More Heart and Subplots Works Well After a Long Day

When Calls the Heart: It Begins With Heart

Starring Daniel Lissing, Erin Krakow, Jack Wagner, and Lori Loughlin;

Directed by Michael Landon Jr.; 2015

This is a movie that requires two things: First, the more you have seen of the episodes prior to this one, the better off you’ll be.  Second, be ready to spend more time watching the next episode.

This series first shown on the Hallmark Channel obviously keeps on delighting thousands and this episode was no exception. I watched this one down south in the heat of the night and found it most refreshing.  Coal Valley (now renamed Hope Valley after the mine closed) is on the verge of getting national exposure on New Year’s Eve as a great frontier family town. And it takes the whole town’s cooperation to pull it off.

But while that main plot progresses, we get ample opportunity to look in on several other subplots – both romantic and not-so-much.  This results in many surprises as well as moments of tenderness between human beings. And in the process, lessons are communicated to the audience.

One father who recently lost his wife is heard saying, “We work for a living” when the lead character Elizabeth Thatcher (the town’s teacher played so well by Erin Krakow) speaks to him about his daughter doing art which he was opposed to.  Her response, “Being creative is part of work for children.”

At another point, the owner of the lumber mill makes his new year’s resolution to be able to say ‘no’ for once to his very bossy and self-centred female crush in the person of Rosemary LeVeaux (plaed by Pascale Hutton) with this beautiful comeback, “Sometimes life is more important than just appearances,” as he forces her to tell the truth to the reporter writing the special feature on the town.

Clearly the message is that a vibrant community is one where ‘family’ extends beyond the walls of a single home.  And as nice as that goal is, it needs to be pursued with the understanding that everyone has deep secrets of the past that may or may not come out in any given episode of the series, or for that matter, in real life.

Jack Thornton (played by Daniel Lissing), is the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable overseeing Hope Valley with whom Miss Thatcher is in love.

Once again the script is rich with great lines and dialogue time and time again.  Clearly not an extremely big-budget production. What the movie lacks because of its many subplots is the fact that we meet so many characters but never get to know them.  They, understandably, cannot not be developed as deeply as we would like – at least not in a single episode.

The film and the entire series is based on the work of Janette Oke, a Canadian author still living in Alberta, Canada. Faith is a big part of her life and the Producer-Director Michael Landon, Jr. has honored that aspect of her writings. (In an earlier review I had stated he became famous in his role on the well-known series Bonanza – but that was his father, Michael Landon.  My apologies.)

Unfortunately, I did not record every instance of brilliant and very witty dialogue between the characters this time – I should have.  But suffice it to say that if you watch this film, you’ll be pleasantly entertained by them.

I’m looking forward to watching the next episode.  So, if you’re looking for some great family thought-provoking entertainment, join me and take a look at this entire series.

By Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, May 13, 2016. www.accordconsulting.com

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A Book You Really Can't Judge By It's Cover

Beyond The Comfort Zone: The War That Never Ends

Frank Wilkins, Xlibris, USA, 2015

What attracted me to the opportunity to review this book was a promise that, as the symbol on the front shows, it wasn’t about “questions”, but rather “answers”.  And in particular, answers to global wars that never seem to end – the cultural war concerning the very existence of God and the religious war as to which supreme spiritual entity of our affections is indeed the “one and only true” God.

As a Christian, the topic as well as the background of the author, Frank Wilkins, intrigued me.  Frank graduated from high school, enlisted in the U.S. Navy, served as a radioman, and afterwards earned his Bachelor of Science degree. It was that normal of a life. That’s the very point he strives to make – the regular man and woman of this world – us simple common folks can indeed find answers and the truth to the very issues that cause global warfare.  God is there to be sought and found for those willing to remove their blinders.  By definition the truth exists and we can ascertain it.

Wilkins makes no bones about being an agnostic for the early part of his life and then a Roman Catholic.  It makes sense therefore that some of his evidence for the existence of God comes from his own experiences and that part of the Christian faith that he found a home in.  However, a good portion of it also comes from universal history and facts attested to by both believers and non-believers.

He has this amazing ability to dig through the questions and objections of atheists and others with respect to the denial of God’s existence, assuring them that if they really want to get out from behind blinders and take a hard look at facts, they can find the truth. He identifies realities of life that must be contended with.  One example is the reality that one’s life will definitely end. He helps true seekers struggling about whether or not a God, if He existed, would accept them by suggesting they should not be hard on themselves – “Do you think He let those Roman soldiers nail His Son to a wooden cross just so you could sit there and damn yourself for the rest of your life?”

Wilkins also takes on historians who have time and again distorted history to hide the inconvenient truth and the entertainment industry that pushes adults and worse still, young children, into promises of lies for the sake of the almighty dollar. He gives several well-known examples of historic battles where the outcome was decided because God decided to show up on the battlefield. That alone makes for fascinating reading.

Wilkins has an interesting perspective on Islam, Muslims, and the end of the world as well, but allows all of us to make up our own minds, always reminding us not to knock the ideas of others.  He is not too happy about all the distinctions and fights in Christianity, but again explains their existence as another reality.  Also of interest are his views of predestination as it relates to modern science, of evolution and Darwin’s usefulness, and of the actual age of the world.

This is a great book to help anyone get a grip on the answer to the question, “Is there a God?” For one who has been a life-long believer belonging to the Protestant arm of the faith, it helped me to understand the thinking of those who are not growing up in the Church, as well as to gain a clearer perspective on some very famous “miracles” the Roman Catholic Church holds dear to, and how these very miracles help explain their view of the Virgin Mary and the mother of Jesus.

Bottom line for Wilkins is this: “No amount of denial can prevent anyone from ultimately meeting their Maker face to face. You might as well try to deny the existence of the IRS in order to avoid paying taxes.”

He strongly recommends that when you get to “a point where we catch ourselves putting our faith in anything besides God”, that’s the very point we need to realize that for us, it would be foolish to deny His existence.

    -- Ken B. Godevenos, Accord Resolution Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario. 15/10/24

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