Sermon Illustrations
Film Explores Spiritual Questions in Death, Loss, and Grief
Rabbit Hole is a 2010 film about a young couple trying to come to terms with the death of their four-year-old son, who died eight months earlier in a car accident. Howie (Aaron Eckhart) and Becca (Nicole Kidman) are joining a bereavement group for the first time.
The couple sits quietly as a man mournfully says: "She visits me sometimes in dreams. She tells me she's okay, that she's with God." His wife puts her hand on his shoulder. "I had some good days, and you think that when you have enough good days that it actually is going to get better. It does get better. It was her anniversary last week and …."
His wife says: "It was last Tuesday."
The man continues: "And it starts all over again. We just have to remind ourselves that it's just part of God's plan. We can't know why. Only God can know why."
The wife continues: "God had to take her. He needed another angel."
There is a look of impatience on Becca's face. She speaks up: "Why didn't he just make one, another angel? I mean, he's God, after all. Why didn't he just make another angel?"
Everyone looks at her in stunned silence. She snaps her fingers and says: "Just pfft." Realizing the awkwardness she says: "Just putting it out there." Feeling embarrassed, she whispers to her husband: "I'd like to go." To the group she says: "I think we're gonna go," and they quietly get up and leave.