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ABC, Ben-Hur, DVD, Easter, Grandmother's Hosue, He is Risen!, Holy Week, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Maundy Thursday, Palm Sunday, Passover, Seder, So Let It Be Done, So Let It Be Written, the cross, The King and I, The Munsters, The Ten Commandments
I am a little sad this weekend. Sure, I get to help out with a fundraiser for the Japan Relief Effort and attend a Seder Dinner (thank you to my dear friends for the great invitation). However, there is one little sadness that will be rectified on Easter weekend, but is not the same.
I miss watching The Ten Commandments on Palm Sunday with my Daddy.
It’s a bit silly, but not to me. ABC has aired The Ten Commandments on Palm Sunday for only Wikipedia knows how long. When I was about four, I realized all the adults in my grandmother’s house were watching the movie. It was brightly colored, pure kid magnet. I asked my Dad what was going on. He grabbed me by the shoulders, made me sit down in front of him and said, “Watch and you shall learn!” Okay, he didn’t say that, but he did tell me that the movie was good and I would like it.
It was the first movie I remember watching and actively wanting to find out what happened next (though I knew the story of Moses by heart at this point). I got to enjoy being surrounded by my family. It also was one of the first times I was allowed to stay up late to watch a movie. (It has an intermission people. It is LONG!)
We would watch it at my grandmother’s house until the invention of the DVD. Around the time we got a DVD player, we no longer could visit my grandmother’s house every weekend. That is when my Mother got my Father the DVD. We were PSYCHED! No more commercials, no more having to wait for commercials to go running to the bathroom. More Mystery Science 3000 mocking without getting popcorn thrown at us. It was an occasion of much rejoicing and making are dog stand on her hind legs and us saying “Moses! Moses!”
This is my second year of being away from home on Palm Sunday. We watch The Ten Commandments whenever it is on ABC (for if ABC says it is time to watch it, it is time to watch it). So, it wasn’t so bad last year because the movie was shown on Easter instead of Palm Sunday. This year it is a bit more poignant. I haven’t been home since February and won’t be back until late Maundy Thursday.
It is a bit silly to be attached to this film so much. Until you go, “Ben-Hur? The King of Siam? Mrs. Munster? GAH! I AM NOT WORTHY!” Also, I don’t care how advance special effects get, but the parting of the Red Sea is one of the most majestic moments in film. The Israelites leaving Egypt? Yeah, those are ALL extras. (I think it still holds the record for most extras.)
On a deeper level, The Ten Commandments is about Passover. If we do not understand Passover, we will not understand the cultural significance of what happened on the Cross.
So, I will watch the movie next Friday with my Father. We shall quote and parody the movie to no end. This Saturday, I will enjoy a Seder dinner with my friends. I thank God for this blessing.
God Bless and may you have a Happy Palm Sunday, Passover, Holy Week, and Easter.
He is Risen!
Until Our Next Meeting,
The Lost Writer of Rohan
P.S. I do know it is not Passover yet. This will be a mostly Seder dinner, not to the letter. (Mainly, it is not during Passover.)