There could not possibly be two more contrasting box office smashes than the current sensations, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” First, transparency on my part: I have not seen either one…. yet. However, the buzz from reviews, television, and many I know who have seen them, along with trailers I have seen during movie previews, have given me a peek at them.
Barbie seems to take a poke at many superficial aspects of our culture who focus on many trivial aspects of life. Appearance, for example, seems to be number one in Barbie’s barbs. There also seems little concern about any future. It is all about Barbie and friends in the present.
Oppenheimer, on the other hand, does not deal with superficial aspects in our culture or world. Not only does the movie deal with issues of life and death, it deals with life and death on a massive scale and it deals with life and death for future generations to come. In fact, one of the issues is the question of will there be future generations to come or will human life be wiped from the planet?
As Yoda would say, “Worlds apart, these movies are.” The media has portrayed them as “Barbenheimer.” I like that term. I think it might be a good idea to see them both and then reflect about the contrast in our world and in our own personal lives. How much of our worry, stress, anxiety and efforts are consumed by that which is truly unimportant? How often do we simply move past the deeply serious issues in our life by our denial or rationalization?
Where is the trivial over which you can at times obsess? Where is mine? What issues deserve more attention and thought from us? Where do we need to put our efforts to confront and deal with deep, often painful struggles of life? Do we give much thought to the future and to those whom we can never know but will come after us?
There is an old word in the Christian vocabulary: stewardship. We don’t hear it used much outside the church. Sometimes it is underutilized inside the church. Stewardship is the care and proper use of all the gifts God gives us. We are to use them in service of others including those whom we do not know now and cannot know in the future.
You and I are here and enjoying many things in life in part because some who came before us exercised good care and passed along God’s gifts to us in both good faith and good condition. Will we do the same? I don’t know if we need to bring back that old word Stewardship, but I do know we need to hold its concept before us far more often. We were given creation not to dominate it, but to care for it.
Just maybe Barbie and Oppenheimer can open our eyes a bit to move us into being stewards of both the present and future, not just consumers for our own good pleasure in the present.
