The Kings speech

I wrote yesterday that there is something about long haul flights that means I see things differently, and things get to me in a way they wouldn’t normally.

I started the flight cursing Delta airlines because the sound wasn’t working on the inflight entertainment system and I had noticed there were a few movies they had that I was very keen to watch. After several conversations with the stewardesses and resetting the system I actually found I had my headphones plugged into the wrong jack… I plugged it in the right one and bingo! It worked.

The first film I watched was the social network which was about the creation of facebook. I really enjoyed it, particularly because it was written by the creator of the West Wing, my favorite television show.

It was actually the second movie, The Kings speech that really got to me.

I am actually still on the plane, however it made sense to break up yesterday’s blog because it was getting a bit long.

I am still working out what it was about the movie, but I found myself identifying deeply with the king who was thrust into the spotlight and had to fight a huge battle with himself in order to find his voice.

There is a beautiful friendship that develops between an Aussie speech therapist and a prince who has never before spoken to a common person.

A defining moment happens when the prince becomes King and his self doubt almost overpowers him. The speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush, provokes him to a point where he yells out, “I will be heard, I have a voice!”. It was a breakthrough moment.

The movie draws to a climax with the King having go address the Empire at the outbreak of World War II.

He has to face his demons and do the thing he fears the most. The nation needs hope and it turns to him to deliver the one thing he finds most difficult to do: a speech.

I love how his friend is right there with him in his most difficult moment. He delivers the speech that galvanizes his people and goes down in history.

Like I said I am still working out what hit me so hard about the movie.

It would be easy now to go for the cliche, simplistic conclusion, but I will avoid that temptation because it wouldn’t be true.

I love that there was no quick fix for the King, he had to work very hard to overcome his demons, and as he did he started to find his voice.

I think that might be part of it for me. I experience life as a wrestle, and the temptation is great not to engage in the wrestle.

The King’s brother missed his moment because he couldn’t win the battle with his emotions.

The last couple of years particularly have a been a wrestle for me, and there have been many times when the temptation has been great to step out of the firing line. Truth be told there are moments when I have.

What I have seen most clearly in the past two years is the truth of what Jesus was saying, when he said in Matthew 10:39:

“If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.”

I certainly haven’t reached a point where I have forgotten myself, but I have very much found that the more I don’t run from the wrestle, the more I find my voice.

I have a long way to go. I’m a bit nervous even writing this stuff for fear it will sound like I think I have it all sorted… Believe me I don’t.

I know, though, that there is a growing part of me that is enjoying the challenge of the wrestle and increasingly I am finding that Jesus seems to meet me in the moments I hold on and I do become more me.