It’s Just a Flesh Wound: The Meaning of Pain

One of the wittiest and most quotable movies of all time is Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). It is a personal favorite and the most graphic scene in the movie is a sword fight between King Arthur and a stubborn black knight guarding a wee bridge. As the black knight loses a limb, Kind Arthur demands that he surrender. The black knight claims that losing an arm is “just a flesh wound” and continues the fight while King Arthur stands there bewildered. Watch the clip below for full amusement.

Like the black knight, we are in a world full of walking wounded and in pain. The pain is a reminder that sin has plagued us and quite frankly I’m tired of the pain.

Thankfully there is hope in many places.

Psalm 23 provides great comfort in what lies ahead in heaven where there will be no more tears and no more pain or strife. But we are not there yet so why does pain exist beyond be a reminder of the fall? What does God teach us in pain? In the movie Invictus, there is a great exchange when Nelson Mandela asks Francois Pienaar, the South African Rugby Captain, about if  he was feeling 100% in preparation for the next match. Francois’ responded humbly that no one is ever 100% free from pain or injury.

It is the same in all things in life.

I am currently recovering from arthoscopic knee surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus. It has been harder than I thought and my mind keeps wanting to push forward. My body still feels the pain though. Personally this past year has been wonderful and painful. Our family’s year has been full of the following:

• My knee surgery.
• My mother is awaiting a knee replacement.
• My father has been battling a severe staph infection and is waiting on a hip replacement.
• Brooke lost her grandmother.
• We renovated our house and were fighting bumps and bruises for almost a year.
• Our dog has ACL surgery and we have to literally pick him up to help him go to the bathroom outside.
• My wife has had the painful duty of taking care of us all.
• My previous job was painful and stressful and left me far outside of my comfort zone.

Too often pain tends to keep us focused on ourselves but when we stop to look around we see that we are not alone. In fact, I have many friends who are suffering much worse things like cancer, severe mental illness, greater physical injuries or have lost loved ones. We are surrounded by pain.

In the book, The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis, he points out the struggle.

“We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

He goes on.

“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.”

Ultimately pain serves a purpose and we should be thankful for its purpose. If we had no pain, we would be home in heaven. But we’re not there yet.

Pain tells me that life is real.

Pain tells me that I need help.

Pain tells me that I need Christ.

Pain tells me that I’m not home yet and to keep pushing forward.

Top Summer Movies of All Time

Summer is traditionally a time to be outdoors and enjoy time with friends and family. It can also be a time to huddle on the couch later at night to enjoy some humorous, adventurous and patriotic movies. When I think about summer, I am filled with wonderful memories. Often these memories are intertwined with movies that mirror my experiences and inspire and make me laugh today.

For the first three years of my career I marketed and sold movies to Parks and Recreation departments around the nation to show to their community. It was always fun to create summer movie schedules that would help bring people together at their local parks. Over those years there have been many movies that have stood out among the rest. This list is compiled of movies that personally have meant a lot to me and I hope you will enjoy them this summer too. I have chosen not to include animated films in this list and have arranged these by topic as well as individual movies.

1. The Great Outdoors (1988)

Nothing says summer vacation like an upper midwest lake house trip with John Candy and Dan Aykroyd.

2. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)

Only the most dedicated dad like Clark Griswold wouldn’t let a dead Aunt Edna ruin their pilgrimage to Walley World. This is by far one of the funniest prayers you will ever hear.

3. Stand by Me (1986)

Some of the finest moments in life can be found around a campfire and debating what kind of animal or person Goofy is. Good story, Vern. It is also hard to imagine how Stephen Kind could have written such a poignant coming of age story from the 1950s.

4. The Goonies (1985)

If you grew up in the 80s there was no way to miss The Goonies. There are only a few who are able to  direct such great comedies with kids. Richard Donner and Steven Spielberg created a 1980s masterpiece. “Goonies never say die.”

5. Baseball movies: Sandlot (1993), The Natural (1994), Pride of the Yankees (1942) and Field of Dreams (1994)

From Sandlot, there is no better insult from back in the day than “You play ball like a girl.”

One of the finest endings to a baseball movie ever and the memorable soundtrack creates Roy Hobbs to become a legend. “Go pick me out a winner, Bobby”

You don’t have to be a Yankee fan to appreciate Lou Gehrig’s speech. “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

In the conclusion to Field of Dreams, there is no man who will not cry after watching this scene.

6. Golf: Tin Cup (1986) and Caddyshack (1980)

Roy McAvoy played by Kevin Costner is full with outlandish challenges on the golf course. “Did you ever shoot par with a 7-iron?”

If you have ever played golf, there is little chance that you didn’t hear someone mimicking Bill Murray saying ,”Cinderella story, outta nowhere about to become the Masters Champion.”

7. Beach: One Crazy Summer (1986),  Weekend at Bernie’s (1989), and Jaws (1975)

If you ever want revenge on rich islanders, send in Godzilla.

I’ve always loved Weekend at Bernie’s because for years we have vacationed in Bald Head Island, where this was filmed.

Roy Scheider’s line, “You’re going to need a bigger boat.” is one of the most quoted lines in movie history. Jaws defined what a summer beach blockbuster looks like.

8. Camping: Meatballs (1979), White Water Summer (1987)

Along with John Belushi’s epic motivational speech in Animal House, Bill Murray matches it here in Meatballs.

“Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” serves as an extreme outdoor guide who brings a group of four city boys to survive the wilderness.

9. Military: Glory (1989) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989), John Adams HBO Miniseries (2008), and The Patriot (2000)

This campfire scene prior to the battle to take Fort Wagner is one of the most beautiful and emotional scenes showing the spirit of the colored 54th Massachusetts Regiment.

Although a controversial movie, it is perhaps Tom Cruise’s finest performance. “People say that if you don’t love America, then get the hell out. Well, I love America.” 

In the epic HBO miniseries based on David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, John Adams, Paul Giamatti plays our founding father and in this scene, he shares his perspective on the declaration of independence.

Essentially this movie is “Braveheart-American style” but still an enjoyable depiction of The Revolutionary War in the South.

10. Armageddon (1998) and  Independence Day (1996)

To round-out the summer films the 1990s brought a slew of space-apocalyptic films. There is nothing better than this astronaut evaluation scene in Armageddon.

Despite this being a science fiction film, this is by far one of the finest American President speeches. Even historian Bill Bennett refers to this in his book The American Patriot’s Almanac.

Honorable mention: Dirty Dancing, Forrest Gump, What about Bob?, Beach Blanket Bingo, Endless Summer, Splash, Step Into Liquid, Summer Rental, and Roman Holiday.

What are your favorite summer movies?