So, last night I finally plunked down the now-significant chunkachange to see the Passion. I'm glad I did. "The Passion of the Christ" is just that - a focused retelling of the Passion. I am so used to cringing anytime Christianity is portrayed on tv or in the movies. And during this movie, I didn't cringe once. Squirm, yes. It's not a movie to see lightly.

But, for the first time in my recent memory, I have seen a clear presentation of the Gospel message on the big screen, without having to weed through some alternative secondary agenda.

I have to commend and thank Mr. Gibson for doing this work. He suffered his own cross in the form of a barage from the media of uncritical negative attacks during the last year prior to the release of the film. I admire his courage and dedication.

There are some finer points which deserve some consideration. The movie has a clear Roman catholic slant. Apart from the obvious focus on the violence of Christ's suffering, many of the non-violent images remind me of the pictures that were in my illustrated bible as a kid - the smiling Jesus with the rays of light kind of thing.

But, they weren't saccharine sweet.

All in all, I felt that the characters throughout the movie were portrayed with humanity and depth. The violence was pretty brutal, especially the scourging (was it really that awful?). So, I am hesitant to jump right in and see it again. But, I might consider watching this movie again when it comes out on DVD. As a 20 century image drenched person, the movie helped soften my hardened heart, and that doesn't happen very easily.