Godzilla is the man! Or…Godzilla is the beast, I suppose. I was always fascinated with the campy, Japanese monster and his films of wreaking havoc upon Tokyo and its environs. My fondness for Godzilla probably stems from my early childhood days when my father would read to me at bedtime. (Tip: Parents, read to your young children at bedtime! The only regret you will have is never having done so!) It was the book on dinosaurs that I remember. I would groggily ask my father to show me the pictures. Tyrannosaurus rex was a fearsome creature with massive jaw and razor- sharp teeth. He looked funny with his teeny-wienie “hands.” My father would make a roaring dinosaur sound while pawing gently upon my face. I would fall asleep dreaming of being a caveman in the days of the prehistoric beasts discovering only later in my education that these mysterious creatures existed and became extinct well before the earliest man or woman walked the earth. My father was the man too, for taking the time to read to me. I wonder if he then ever fell asleep dreaming of dinosaur exploits together with his young “cave son.” I’m sure that he slept more soundly knowing that his son soundly slept despite all those dinosaurs roaming about in his head. All of us could use a more sound sleep. Usually, it is the many “monsters” of our daily lives that keep us awake. They stomp about like Godzilla trampling everything underfoot. In the Godzilla movies of old, the beast was sometimes the villain, but more often than not, the ole boy was the hero saving Tokyo from some other menacing creature. The populace would be grateful as Godzilla wandered off to his lair to await the next call to duty. Monsters becoming heroes in film is a screenwriter/producer’s prerogative. In the reality of everyday life, such prerogative is God’s and we need to encourage and assist Him in His work. Jesus came especially for those afflicted by “monsters.” A child once wanted to know why there were no dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible. The short answer is that the Bible is not a book on the science of paleontology. It is a book on the “science” of God and, in fact, there are many “monsters” contained therein. The various persecutions of God’s Chosen People in the Old Testament and the persecutions of the early Christians in the New were monstrous. Disobedience before God is even more so. Perhaps the path to sainthood is allowing God to “tame the wild beast” transforming afflictions into cures. It was the Leviathan of the Cross with its suffering that became the crowbar prying back the door of the tomb from which our Risen Lord emerged. The same will be true for us. Though T-Rex may not appear in the Bible because he was prehistoric, my old friend was not a priori to creation. This means that the Tyrannosaurus of my youthful dreams was part of God’s plan. There was a rather unique stained-glass window in a former parish church of mine that illuminated this. Behind the image of Adam and Eve, albeit rather small, there stood a dinosaur (a brontosaurus). The pre-historic monster is small in comparison with the greatness that is the wonder of God’s creation of man and woman made in His very image and likeness. We are “bigger” than our “beasts.” Asking and allowing God to transform them will help all of us to sleep more soundly beginning this very night. Stop by the cave later. I’ll introduce you to my friend, T-Rex. He’s a “big” Godzilla fan too!
Peace!
Fr. Wilson