Babette's Feast

Tonight we watched the film "Babette's Feast"

The following is the discussion prompted by the film.

The characters are real. They look like real people. It was powerful.

The meal is a picture of amazing Grace.
God showers goodness.

The fine food in that poor house. They became rich though they were poor.

The grace was healing the scars of the past.

Sometimes I think about God in one dimensional ways. God a surprise. He is unpredictable. He is a God of pleasure. I didn’t think that when I was a kid.

A story of limitation and unlimited gifts and overflowing wealth. I thought a lot about the limitation of that pious people. A story of unlimited opportunities. We must spend what we have to experience the unlimited opportunities of the Lord.

The group really thought this was the best way to live. The outsiders recognized the goodness of things more quickly.

The film is addressing the period of the Second Awakening in 1898 and the French Revolution. The film spans almost 100 years. It mimics the conservation of tradition from the Puritans many years after their initial influence. They are living a congregational life many years after the Puritans.

Often Christians are afraid to experience something new. The future belongs to those who are unafraid to say yes. If the past was good enough to get us where God wanted us, we would be farther along.

The film shows a picture of religious people embracing what is good, even if it's new.

Babette was a grateful person.

The film shows the conflict between the artist and the Church. The church is inherently conservative. The artist longs to do as Babette said "just let me do my best" which is often doing something new. Both are trying to achieve something transcendent but since they approach it from such different perspectives, they are often in conflict.