I was invited to attend today a screening of a movie adaptation of a very special live show. Can I just say that The Forgotten Carols (yes—the Movie!) was an absolute, uplifting, spiritual delight? How wonderful to have my pandemic life interrupted with hope, light, and good-to-the-bones joy! You absolutely must experience this! As a movie maker, I could tell you a page worth of praise on how the camera angles, the production values and the music transport you right to the middle of the stage as if you are experiencing the play with the rest of the characters. But I want to use this letter to recommend to you how powerfully this movie interacts with all your senses, creating a conversion and a re-conversion to embrace Jesus Christ, his earthly birth and his victory over all.
I was aware of The Forgotten Carols, but personally had never seen the play. I was surprised to learn that it has been performed live now for 29 years. I had no idea that Michael Mclean had such a breadth of genius. As a script writer, I would say that his talent matches the best that Hollywood has to offer. Unbelievably, you can say that about his other gifts: for story/concept, as a songwriter, actor, and performer. This movie adaptation of an iconic live show is as good as anything Disney could do.
However, I can see clearly that God gave Michael these talents to do the one thing that Hollywood and Disney can’t do: As the character, John the Beloved, he tells us about wonderful intangible magic and then Michael Mclean (Master Storyteller) and his team create exactly that. Not just the magic of Christmas—but the ability to immerse in the wondrous and glorious power of eternal truths capable of changing lives. He somehow threads this amazing mixture of story and music and characters inside of your awareness as they interact with your own memories, feelings, and beliefs. My own life was somehow being transported into this play and it was opening my perspective and emotions to understand my past and my future from a wonderful hope-filled reality that is refreshingly beyond my day-to-day reality.
Now I must warn you. In the age of Transformers, Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy, and all things CGI, this is not one of those movies to deliver a non-stop assault on your senses and appease the modern eight-second attention span. If at all possible, I encourage you to see the film in a theater—which is a much more powerful way to experience this film. If you are unable to attend a theater, find the biggest screen you can watch at home, turn off the lights, shut off all devices, distractions and noise, and come ready to relax and be swallowed up by a captivating story about the good news. You will be rewarded with the conversion that I described in the first paragraph.
This movie and its message are so needed this season. Share it with everyone you know. Experience it with people you love. The curtains can be withdrawn to feel what is meant: that He binds up our wounds, He will wipe away every tear, He will proclaim liberty to the captives, for in Him we are healed.
The Forgotten Carolsopens in theaters today. Find a theater near you.
Jared F. Brown
President, Living Scriptures, Inc.
Guest Author
dyejo
