August Rush: The Music is all around us. All you have to do is listen.

There are not many movies that I would pay to see two times in the theater. August Rush is one of them. The movie has received horrible reviews because people say the story isn't believable. The viewer knows how it is going to end. Ok, I'll give them that. The story was a little cheesy at times--especially at the beginning. Even so, this movie captivated me. The music was beautiful and creative. It really is best experienced in a theater. I really loved the cinematography because it had a more realistic and raw tone to it. It played with the mysterious and even deeply spiritual quality of music. Despite the movies weak points, I think the movie's strengths make it well worth people seeing this holiday season.

August was orphaned because of an unfortunate accident involving his mom which led to a ridiculous lie of an over protective grandfather. August was abandoned to the state system without his mother's knowledge. He spends the first 11 years of his life in a boys home. The story is about August finding his parents and has noticeable similarities to Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist.

August hears music that no one else hears. He is aware of the orchestrated sounds of everyday life. August says, "The music is calling out to us. Only some of us can hear it." Wizard(Robin Williams) replies: "Only some of us are listening." He not only has the ability to hear the music but he allows it to lead him. The music leads him to his ultimate hope--being found by his parents.

I have a hard time watching a movie like this and not seeing more than there is. August's hearing music that few people hear and his quest to follow the music are not all that different from my spiritual journey. I am learning what it is like to listen and follow something that is real in our world--Jesus. There are times that I think only some people can hear him! Yet that is because only some are listening. And isn't it when we listen (and hear Him) and follow that we are actually found? The movie engaged me in my own mysterious journey of hearing, following and being found by Jesus. More and more I experience August's quote about music as true for Jesus: "(Jesus) is all around us. All you have to do is listen."