Paul Cutelli, Director of Technology
“…I hope that the world turns and that things get better. But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean when I tell you that even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you. I love you. With all my heart, I love you.”
– Valerie, V for Vendetta
It is a family tradition that each fifth of November, Kae –my fiancé– and I sit down and watch “V for Vendetta.” Adapted from the graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, it presents the audience with a dystopian, autocratic England, a freedom fighter/terrorist, named simply V, and a woman, named Evey, who gets caught up in everything. During the course of the film, some terrible things happen (I will try not to spoil it; if you have not seen it, it is worth the watch!) which results in Evey’s incarceration. The quote above comes at a time in Evey’s life when everything is taken from her; there is no sign of hope… and from that bleakness comes the purest, unsolicited love exactly when she needs it the most from a total stranger.
As you might have imagined, once I heard that our Advent sermon series was to be called “The World Is about to Turn,” my mind snapped back to this very moving scene. How timely it is that the message of Christmas –that we are loved and should be joyful, that there is hope to be had and we should all strive toward peace– comes now, when such things seem so far away from the headlines and storylines of current events. In a world with seemingly little room for the virtues of Advent, we find ourselves looking for that good word to beat back the void, and I for one look forward to the love, the peace, the joy, the hope from the pulpit.
I wish you and yours the very best of the season, and hope that the world turns and things get better, for each and every one of us.
