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Absolutely Spellbinding I finally watched "the Passion" yesterday, Easter Sunday. Wow! It was quite an experience. It seems like most of the criticism of the film is centered on the violence. Well folks, let's be honest here. The suffering you see in "the Passion" is probably a lot closer to what actually happened to Jesus than the sanitized version of events most of us have cooked up in our minds. We've all know the lines from the Apostles' Creed: "Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried." We've recited those lines that they've probably lost their impact on us. Some of us try to portray Jesus as a sort of "feel-good" type who was just hangin' out with the disciplines, chomping on fish and bread, when in reality, he became a marked man, hated by the Temple authorities and ultimately put to death in (probably) his early 30s in the most gruesome form possible. To be a Christian back then was a very, very dangerous thing. It was a time of brutality. If a 1st-century Christian were to see this picture, he/she might not be shocked at all. Sensibilities have changed. This is not to suggest that the R-rating is unwarranted or that children should freely see it, but I do think that, for those of us that consider ourselves Christians, this is a part of Jesus's life that we have to come to grips with. Let's not gloss over the fact that this man, guilty of no wrongdoing, brutally suffered and died. Think of our lives now, and our "sufferings" pale in comparison. I walked away from this picture feeling uplifted and empowered. (If there's one complaint I have, it's that the scene of the risen Christ is too brief, but what can you do.) Our lives are salvageable. A film like this helps you to appreciate the things you really have.