There's a reason why Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy has deeply spoken, and still deeply speaks to me in my spiritual journey. Certain clips resonate very deeply with my heart in my faith journey with God. They still do. On average, I watch one of my favourite scenes in the trilogy once a week. Still.
The interesting thing is, though, that these Batman movies only started to become my favourite movies in the fall of 2009 (Batman Begins and The Dark Knight that is, because The Dark Knight Rises didn't come out yet). This means that it was over 4 years after I saw Batman Begins when it came out in 2005 and over a year after I saw The Dark Knight on its opening weekend in the summer of 2008 until they became really dear to my heart. I did enjoy the movies when I saw them at first, but they were just entertainment to me back then. Just that. However, when I started to go through severe spiritual trials in the fall of 2009, I started seeking for comfort, inspiration, hope, and companions to walk with me on the hard path of spiritual testing and character molding that comes when one intentionally and proactively goes deeper in the Jesus life. I found it hard to get that stuff. But... strangely... I got it when I watched these Batman movies again. They offered comfort, inspiration, and hope. Also, Bruce Wayne, although he was only a fictional character, proved to be a strangely comforting companion along the way. The first time I watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, I was watching Bruce Wayne from "the outside in". When I watched Bruce Wayne again in the fall of 2009, I was no longer experiencing Bruce Wayne's story from the outside, but "from his inside". I identified so much with his journey. The highs, the lows, the victories, the defeats, the encouragements, the discouragements, the times of wanting to give up, the times where a meaningful pursuit that transcends one's own egotistical agenda motivated him to persevere in suffering for a good cause (saving millions of lives). Then, I found myself just watching my favourite clips over and over again. Not for the purpose of being entertained over and over again. But because I deeply identified with him. They helped sustain me.
They still do.
I don't fully know why these movies have such a rich effect on my spirit. However, I have pinpointed some themes that I think speak deeply to the mysterious chambers of my inner heart.
Here they are:
1. The theme of being an a journey, especially one that is self-initiated from stepping voluntarily out of one's comfort zone.
Bruce Wayne was a billionaire. He could have lived a very comfortable/sheltered life if he really wanted to. But there was a longing in him that he chose not to ignore. A longing to fulfill a purpose much deeper than mere self-fulfillment. A longing that, if listened to, would not allow him to be okay with the status quo of his corrupted city (Gotham). He actually left his billionaire mansion, left North America, and went to the East to try to find some answers to this longing in his heart. For Bruce, leaving Gotham to grow and search for something deeper is a 21st-century equivalent of leaving "The Shire" of "Middle Earth". He voluntarily chose to get out of the McDonald's PlayPlace of North America and experience the world. He went to the East. He got hard training that was very uncomfortable. But it was worth it. No one forced him to, but he chose to do it on his own. Granted his purpose, "to fight injustice" is different from a North American Christian's purpose, but the notion of getting out of the sheltered McDonald's Play Place to search for something deeper is a common theme.
Likewise, I have been on a journey, ever since 2009. Although I was physically on a journey, when I travelled to the East to live there for a time to serve God, I also was on a spiritual journey within. I was seeking the real, I mean REAL Jesus life. I got exposed to the writings of earnest Jesus followers of the past who wrote about their first hand experiences of no-nonsensely living in the Kingdom of God on a day to day basis. Without being prideful, they joyfully wrote of the spiritual condition they attained through grace-enabled discipline in walking with God within this lifetime. They wrote about things such as:
-being aware of God's companionship presence every single minute literally as one went about doing various tasks (reading, writing, socializing, working, physical activity etc.)
-really, i mean REALLY experiencing a lot more deeper intimacy with God than with one's best friends/spouse/family members on a consistent moment-to-moment basis
-not worrying about anything. ever.
-being completely free from any human's opinions. really.
-living in a way where the output of one's work is greater than the input of human effort involved in multiple areas (working, playing sports, socializing, caring for the hurt etc.) due to God's presence with the person
-having an inexpressible and mysterious joy that undergirds all the sufferings in this life
And much, much more. I wanted this stuff. I saw that it was available to the Jesus follower, fully in this lifetime. Or at least was supposed to. Yet the teachings of modern day Protestant spirituality were, for the most part, lacking the no-nonsense means of how to get there in this lifetime. I wanted more than just "comfortable cultural Christianity". I wanted the real deal, the stuff that serious Jesus followers over the centuries have consistently experienced.
So, spiritually, I left the "spiritual McDonald's Play Place" of North American Christian spirituality due to its emptiness and failure to lead one to experience the Jesus life. And I journeyed. With the help of medieval Catholic devotional writers, Eastern Orthodox writers, and some rare Evangelical voices (i.e. Dallas Willard and Jan Johnson), it was and has been a meaningful journey. But since it involved and still involves getting out of one's comfort zone, it was and still is hard. But I know that the destination is well worth it. So during the hard times in this journey, I somehow identify with Bruce Wayne's hard times in his journey.
Man, it is such a journey.
2. The theme of equipping oneself with wisdom
Bruce Wayne uses wisdom to develop his own tools for combat. Science is his ally, and not his enemy. He develops customized gadgets and technology to help him accomplish his objectives. Batman knows that good intentions are not enough. One must have effective means to accomplish one's mission.
In the same way, I have discovered helpful spiritual tools along the way in the Jesus life journey. If technology = tools, then I have discovered all kinds of juicy spiritual technology in my journey to fight in spiritual warfare littered along the path of the deeper Jesus life. While I do recognize that there is a risk of idolizing spiritual technology, I do think that there is a role for them in the spiritual journey. Proverbs talks about the accumulation of wisdom, and how wisdom helps one in one's journey.
