Sunday rambling on Methodists, movies and Morgan

I'm not overtly religious; in fact, my religious beliefs are among the few things I try to keep to myself. I have some, but they're personal. And I'm not talking about situations where religion sticks its nose into politics. I have strong feelings about that and will throw out opinions at the drop of a hat.

When I attend church, about 38 Sundays per year on average, I go to the Methodist church. It's the denomination I was raised in; when I was young it was a rare Sunday morning when my family wasn't present for services and Sunday school both. I like the Methodists because, at least at the church I attend, they seem to be more tolerant and less political than, say, the Southern Baptists. I've even read that some Methodists are protesting Bush's presidential library and school of public affairs at SMU in Dallas. Another plus for them on my scorecard.

This morning, the sermon I heard was above average. Its subject was the meaning of the benediction, its biblical origins, etc. To illustrate one of his points, the Rev used a short scene from the movie Deep Impact. Thanks to modern technology, the congregation was able to see the clip in question on the big screens above the pulpits.

In the scene the US president, played by Morgan Freeman, is addressing the country on television, telling them that efforts to destroy an asteroid headed toward the planet have failed, and an ELE (extinction-level event) is inevitable. At that point, President Freeman pauses and delivers his benediction to the nation, which happens to be the biblical passage about which the Rev had been preaching.

Watching that scene again reminded me that Deep Impact is probably my all-time favorite disaster movie. It's one of the few with characters interesting enough to worry about, and there are a few scenes that give me the old lump in the throat. The cast, except Tia Leoni, is good; Robert Duvall plays his usual 'Robert Duvall' character. The really interesting casting choice is Morgan Freeman as the Prez, who comes across as someone people of either party could be proud of. Barry Obama's misfortune is that he wasn't born Morgan Freeman; he'd be a shoo-in this November. In my opinion, Freeman is one of those actors who's never played a part badly. He portrayed God in Bruce Almighty, and took that picture to a level of excellence it would've missed otherwise. So I'm thinking that someday, if we ever have a black president for real, maybe Morgan Freeman will have paved the way a little bit.