So someone asked me earlier this month if I was joking after I had posted a comment to fb. So after going through my blog and seeing that this subject had yet to be written about, I decided to finally put words to paper.
You see, May is Zombie Appreciation Month. So I posted my favorite zombie verse, Ephesians 5:14, and reminded people of the unique remembrance of the month. Her response of "you have to be joking" was quite appropriate except that for me zombies are creatures of utmost interest.
You see when I was very young, I made the mistake of watching "Night of the Living Dead". Even worse was the fact that my Aunt, who we used to visit a lot, lived right around the corner from the cemetery. For years after I was never fully comfortable at her house after dark. Also, as a teenager in the 80's a few new zombie movies were released, and I again was reminded to lock the doors at night.
So how has my appreciation for zombies made such a dramatic turn? Well it all happened with a little movie named "Shaun of the Dead". I was alone one day, and while flipping through the channels I caught the end of this movie. It was silly and inappropriate, but I sat and watched the young man "Shaun" go from a slacker to a hero. All while fighting zombies trying to rescue family and friends. A zombie movie with a message, or something like that. Well, I enjoyed it enough that when it was on again I sat down to watch from the beginning. It was then that I saw the scene that made me love this movie. There are actually two scenes and they are both nearly identical except for one detail, and that is zombies.
In the first instance we see Shaun walking his route to the store passing people as they each go about their daily business. He barely notices them, let alone having any meaningful interaction with them. It is not so obvious the first time you see it, but the next day when he goes to the store again it becomes painfully clear. We see a man who is so wrapped up in his little world that he does not even see the chaos around him.
It struck me as comical that our hero was living the life of a zombie, except for the eating of flesh part. He did the same things every day, worked the same job, went to the same pub, kept the same lazy friend and expected his girlfriend and family to accept his careless attitude. Our hero knew that he needed to make some changes, but he did not have the courage to do them. That is until the zombies struck and he had to be courageous to save family, friends and himself.
That is why I like zombies now. They remind me that if I am not careful, I can live just as dead of a life as a zombie. Walking through my days accepting shallow relationships, giving as little of myself as possible and hiding from the challenges God has for me. All of these things that make me a part of society and hopefully a light in this world. So as the month of May comes to a close I would again ask you to remember Ephesians 5:14....."Awake sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you".
