The folks at Dallas-based non-profit I Am Second are masterful storytellers. The name alone is attention-grabbing. Our culture is very much me-focused, and we love us some navel-gazing. But I Am Second asks us to take second fiddle to the big man upstairs. Might be more apropos to say “I Am Ten-Thousandth” to fully grasp the cavernous leap between us and the Lord.
What grabs me with the 120+ stories — each between five and 20 minutes in length — is the consistent thread of a person awakening to the Lord’s love for him or her. Which begs one of many questions: is this unfathomable love only available to the folks in the films, or can all 7.6 billion souls on this planet access this big magic?
I love how the I Am Second team has a wide swath of personalities, from celebrities to athletes to business folks to Joe and Joan Q public on the street. All races and ages, and all pointing to a turning point in their lives when Christ became quite damn real. I relate, as my own “wokeness” occurred on Fri, Oct 22nd, 1999. If you would’ve met me two days before, I would’ve claimed Christianity is pixie bullshit for weak-ass suckers in need of a crutch. But after that day, I felt the most powerful tractor beam I’ve ever experienced, pull me into the fold. Boom, shameless plug for the book, where I talk about that power I knew had changed me, and how I fought it initially.
Not the Usual Suspect
My personal favorites in the portfolio are Stephen Baldwin and Propaganda, with easily 4-5 others as powerful. Baldwin has a deadpan moment worth its weight in gold, and at the end of Propaganda’s piece, I couldn’t help but smile with delight thinking if his vision came true. Ainsley Earhardt is raw and real for couples challenged by the inability to get pregnant. We all have our battles, where the runway stretches forever, and it feels like God moved on to other favorites to bless with happy, productive lives. That’s what’s great about IAS, they don’t wade in the kiddy-pool of Christian platitudes. As you’ll see in the descriptors below each film, every vice, emotion, and struggle is covered. You’ll find great comfort in the humility and vulnerability each person displays in every piece I’ve seen. That in itself is a unique affirmation of the character of Christ. And if you think you’re immune to their challenges, choose today as your release from the island called denial.
Where my mind goes while watching these stories, is a position so many of my friends have: “good for them, but not for me.” Sure, maybe you’ve found your bliss in meditation, yoga, marathons or a high-caliber career filled with adrenaline and success. Maybe you see a box to check that says spiritual and non-religious is sufficient with your worldview of God. I like the concept, I don’t see myself as religious either. Religion is filled with dogma, it’s coercive and stifling. The people in the IAS films are speaking of an elixir that sounds magical and freeing. It’s the power of grace that brings exhilaration and release. Keep your religion, I’ll take some of that ALL. DAY. LONG.
I Am Atheist
I’m always open to the idea that the people in these films may have cracked, and they lost their marbles. It could be their longing for comfort was so warped and disjointed that they chose to believe in the tooth-fairy. Possibly. But their lucidity seems to squash that position outright. In other words, do they sound like cuckoos? Not in the slightest. Plus, I’ve traveled around their world and met strangers with identical stories, all pointing towards saving grace as the key ingredient. I’ve also met men in prison who say the best thing that ever happened to them was getting incarcerated. Why? Because they met Jesus Christ. Criminy, that statement has weight! The other side of the pendulum swing is that there is no counter to IAS that I’m aware of where you’ll find atheists claiming significant life change from their… non-belief. Yes, I’ve heard the argument of saying a person doesn’t need God to be a functioning, morally upstanding citizen. Correct. But this life may not be the one that matters most, and what if God is the gatekeeper to the next?
See ya next time. ML