The singularity

Just to make sure that we are all on the same page from the start, this is not a Star Trek reference, nor is it a general science fiction reference.

I recently watched the movie Surfer Dude and was pleasently surprised at the depth of character portrayed in Steve Addington (Matthew McConaughey). Yes, I understand that this seems like a contradiction and on the surface I would agree. It would be simple to sit back and view this movie as nothing more than a stoner surfer flick, depth not required. I however managed to see it in a different light.

I'm not exactly sure why I ended up watching the movie in this manner but I did. Perhaps I accepted the notion that this was a meaningless movie from the get go and as such rather than focusing on the story as a whole, I focused my attention on the person of Addington. It was long before I began to see this movie in a much different light and by the end I couldn't help but see it as a deeply philosopical treatise on modern life.

Yes, you read that last sentence correctly.

In focusing in on 'Add' (as Addington is refered to throughout the movie) I seen a character who led a very simple and focused life. His passion was surfing and his friends. Everything beyond this small circle was extraneous and therefore unable to influence his happiness or joy with life. Life was simple. Many or perhaps most of the things that cause too many of us grief in life were irrelevant to Add. When something came along necessitating a choice, his actions were dictated by ensuring that he stayed in harmony with his life's focus.

I found this very spiritually enlightening.

I'm not too sure why this example seemed so clear to me. Perhaps it had more to do with where I was at rather than the message being presented (not to disparage the message). 

Christians are called to be just as focused in their life as Add was in his. The focus of our attention (I've taken to calling this 'your singularity') is obviously different but the ideas I believe are transferable. 

Christians are called to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22;37-39). Add's was quite different and yet quite similar. While surfing was his 'god' he did love his friends as he loved himself. 

I also found Add's actions to be a good example of the precept to be 'in the world but not of the world'. Meaning that as children of God, the redeemed of Christ, we may live in the world but we are not to be of the world. Add had little to call his own but that mattered little. He lived is life in pursuit of his passion in harmony with his 'singularity'. When the call to sell out for money came, he didn't even consider it. He recognized it for what it was and rejected it. While forces worked against him to force him to bend to their will, Add remained focused and resolute, never giving in, never violating his principles. Add's ability to be successful in this endeavor stemmed from his lifestyle which was simple and austere. He had a simple home in which to live, and few worldly possessions. He had which he cherished and allowed him to live according to his 'singularity'. All else was extraneous and therefore powerless against him. Those fighting against Add were left with little with which to fight him. Money, possessions, celebrity meant nothing.

Christians are faced with the same dilemas, asked to focus their attention on things of this world rather than on God. To give in to the seduction of materialism, consumerism, hedonism and secularism. We are cajoled to seek our satisfaction, happiness, joy and contentment in the things of this world. When we give in to these temptations, when we buy the lie, we give them power over us. There are those that work to see us bend to their will, but as God's children we are called to resist. To stand apart just as we have been set apart by Christ. 

I knew this once but I lost my way. I started to seek my happiness and contentment in the things of this world. Not that they were wrong, but they weren't the source of true happiness, of true contenment. Things are incapable of providing us with lasting joy. They may provide temporary flashes of joy but they are fleeting, leaving us just as quickly as they came, often leaving us feeling worse than before. 

Add served as a wake up call. I can only hope to live my life for God as Add lived his life for surfing.