When a River Becomes a Main Character in a Movie

The Mississippi River is like a character in the movie “Mud.”  That’s what some of the movie viewers have written in comments after seeing the movie.  I believe their reviews and I have never seen the movie but I have seen the River and the Delta.

Traversing the flat Mississippi Delta in my car from Memphis TN to Little Rock AR along I-40 a couple of weeks ago had me thinking of one of my favorite songs by Marc Cohn, “Walking in Memphis,” especially reliving the images and musical lyrics, “…Now, they've got catfish on the table, They've got gospel in the air, and Reverend Green, will be glad to see you, When you haven't got a prayer, But boy you got a prayer in Memphis.”    The Mississippi River really did become a character for me as I contemplated its beauty and its associated beauty known as the “Mississippi Delta.”  The intricately woven crop lines, probably drawn for irrigation and flood avoidance, were artistic and picturesque.  The acreage seemed limitless.  The visual took me to my heart and my soul.  I was moved by the tapestry of the land, the rich dark soil that is so life giving and life producing.  Thank God for life producing symbols.  We need them more than we know sometimes.

My comments about the River are not so much associated with the movie (Mud) but more about the River and its depth and breadth and the beautiful farmland “delta mud” that was simply so amazing, so flat, and so fertile.  The eye can see far and wide due to the flatland and the acreage given to growing crops.  

Just one day later after arriving in Little Rock I was shockingly surprised to learn that the commencement speaker for my daughter’s graduation was the writer and film director of the movie Mud, Jeff Nichols (a native of Little Rock, Arkansas).  I surely didn’t see that coming!  So, here are the three takeaways from my trip and the speech that I want to offer.  (1) Let us keep our eyes open and our hearts wide open since seeing is both a matter of the eyes and the heart.  (2)  The Mississippi Delta with the fertile soil reminds me that life-giving spiritual resources are critical to energizing our service and work and life.  (3) As Mr Nichols so eloquently said in his speech, we need energy and passion in our work and service to humanity—many times that energy is spiritual and thankfully right in front of our eyes.