Fruits of the carnal mind

I saw the movie Philomena tonight. It is a provocative movie about an older Irish woman who spent 50 years desiring to reconnect with her son who was taken from her when the son was just a few years old. Philomena was abandoned as a teen by her family when she became pregnant after following her flesh passion. She was sent to a convent to have her child and was required to stay at convent and work to pay the convent the expenses she incurred with birthing her child. The convent was actually selling the children to wealthy Americans who were seeking adoption of Irish children. One day Philomena saw her son being sent away with another family. Her heart broke for she loved the child so much.

She kept this a secret for 50 years out of shame. One day she decided the secret was worse than the shame she felt from her "sin". A down and out journalist agrees to help her find her son to rejuvenate his career. His magazine wanted the story to boost their ratings.
(BTW, see the exchange imperative everywhere???)
Together, they follow leads to ultimately find out he had died and was buried back at the convent where he was born. He had sought his mother, but the nuns told him she had abandoned him and they didn't know where she was. The nuns had profound disdain for the "sinful" teen mothers they were "helping".

The movie is full of various perspectives toward God and sin. While the world elevated the guilt of sin committed by Philomena as a young girl, the Church perpetuated judgmentalism and fraud, all in the name of taking care of Jesus' business to punish sinners (duty). The nun who sold the son and then lied to him about his mother claimed Philomena deserved it because of her sin. In response to being confronted by Philomena as to why the nun would keep Philomena from her son, the nun was resentful and cynical because she took vows of chastity and had to refrain from sexual pleasure while Philomena had enjoyed sex as a fornicator. The nun believed Philomena DESERVED eternal punishment.
(There's that equity imperative).

I was reminded in that scene how Graceless duty and obligation of the nun had contaminated her heart. She lived a joyless life, all in the name of doing God's work as He demanded of her. The message of this movie is quite exemplary of the point of my book, "stuck in stinkin thinkin." When we approach God from a carnal mind of the equilibrium imperative, the life of joy, significance, freedom and hope escapes us and others are judged, not BLESSE$D. Philomena, the outcast "sinner", saw her sin as an offense to God, but knew that forgiveness (Grace) is the heart of God.

Great movie, I recommend it highly - lots to ponder :-)