Over Easter Ben Hur was on T.V. and multiple times I might add. Funny as how you get older you tend to look deeper into things. Ben Hur for instance. I remember seeing the movie when it was released in 1959. When I watched Easter weekend I noticed something. The use of water. I went to AI to see what bearing water had in Christian civilization and this is what it said.
Water in Christian symbolism represents life, purification, and spiritual renewal. It is often associated with baptism, the Holy Spirit, and God’s provision, illustrating both the cleansing of sin and the sustenance of spiritual life.
Think about the movie at the beginning a young carpenter named Jesus gave water to the the prisoner Ben Hur after a long arduous trek thru the dessert. When the roman sergant of the guard saw this he yelled no water for this man and approached to grab the ladle from Christ hand to which Christ simply stood and gazed at the guard not saying a word. A look of fear over came the guard as he stepped back slowly a look of fear on his face.
Next Hur is sentanced to life as an oarsman in a Roman galleon. He is now a prisoner of water. Before going to battle the General Quintus Arrius orders Hur not to be chained. An enemy vessel now rams the Roman ship. At this point water frees Hur and also his fellow shipmates as Hur procures the keys and unlocks the chains of his fellow prisoners. Quntus Arrius now falls off the ship into the …….water again, and Hur jumps in to rescue him. The Roman navy wins the battle and Arrius adopts Hur as his son. Hur experiences a new life with Arrius but after a brutal charriot race he learns his mother and sister are still alive but are leapers.
Water enters the picture once again as Hur sails back to the holy land. He finds his mother and sister who a family friend Ester brings food to them. Ester had heard there is a man born in Bethlehem that can heal the unclean so they set off to find him which they do just in time for his passion. Hur then recognises Christ as the man who gave his water years earlier and when Christ fell with is cross the second time he grabs a ladel of water to quench Christs thirst. Again water, Hur’s spiritual renewal and baptism thru the water. Because of their belief in Christ the lepercy is cured.
They say as you get old you long term memory improves and the short term decreases. While I can no longer remember why I am going down the basement steps the things that happened to me in the past become crystal clear now and Ben Hur triggered that trip down memory lane.
The 50s and 60s was kind of the last time America was truly America. Things were so much different, better. The family did stuff together. The whole family piled in dad’s pontiac star cheif where we saw Ben Hur at the Pickwick theatre in Park Ridge Illinois. I still remember sitting in the front row with my parents and two sisters watching the movie. The unique architecture and red velvet curtains. After the movie we then headed to the first McDonalds in Des Plains Illinois for some burgers and frys after the show. I remember my sisters hating me because I always had to have the plain burger which you had to wait for seemingly an eternity.
50s and early 60s were great times, no internet, no cell phones, shoot you could not even make a direct call from New York to Los Angeles yet as the transcontinental cable was still being laid. Christmas time the entire family would travel to downtown Chicago to simply walk down State street admiring the decorations. We were not alone, many other families had the same idea.
One year dad splurged so before our yearly Christmas walk down state we had dinner at Union Station in the Fred Harvey restaurant. I always loved trains so I remember seeing the neon signs for the different lines on the buildings roof, The Milwaukee Road, The Burlington Route, The Pennsylvania railroad. I remember the white vinyl upholstery in the dining room and the dessert cart. Never saw one of those before but mom had a lot to say on the prices. After dinner dad took me to the old train sheds. I remember the high ceiling and the structural colums. It reminded me of the Eiffel tower. One of the platforms they were boarding the great Pennsylvania Broadway limited. Again vibrant memories of the brown livery on the cars, the Broadway limited drumhead at the rear and the Times text on the cars proclaiming the “Pennsylvania Railroad”.
Those were great times, those were special times. Times when neighbors talked. No one wore headphones or had a nose buried in the cell phone. They simply valued human companionship. T.V. broadcasting had limited hours, the politically incorrect test pattern was on most of the time. People sat on their porches for a reason. No one had air conditioning and summers in Chicago get hot. I don’t remember any hot confrontations or arguments with any of the neighbors. I think that was because we did not have this electronic jungle you were forced to know people. Its a lot easier to cut some slack to flesh and bone as opposed to some electronic image on a screen.
What makes no sense is we of the boomer generation had the privilege of experiencing those times yet we seem to be the ones most responsible for destroying them along with our Catholic church. I guess because we never learned to make sacrifice because we never had to. Parents sacrificed for their kids and the family was a unit.
At this point I suppose I could get flakier than normal and lament on existence and the purpose of life but I think I will just keep the line Quintus Arrius said to Ben Hur, “we keep you alive to serve this ship, 41”. So I guess its all about duty.