I watched M. Night Shyamalan's movie, Signs, a couple weeks ago, and I'm not sure why I haven't written about it until now. The movie was very well done. Even if it missed the mark at the end, the suspense and the chill down the spine were worth my $6 bucks.

Mel Gibson's character plays a lapsed priest. The movie fails because we know he's going to be redeemed, worse yet by a dubious series of events, but there is a nice monologue by Gibson about 2/3 of the way through the film. His younger brother asks him to comfort him, and Gibson, the lapsed preacher a la Jesus, asks him a question: "Are you someone who believes in dumb luck or that there's a purpose (God) at the center of the universe?" A good question to be sure, and well worth asking, but it made me think about a related question: "If you believe that there is a purpose (God) at the center of the universe, is it good or bad?"

Having no taste for those who think we came from nothing (atheists you can stop reading now), this latter question seems much more important to me, and more urgent. As a Christian, I've found that one of the truths I need for the preservation of my faith is that there is a good and perfect purpose (God) at the center of the universe. . . that "all things work together for good" . . . even suffering. This is not an easy concept to embrace, in fact, most days it seems ridiculous, but yet I keep coming back to it. I think everything in my life hinges on that belief. It's more important than ecclesiastical doctrines. It's more important than church attendence. It's called hope, and it has to be maintained through a shitstorm we like to call the world.

Why the world is this way, I don't think we'll ever fully understand, but I believe that there's a good and perfect purpose at the center of it for us all.