There is a need in the world today to discuss the existence of a Creator. People are afraid to look at this topic in a real way. We all know the wonder of nature and we all ask what our place is. Ultimately, we want to know if there is a Divine Intelligence behind it all. And if there is, does He or She love us?
These kinds of issues are safe in places of worship. They are safe to consider alone in the moments before sleep. They are safe when we go hiking in the woods and catch the last gleam of sunlight from the setting sun.
But they are not safe in the public sphere. They are not safe in the media.
God is a word that has been banished from public discourse. Time magazine publishes it on the front cover every few years as an afterthought. On the movie screen, if God is mentioned, it is in passing or in a negative light during the bad guy monologue.
It's time for a change. Let's talk about God. I want to make a movie about one man's humble relationship with God.
Raymond is a black teenager who was born at the turn of the millennium on the South Side of Chicago. The streets he knows are ugly and worn and the people are blinded by fear and resentment. Violence and poverty have left him to fend for himself. Racial politics prevent him from looking out beyond his own neighborhood.
When a petty burglary attempt goes wrong, his friends flee the scene. Raymond decides not to try and escape arrest. He gets a felony charge and goes to prison. When he is let out, he looks for work, determined to change his life around. But everyone looks at him like he's a thug and no one wants to hire him.
By a stroke of luck, or maybe fate, he gets hired at a hotel as a janitor. He does his best but things start going down hill. To get away from it all, he does what makes him feel free: dance. During the night, he uses his lockpicking skills to enter a dance studio. Playing the music loud, he loses himself in the rhythm.
One night he finds a young woman named Wendy using the studio for her own rehearsals. Wendy is from Uptown and Raymond is from the Southside. Love at first sight it isn't but they soon find there is something special pulling them together.
In the midst of it all, bad influences from Raymond's past wreck any chance he has for stability. An opportunity presents itself to steal from a local gangster. Raymond would never get involved, but there's something he has to confront. Sure enough, things go from bad to worse. In his darkest moment, Raymond finds there is only one place to turn.
These kinds of issues are safe in places of worship. They are safe to consider alone in the moments before sleep. They are safe when we go hiking in the woods and catch the last gleam of sunlight from the setting sun.
But they are not safe in the public sphere. They are not safe in the media.
God is a word that has been banished from public discourse. Time magazine publishes it on the front cover every few years as an afterthought. On the movie screen, if God is mentioned, it is in passing or in a negative light during the bad guy monologue.
It's time for a change. Let's talk about God. I want to make a movie about one man's humble relationship with God.
Raymond is a black teenager who was born at the turn of the millennium on the South Side of Chicago. The streets he knows are ugly and worn and the people are blinded by fear and resentment. Violence and poverty have left him to fend for himself. Racial politics prevent him from looking out beyond his own neighborhood.
When a petty burglary attempt goes wrong, his friends flee the scene. Raymond decides not to try and escape arrest. He gets a felony charge and goes to prison. When he is let out, he looks for work, determined to change his life around. But everyone looks at him like he's a thug and no one wants to hire him.
By a stroke of luck, or maybe fate, he gets hired at a hotel as a janitor. He does his best but things start going down hill. To get away from it all, he does what makes him feel free: dance. During the night, he uses his lockpicking skills to enter a dance studio. Playing the music loud, he loses himself in the rhythm.
One night he finds a young woman named Wendy using the studio for her own rehearsals. Wendy is from Uptown and Raymond is from the Southside. Love at first sight it isn't but they soon find there is something special pulling them together.
In the midst of it all, bad influences from Raymond's past wreck any chance he has for stability. An opportunity presents itself to steal from a local gangster. Raymond would never get involved, but there's something he has to confront. Sure enough, things go from bad to worse. In his darkest moment, Raymond finds there is only one place to turn.
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