The movies

The greater good.
It was a nice sounding thing.
The movie was about these kids who wanted to take care of stray dogs. In order to serve “the greater good” for the dogs, they had to lie, and be deceptive. They were opportunistic. When the police could have helped, the kids ran away. They thought that the police would not believe that they had NOT done anything bad. When presented with the chance to go live with a good foster family, they lied about their circumstances in order to continue to do things without foster parental awareness or authority…basically to break the rules. And of course the foster parents were wicked.

But in spite of the long list of wrong behaviors being demonstrated, Tater sat on the edge of the wood trimmed beige tweed occasional chair, leaning in.. She squeaked in anticipation and jumped up and down when the dogs were “saved”. The kids were saved too. The police did not arrest them. But the problem for Filly was that characters in the “movie” were happy with breaking all the rules and doing exactly what they wanted because they thought that they knew what was best “for the greater good” for the dogs.

There is a story about “the lost sheep”. The greater good in that story, would have been for the shepherd to stay with the flock. But the story instead points out how the shepherd goes searching for the one lost sheep. It highlights that each individual lamb has value that exceeds the concept of “the greater good”. Jesus did not say, “it is ok for this one sheep to break the rules and do what it wants”. He went after the one breaking the rules and saved it from getting caught by the wolves.

But Tater loved the movie. In tears she said, “I believe that the point of this movie was to show that people should get rescued if they are in a bad place, but that dogs deserve to be treated well too”

Tater was only nine. She was the same girl who loved princess day at the Astro’s game. She was the same girl who went to the museum and looked at art with her bottle and some fish crackers.

She was the same girl who cooked cinnamon toast wearing her La Madeline Petit Chef hat and apron, who loved her dolls and had tea parties, but now was starting a “wolf club” at school. She was growing up. Filly wanted to protect her from being manipulated by activists. Children naturally loved animals and naturally wanted fairness. Filly did not agree with Hollywood making children’s movies where police were bad, and animals were given their own hotels to live in. But if Tater enjoyed the movie, then Filly wanted her to be able to express what she believed, and in spite of the movie, she was firm in her moral compass.

Filly believed that a person’s circumstances could be affected by their own thinking so focusing on what was good was important. And movies and TV shows definitely affected how people viewed the world, manipulating their thinking. Filly’s parents had not let her watch much of either growing up. She had been allowed to watch only that which was uplifting and pure. Her parents also did not watch much electronic media either. They were too busy being active parents of five children, and leaders in the community.

Filly was grateful that Tater had enjoyed the movie. She was grateful that the family had been able to have pizza, and watch and talk about it. It was important to continue to have an active role in kids viewing habits, discussing things with them.
That was what her parents did.
The movie ended with Pyp never watching any of it but instead playing with her Gabby’s dollhouse and her Tayo the little bus. Pyp liked cars.
And Mister watched with his feet curled up under him saying he was cold and wanting to sit on the heating pad. lol He drew part of the time as well and looked at his book.
Filly wrote, something she had developed since childhood, because she did not watch shows as a kid. She still saw good in police and justice, and knew that strong consequences were necessary deterrents for bad and especially criminal behavior. She believed that most foster parents were good people. And she believed that the courts would continue to preside over justice, protecting the innocent ones, and not letting the lost sheep attack the other members of the flock. Jesus did not take the rest of the flock on the winding wrong path that the lost sheep went on did he? He kept the flock away from evil.

Randomly chosen bible verse
“That same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven. He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.”
God chooses who gets to win. God is good and his laws are good. God is in charge of who gets success and who gets land and who gets plenty. God is not deceived by those speaking with forked tongue. Those who do not believe, will be driven out. The bible story shows it Filly saw. In case someone thought God did not see what was happening. He did.