There’s a scene in the brilliant movie Signs (2002) where Mel Gibsons character is in the root cellar with his family hiding from the alien invasion taking place in the world above. Earlier in the story we find out that he had lost his wife six months earlier and had subsequently questioned his faith and given up his position as the town’s Reverend. He now spends his days on his farm with his brother and two children pining for his dead wife and living life like a zombie.

But below it all he is angry, not so much at the man who killed his wife in a driving accident, but at God for allowing the accident to happen in the first place. So here he is, with his family, in the root cellar. His son has had an asthma attack and is finding it hard to breathe so Gibsons character is helping him to try and breathe more easily. For the first time in the movie he talks to God, and boy is he angry. “Don’t let this happen again,” he says through the anger, tears streaming down his face. “Don’t take him from me.” And then from out of nowhere he says, “I hate you.”

Many people I know who watched Signs missed the whole point of this part of the movie. It was at this point where his hurting began to end and the healing could begin. Explain yourself Chris! OK, here goes. Throughout the movie we witness a hurting family trying to get on with life after losing a loved one. The kids are coping in their own little ways, but Gibsons character is hurting, bitter, and angry. At one point int he movie Gibson and his family are sitting down to dinner and he refuses to pray over the meal. This makes his kids very upset; they too have witnessed his faith slipping away and the anger intensifying. At this point his son turns to him and tells him, “I hate you,” to which Gibson replies, “That’s OK.” The scene ends with Gibson breaking down and in a touching moment his two children reach out and hug him.

Why did he say that it was OK for his son to hate him. Because he was a good father; he knew that his son was hurting too and needed at that point to vent his anger, even if it was directed at his father.

Do you see where I’m going with this? Sometimes in life we will get angry with God. The truth is our tiny little minds cannot comprehend the complexity of the plan unfolding around us and when something bad happens to us we sometimes shut down… and get angry. And this is nothing new. David in the Psalms wrote, “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death.” (Psalm 13: 1-4) David was angry with God. Read the words he wrote and tell me he was feeling anything else? And yet he refused to remain in his anger; “I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.” (vss 5-6)

Going back to Signs the same thing happens. In the root cellar venting his anger towards God, a healing begins as Gibsons character begins to let go. At the end of the movie the story has come full circle; we see Gibson dressed in his “Reverendly” garb, dog collar and all, and for the first time in the movie he looks happy and contented. It’s a brief scene, but it made all the difference. In life we will get angry with God, if you are a believer and breathing then I would say it’s inevitable. The question is do we stay there? Or do we vent to a Father who understands and says “That’s OK” and reaches out to hug his children when they reach out to Him?

Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
October, 2009

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