I thank the Lord for my first viewing of the film, Doctor Zhivago,
though I cannot cite from calendars or clocks
when that happened. But it gave me my first sight
of the Gospel Faith that is Holy, Apostolic, and Orthodox.
Starward
Author's Notes/Comments:
I first saw this film on a Sunday afternoon with my mother (to whom I had to explain the history being presented), sometime between (I think) 1968 and 1971. I cannot be more accurate. I thank God that the first scene (after the Prologue has ended) begins with the three-barred cross in the foreground and to the right side. I believe this was a subtle snub to the Bolshevik government of the Soviet Union, which still existed at that time. It was also my first, and unknowing, exposure to the Orthodox Faith.
Although I did not see the film again until the 1980's, it still prepared me to read Pasternak's novel during the waiting time for my most memorable homecoming from college---November 20th through the afternoon of the 24th, just prior to my parents' arrival to take me home for the unusually long Christmas break (which ended on January 2nd, 1977). There I was in my dormitory room, and elsewhere on campus, held together (and kept from unraveling) by my handle, which was then Starwatcher (it eventually evolved to Starward, the appellation's final and permanent form); in the word Starwatcher, I would find much rejoicing and significance during that break from college. I still cherish the memory; to me, it represents a metaphor of my homegoing to Heaven, as the reunion in my hometown with so many of my friends, on c.b. channel 22 (especially J-Lore) or not, prefigured my entrance into Heaven and the fellowship of the Christians there.
