Life has a way of becoming routine and dullness can fill our days. This morning I awoke early and found an Alfred Hitchcock movie on Netflix. The movie was The Lady Vanishes (1938), a film filled with suspense, wit, and odd, unpredictable characters. How refreshing it can be to escape from dullness into suspense. In a world of near absolute conformity, a woman is convinced that something is amiss. A sense of wrong becomes tangible and a sense of urgency arises—the missing lady must be found before the train stops. The evil we sense is not petty evil, but an organized conspiracy to harm. Great effort and courage are required to counter it. And suddenly with a gunshot and a bloody hand, confirmation beyond doubt is established for even the skeptical that the lurking evil is not the figment of a fervid imagination. We have experienced a train ride filled with shivers and certitude in the face of complacency and doubt. Somehow we sense an escape into reality.
