Sermon Illustrations
Film 'Gravity': 'Nobody Ever Taught Me to Pray'
In the movie Gravity, veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (played by George Clooney) is in charge of the Shuttle Explorer's STS-157 mission to repair the Hubble Telescope by the rookie specialist Dr. Ryan Stone (played by Sandra Bullock). Out of the blue, Houston control aborts the mission warning that a Russian missile hit a satellite, causing a chain reaction and now there is a storm of debris coming upon the pair of astronauts. Soon they lose communication with the Mission Control in Houston. As a result of the debris strike, both Stone and Kowalski must now make their way to the International Space Station.
(SPOILER ALERT: At some point Kowalski makes the decision to untether himself from Dr. Stone to prevent both of them from perishing.)
Isolated and coming to grips with her mortality, Dr. Stone has the following conversation/prayer with God:
I'm gonna die, aren't I God? I know we're all gonna die...we're all gonna die. But I'm gonna die today! Funny that you ought to know. But the thing is I'm still scared … I'm really scared. Nobody will mourn for me; no one will pray for my soul. Will you mourn for me? Will you pray for me? Or is it too late? I mean, I'd pray for myself but I've never prayed in my life. Nobody ever taught me how. Nobody ever taught me how.
The dialogue occurs on the DVD chapter 7. The scene begins at 0:59:15, and ends at 1:00:20. This film is rated PG-13.