Jekyll's High

CORE-RELATE!


"...better take my advice...
'coz God is not a DJ, life is certainly not a dance floor;
and while you're searching for Heaven, be careful you don't find Hell."
--Professor Poole to Henry Jekyll in Jekyll+Hyde (2005)

We try to play God sometimes. We think we can control things. We think that as long as we know where to draw the lines -- and not cross them -- we'll do just fine. We think that as long as we've got the right MP3s queued up, we'll be listening, raving, dancing to our own kind of music just the way we want to.

We think we are in pursuit of something good, something noble, something that is for a cause, but in the end, are all our efforts worth the try? Is the good we're thinking of really the good that we ought to be doing? Is it really in pursuit of the common good, or do we just do it to satiate our own selfish desires for recognition, for praise, for glorification? Duhh...

In Jekyll+Hyde (2005) Jay, a med student, experimented with an illegal, ecstasy-like drug aimed at altering one's personality, it being an anti-depressant. Defying the above advice from his professor ("I don't do safe... so screw your grant; screw you!") he gradually increases his dosages of the drug and eventually... well, if you haven't watched it yet, see it for yourself!

This most recent version of the famous classic penned by Robert Louis Stevenson contains some scenes you'd most definitely not want your younger siblings to see. I, for one, wouldn't allow my 17-year-old sister to watch them alone. By golly. I don't want to be self-righteous here but, I must confess, I have sinned.

In general though, I must say the movie provides a learning experience (the plot, not the scenes, some of which are way too graphic). That if we rely so much on ourselves to the point of closing our doors to our closest friends, we may find out too late that we've done more damage than reparation. That if we defy wisdom, or refuse to heed some kind of warning, destruction won't be far at hand. Initially, we may seem to be getting the upperhand on things, gaining victory, happily amazed at what we discover, but eventually, as Jay concluded, when you've become so hooked up with the "high," you may find yourself at a point of no return, that you can't get back to your old, saner, tamer self, and the only alternative would be... darn, just see the movie for yourself!

Luckily though, amidst the anxiety, the depression and the hopelessness that could ensue from stubbornly doing things our way, yielding to temptation of all sorts, pushing our limits and defying all odds, there is one step which could take us to a much higher level than where we once were. Yup, after breathing in, slathering on, indulging, rolling ourselves (body, mind, soul and resources) over all those soot and dust and mud and filth and poison and grime and rust, there is one great Shower that we can take to be squeaky clean again.

And that is what I call JC's Way. It's the only way that will make us realize, "Hey, I can mix music and make it if i want to, but this one here's a better melody. I've heard this before but somehow I've been too preoccupied with dancing to my own rhythm."

It is never too late to make a change. And now could be the very best day to start. Perhaps, we can do what the Romans do and afterwards, rave on with the highest high of highs!

You can bet your bottom euro, I AM high as I'm blogging this.