So I saw someone "dying" the other day

... not because it was part of my job - which I see dying and dead people all the time in - but rather because I was accompanying someone else, who "had" to go visit someone who is sick, and in all likelihood, will be dead in a matter of weeks - anything past a month is pushing it. It was an experience that has pushed my theological boundaries a touch. Certainly not due to the illness, or the "why God?" usual crap, or any and all physical pain associated with - but rather, what was before me was a person that I could really care less about, was a rather vile person in the past that had committed all sorts of atrocities I would have gladly shot him for (and all likelihood in the present as well) on his deathbed. So here I am, next to this deathbed, being polite for the sake of others who are clueless, and attending because I am accompanying another that feels they must (or that they will regret it later if they don't). The command from Christ to "love you enemies" (Matt 5:44) seems especially poignant here. I wonder if I - being in the shoes of the victims to this dying person - could put aside what would be nothing short of raw hatred - and still visit, knowing that at some level of a twisted mind, it offers comfort.

In other unrelated events, I finally saw "The Mist". First, it was much much much better that "The Fog". However, The Fog had the redeeming, Mystery Science Theater 3k aspect to it, where you could toss popcorn and have fun making fun of it. The Mist while a decent horror film, kinda bungled it in the end. (Stop reading now if you don't want to read spoilers). At the very end of the movie, the main character, three other adults and his kid all get in the car and try and escape the bad alien guys. They run out of gas, and sit in the car for about a minute, before they decide to all commit suicide with the 4 bullets. This means the MC shoots them all, saying "I'll figure something out for myself". They do this to supposedly spare themselves the horror of dying to the aliens or being cocconed to be a host for alien babies. After he kills everyone else, about a minute or two passes, and an army convoy rolls up on them, turning the movie into a sort of Greek tragedy.

While I find it disturbing that the MC would actually *shoot* his own little boy (God knows I couldnt), I don't buy the motivation at all which makes the movie fall on its ass. First, after working a progressive / oncology pediatric unit, and having to go into the pediatric ICU for a year, normal parents never give up hope for their kid. And why would they? They go to all sorts of extraordinary lengths to actually save them. Take this now to the MC of the movie, and after thwarting all odds, decides to off everyone else and his own kid, just because they run out of gas. No monsters around, no psychotic religious folk trying to knife them. No starvation. Just a little snag. Bleh.

If they really wanted to make this a tragedy in that fashion, they could have at least put one little monster attacking the car, which would add to the "oh crap we have to do something" line, and a hasty decision could then reasonably be believed. Something like car stalls, they are all talking about what to do next. A few little aliens start attacking the car, MC takes the gun, pow pow pow pow. A moment later as he's freaking out, army guys suddenly appear in the fog and shoot the aliens. Still sucky ending for the dad / MC, but it doesn't make him a psychopath and out of character.

just my .02