“The Gospel of Will Smith” from the December 8 issue of Newsweek is an interview of searcher who is comfortable in his own skin.
His films like “The Pursuit of Happyness,” “I Am Legend,” and “Hancock” are into the tougher side of life. That’s where Smith wants to go. He says that he loves “the nature of humanity’s search for meaning. For me,” he goes on, “I’m certain about my relationship with the model of perfection of human life that’s laid out with the life of Jesus Christ.” Then he goes on to add, that it’s being at home in that basic relationship that takes away his fear of sitting “in a mosque or a synagogue or a Buddhist temple.”
Here’s another way to be a Christian. Be so anchored and secure in your identity as a follower of Christ that you can be open to others and their beliefs. The object is not first to convert them or convince them of your truth, much less put them down, but to listen to them and maybe even learn from them.
As I read the full interview with Will Smith, I admit that I don’t always see life quite like he does. But there’s good stuff here! Like “Life is all about death and rebirth and how do we manage to deal with those things when they happen. And not just death in terms of life. You know when you lose your job or your house – that’s a death of something that is a part of your life. How do you manage that?” Will Smith goes after these things in his films
I found this interview fascinating because it’s filled with baptismal spirituality, especially our dying and rising, as in the last paragraph. It’s also about who we are. In our baptism our identity as a child of God is secured, and when that identity is really lived out, it can – as Will Smith indicates – open us to the world and other human beings without fear and defensiveness. I believe that baptismal spirituality can mean for us both a committed heart and an open mind. Will Smith appears to be a good example. He makes me want to go and see another movie.
