Is Joaquin Phoenix Entering The Kingdom of Heaven Ahead Of The Rest Of Us?

About five years ago I wrote an article called 5 Reasons “Sinners” Enter the Kingdom of God Ahead of Christians and although I had wrote it sometime ago, it almost daily receives a fair number of “hits”. Somehow the theme that those who are not Christians somehow “get” God and see his “kingdom” ahead of those who proclaim to follow him definitely resonates (and irritates).

Of course, I’d like to take credit for the idea but I have to defer to Jesus who first promoted it… as I often have to remind Christians who disagree with me on the issue.

Then this week I saw the Academy Award acceptance speech by Joaquin Phoenix who won the Best Actor award for his performance in Joker. Like many cinefiles I am well aware of Phoenix’s somewhat checkered reputation and penchant for outrageous behavior. Because of that I was surprised by the content of his speech.

It was neither self-indulgent nor outrageous.

It wasn’t a political rant lashing out at the establishment

It wasn’t pontificating on acting as an art form

Instead it spoke of redemption, regret, second chances, and what a world with love and compassion as it’s driving motivations might look like.

In fact it sounded surprisingly like the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus came to proclaim.

…and I think we fear the idea of personal change because we think that we have to sacrifice something to give something up. But human beings, at our best, are so inventive and creative and ingenious, and I think that when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and to the environment.

Now, I have been a scoundrel in my life. I’ve been selfish. I’ve been cruel at times, hard to work with and ungrateful, but so many of you in this room have given me a second chance. And I think that’s when we’re at our best, when we support each other, not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other toward redemption. That is the best of community.

When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric. It said, ‘Run to the rescue with love, and peace will follow.'”

“Love and compassion” as our guiding principals? Perhaps Joaquin Phoenix is seeing, experiencing, and entering the Kingdom of Heaven ahead of the rest of us?

Peace and Buen Camino,

Steve