr Poole comes home. They run off, but leaving their candles and flowers, which Mr. Poole returns to them with the admonition to stay out of his yard. He complains about the 'painting' of red on the stain...showing them a stick with the red paint on it.
"That's His blood, Mr Poole. His Holy Blood." And Mr Poole throws the stick on the ground and tells them they are crazy.
I am retelling the story poorly. Just watch it.
Then the miracles begin to occur. The little girl touches the picture and she starts to talk again. Patience comes from the grocery store and her sight is restored. Esperanza's unceasing presence eventually moves Mr. Poole to allow for one day only, the people of the church to come and touch the face of God. Of course, it gets out of hand and he comes out of the house with a sledge hammer and beats the wall down, destroying the picture...the side of the house falls on him and he ends up in the hospital.
He wakes to Esperanza's face. "Why are you here?" he asks. "I've been waiting for you," she says, "Why didn't you tell us you were sick?"
And of course, his illness had gone. He became so sad then. "I destroyed it. It is gone now." And she tells him, "The miracle was only for awhile. It did what it needed to do. It is okay that it is gone."
And I just love this movie.
It is about faith and real love, about woundedness. It is about how the wounded heal each other, poorly yet enough, through faith in God. It is what we choose to believe is real. It is about hiding out and giving up and still God's grace finds a way. And it is about the temporariness of miracles.
They come to us for as long as they are needed. And then they go away. They didn't have to go away, but if they do...well, then what they brought was enough. We are transformed. We are not who we once were.
Love, Cindy
No comments:
Post a Comment