I had a real “Nooma” moment this morning.
If you know anything about this DVD series featuring the author of Velvet Elvis, then you know what I’m talking about. Each Nooma disk has a topic – love, forgiveness, or suffering – with a catchy title – like Flame, Luggage or Rain. Rob Bell talks in an informal way to the viewer, with the camera switching over to something that ties into what he is try to say. On the Flame DVD, it was a huge bonfire. With Luggage, a woman walks through an airport to collect her suitcase.
On Wednesday, I saw Dust. On it, a woman shovels a driveway covered in snow, doing it all by herself, as Bell talks to the camera about how important it is to do those little, unseen things as Christians. (There was all this other stuff about how young Hebrews got chosen to study with rabbis, but I won’t get into that now.)
So, as I watched this DVD, I kept waiting for Bell to stop talking and go out to help this gal shovel her driveway (yeah, I know it’s not real, just stick with me here.) But he didn’t. Bell went out to his mailbox to collect his mail, but he didn’t even talk to her.
He just got done telling us how important those little things we do for God are important, and he’s not doing it. What kind of bizarre example of Christianity in action is this, I thought.
But here comes the twist. When the woman is done digging out the drive, she goes into the house next door. It wasn’t her driveway she just cleared of ice and snow. She was the one doing that little unseen thing to bless someone else. Wow, it gave me goosebumps. Well, done Nooma. You got me.
Anyway, all that backstory so you understand what I mean by a Nooma moment. My neighbor plowed our driveway this morning. My husband was sick in bed, I’m busy with the kids, and I looked out the window to see him on his ATV going up and down the drive. I ran to the door to ask him if he wouldn’t mind clearing the snow off the cars too. We both had a good laugh.
It’s our first good snowfall of the year too. Everything else this year has been mostly just… dust.
How neat is that, eh?
May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi, Jesus. If you’ve seen Dust, then you know exactly what I mean.
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One of my favorite Nooma videos. The “best, of the best, of the best” phrase was stuck in my head for weeks, like a bad song on the radio! Ha!
Good story.
Cheers.
Yes! The best of the best … and He picked the rag-tag fishermen. Awesome. Thanks, Nathan, for reminding me of that part of the DVD.
Haven’t seen them, but you did a great job describing it. Simple, unseen acts of service = big impact.
And sometimes the blessing comes from learning to receive.
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