Written for GanTV.com by Managing Editor Lisa Couture
God spoke to me through a Hallmark Movie
“Let Me Lead”, I heard that day. One lazy day Saturday I was spending time with my aging mama and one of the things we love to do, is watch movies together. On this particular day it happened to be our favorite genre of romance and love themed movies on the Hallmark network. I am learning many people don’t like Hallmark. They criticize it, roll their eyes and think it is far too corny or trite to them. Maybe it doesn’t reflect “reality” or the accepted view of this modern culture which is so often skeptical and distrusting of all things good. Ya know what I am saying, it’s the “too good to be true” sentiment.
Maybe it legitimately is not interesting, I mean the plots for sure predictable, so I get it. Hallmark is the subject of funny Facebook memes and budding jokes. In some cases I have even heard people say Hallmark does great damage to people because it is not reality and leaves us, especially woman, with unrealistic expectations longing for relationships that are just not found in the real world. To which I say, “WHAT”?!? I believe in a lot of ways, we have become such a cynical culture, and happy, restorative love stories just seem foolish to us now. I do often wonder, has the influx of our world’s 24/7 gloom and doom news cycles filled with sensationalized fear, political division, cancel culture and so much of what essentially amounts to shame-based messaging, tarnishing our lens to goodness?
I am going to go on the record to say that I absolutely love Hallmark. I love the good news stories of simple love and connection. Yes the plots are simplistic and may even seem plastic or too Pollyanna-like but I unashamedly love the goodness in them. I love the plots of “small town” clashing with “big city” relationships and yet finding a way to connect in love. I love the Christmas themes, the beautiful landscapes, the bake shops, the travel to other countries, the fashion; I love it all. Mostly I love that you can count on a happy end and outcome that leaves you feeling good about love.
Watching Hallmark has been a wonderful way for my aging mama and I to spend time together. I love that I can trust what we are watching, that I won’t have to cringe at the subject matter, hear crass language or see violence which for sure has been far more prevalent on television these days. But as my mama ages and can do less and less physically, we come together and watch stories together about love, friendship, relationship conflicts that find a way to work out, and overall storylines that end well! We both love love stories.
I believe this is the heart of God. He loves love stories too. Call me naive or simple-minded, or I guess you can call me delusional, it is ok. For me it is how God designed our lives to be lived. It is this Great Dance included in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in Perfect Love. A Dance, that some of the earliest theologians often called Perichoresis. Also known as the Divine Dance with the Trinity.
Speaking of “this dance”, let me go back to the movie. It was on this particular Saturday my mama and I were watching Hallmark again. But it was in this particular movie that the Holy Spirit spoke to me through a dance scene. This isn’t the first time Holy Spirit has done this. Holy Spirit often unveils Christ to me through a movie. Holy Spirit is always speaking, always revealing, always confirming our beloved union in the Trinity and Holy Spirit so often does this through movies, songs, especially country music, and a plethora of other mediums. So queue up this movie’s “dance” scene.
In this scene the female main character is invited to a dance with her counterpart male character who, you guessed it, is her love interest. The scene is set. He invites her into a dance as the music played. She begins dancing with him for the first time and as they begin to dance, you can see the hesitant look in her eyes. She is apprehensive and afraid perhaps displaying some insecurity, but his gaze of love and acceptance begins to persuade her heart, and she responded. But it was what happened next that captivated my heart as I watched the scene unfold.
Three Simple Words, “Let Me Lead.”
He looked at her again, I mean, he really looked at her with a depth of what I can only describe as safety, assurance and full on acceptance and then three simple words rolled off his lips; “Let me lead”.
Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love. Song of Solomon 2:4, NIV
The Hallmark scene continues. He is tender and kind to her, but she is still somewhat reserved, often looking away with quite a but of apprehension. He never forced her once. He just kept gazing into her eyes with gentleness and convincing affirmation.. “Trust me to lead” was his unspoken message, with each sway back and forth, of their dance.
She is worthy of love. She his worthy of embrace. Slowly you could see her countenance change as she began to look into his eyes with trust. He never once took his eyes off her the whole time. They were eyes that communicated unspoken words of kindness and safety. It was very interesting, because at first she seemed almost confused when he spoke those words “let me lead”, but little by little, moment by moment, sway by sway as this connection continued through dance, you could see fear falling off of her. She began to truly trust him and love began to blossom. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment; and the one fearing has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18
The scene is now over but as I watched it unwind and come to a close, I found myself captivated in the moment by the Holy Spirit who was revealing this metaphor played out in front of my eyes through a simple Hallmark movie. In the stillness of my Spirit I then heard Him whisper….. “Lisa, this is exactly the way the gospel works.”— “Let Me Lead” ~ Abba
This is the gospel my beautiful friends. This is the simple gospel. Don’t read too much into it beyond the metaphor of the greater message that this is how God draws His bride, both male and female into knowing Him. He woos us into safety and trust in Him. He convinces us that we can let go of our grip of self protection of fear. For me it was a beautiful dance between a man and woman in a Hallmark movie, to another it may look different perhaps. But God’s desire is for us all to know Him and no matter how scared, no matter how apprehensive and no matter what is behind this, whether it be fear, shame, mistrust, trauma, our Abba Daddy will draw us into His embrace through the sway of loving kindness.
He will draw us into the Divine Dance, His banquet hall entangled in Love dancing in our lives held together inside the Trinity. Never pushy, never manipulative. Just simply a beautiful, tender, compassionate persuasion until we can see that He is safe to “Let Him lead us”.
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