Let us begin this month’s Spiritual Ponderings by reflecting on the following passage from the Gospel of Luke: The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them he addressed this parable. “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. (Luke 15:1-7).

Some prayers that were given to me for Peace and Racial Equality.

The last movie I would like to review with you is Disney’s Big Hero 6. The movie begins with Tadashi trying to keep his younger brother Hiro from making some pretty bad choices. Hiro, who is a fourteen year old computer genius, has been using his talents to hustle money from some pretty bad people in illegal robot fights. In an effort to convince Hiro to stop squandering his talents, Tadashi introduces Hiro to his friends. Each of Tadashi’s friends goes by a weird nickname so there is GoGo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon and Fred. I am not sure if Fred is his actual name or his nickname but I think that is part of the joke. Tadashi’s friends quickly make Hiro feel a part of the group as they show him each of their science projects. Tadashi demonstrates to Hiro the science project that he has been working on. Tadashi has been building a healthcare companion robot that Tadashi named Baymax. It is Tadashi’s hope that his robot will be able to help people live healthy lives and assist them in times of medical crisis. Baymax can scan a person (which is like receiving a MRI, EKG, Blood Pressure Test, etc. all at once. Baymax’s hands can also become defibulators. Even Baymax’s marshmallow shape is meant to help people feel comfortable and heal - the most awesome part maybe that he also dispenses lollipops.

For the next movie, I will be traveling back to the year 1944. Going My Way is an American musical comedy/drama directed by Leo McCarey and stars Bing Crosby as Father Charles “Chuck” O’Malley and Barry Fitzgerald as the older and more set in his ways Father Fitzgibbons.

One of the images that I use when talking about the existence of God starts off with a bucket of Lego pieces. I then ask the congregation/audience what they think will happen if I would dump them on the floor. The answer I always get is “a pile of Lego pieces on the ground. I normally follow that up with the question: “Why won’t I get the picture that is on the outside of the bucket (normally a spaceship or a house, etc.)?” The normal response to that question basically comes down to the fact that Lego bricks need someone with an intelligence to put them together in order form them to form something. In much the same way I believe the universe with all its atoms, protons, etc, needed an intelligent creature to create it and put it together. The world is intricate for there not to be a grand designer.

Since the beginning of my Spiritual Pondering columns, I have dedicated the month of July to looking at spiritual insights into movies. The first movie I would like to spiritual analyze is Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This is the second Captain America movie and takes place within the larger Marvel cinematic universe with other movies like Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, and Avengers. In this movie Captain America has been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. since the events of the last Avengers movie took place. He is working hard trying to make the world a better place not knowing that hidden in S.H.I.E.L.D. are members a neo-Nazis group called HYDRA. HYDRA believes that they have developed a computer program and weapon system that will allow them to target any threat (present or future)and destroy it before the threat becomes a real threat. It is up to Captain America, “Black Widow” Natasha Romanoff, and Nick Fury to stop HYDRA from activating their ultimate weapon.