Some of my favourite "spiritual technology gadgets" that I have come across are:
-dream interpretation (to diagnose spiritual problems and find out the root causes of things)
-the "focusing" method in the psychology/counselling discipline (www.focusing.org)
-the Jesus prayer (http://www.orthodoxprayer.org/Jesus%20Prayer.html)
-Ignatian imaginative meditation (http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-spiritual-exercises/ignatian-contemplation-imaginative-prayer/)
-a semi-Quakerish "centering" activity
-"charismatically" listening to the voice of God
A sub-theme of this theme is how Bruce Wayne tailors the the use of technology that he develops to fit his own customized style. Even his own fighting style is a mix of different martial arts styles that he has fused together.
In the same way, I have learned to customize these time-tested methods that many saints in the past have used throughout the centuries of Church history to become more like Christ (these methods don't have anything magical in and of themselves, but they become conduits/pipes for the Holy Spirit to work through). Like Bruce, I have and am still tailoring them to fit my personality, circumstances, theology etc.
3. The theme of not being a people pleasing Knight/soldier
Bruce Wayne knows (or learns) that he's not out there to impress people. He's out there to fulfill a mission, whether the crowd is cheering him on temporarily, or booing him and telling him to give up or give himself in. Sooner or later, Bruce Wayne learns that his purpose must transcend what pleases the maximum number of people in the maximum number of situations. His calling should transcend any human point of reference.
I have been learning the same. Learning that at the end of the day, the only person who understands the transcendent calling on my life is the person in the audience. It is God, who is watching from the "theatre seat" up in heaven.
4. The theme of perseverance in the hard times
There are very, very hard and trying times for Batman. Times where he fails. Times where he just wants to give up. Times where he's tempted to think "what's the point?" "why do I have to go through with this when everybody else doesn't have to?" But... he still perseveres. He stays the course. Because he knows at the end of the day, it's not about him. But his calling.
There are trials on this journey when one intentionally chooses to go on a journey to search for something deeper than the McDonald's PlayPlace of North American Protestant spirituality. There are challenges. When almost all of your fellow Christian friends seem like they don't have to go through the (seemingly gratuitous) hardships. When you get heightened attacks from the spiritual enemy for pursuing a deeper journey with God. When there's misunderstandings and other people start to look down on you. When there seems like there's no fruit to so many months of discipline. When God sometimes temporarily allows circumstances to go against you to strip you bare of any ounce of confidence in oneself. When the world offers no support and care in the lonely times in the dark valleys. It is tough. There are times where it is tempting to dwell in the thoughts of "what's the point?" "why do I have to go through with this when everybody else, Christian or non-Christian seems to not go through this?". This spiritual suffering is different from non-spiritual suffering, although I don't deny that the latter is tough in its own respects. I'm not exaggerating to say that there have been some days where I would prefer open heart surgery over spiritual heart surgery, or physical chemotherapy over spiritual chemotherapy. There frequently seems like there's no light at the end of the tunnel that one has travelled for months. But perseverance is required. Because the Dark Knight Christian realizes that the things that are most worth it in life are things that can only be achieved through perseverance and commitment.
5. The theme of no one understanding what you're going through
No one really knows the inner trials that Bruce Wayne has to go through. It's not that others choose not to try to identify with his inner journey. It's that they simply can't. No matter how hard they try. They have no idea of how dark the valleys are. They have no idea how ugly and ferocious the dark monsters that reside in the dark valleys are. Although sometimes an Alfred comes along and offers some support, at the end of the day, no one fully understands.
Bluntly speaking, most of my friends my age (who are nice people) have no idea what I've been through as I have been on this journey. Some think they do. But they don't. These ones who think they do, when I hear the content of their assessment of me, and the "spirit"/tone of their delivery, the texture/quality of their proposed hypothesis of the texture/quality of what I'm going through on the inside, I know they have no idea what I'm going through. The ones who know they don't know what I'm experiencing, it's not their fault although they do try to comfort me at times, and I'm really thankful to them for their comfort. Some times, in the journey, I long for some companionship of another human being (who I can physically talk to) who knows what I've been through, to just put their hand on my shoulder and say "I know what you're going through, it's okay. It'll be okay", I can't find any other fellow human being my age to fully relate to at the moment. But somehow, I find myself identifying and relating to Bruce Wayne, even though it's not ideal that he's a fictional character. I somehow do. And it is, on some level, comforting.
These Dark Knight clips have been comforting to my soul on my "Lord of the Rings" journey (to switch analogies) with God towards God. I believe that God has used these movies to sustain me during the hard times, and I'm very thankful for them.
Christopher Nolan, thank you for making this awesome trilogy! These Batman movies are more than mere entertainment to me. They are life
I know that although it's a tough journey, it's well worth it. And I know that in this lifetime, by God's grace, it's possible to experience all the Jesus life characteristics including:
-being aware of God's companionship presence every minute literally as one went about doing various tasks (reading, writing, socializing, working, physical activity etc.)
-really, REALLY experiencing more deeper intimacy with God than with one's best friends/spouses/family members
-not worrying about anything. ever.
-being completely free from any human's opinions. really.
-living in a way where the output of one's work is greater than the input of human effort involved in multiple areas (working, playing sports, socializing, caring for the hurt etc.) due to God's presence with the person
-having an inexpressible and mysterious joy that undergirds all the suffering in this life
10 years, 20 years. Who knows. God has his timing. But I know he can do it, for he has brought many spiritual journeyers into the Promised Land of this stuff in this lifetime. I expect that he can do it for me if I persevere.
