Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.Horton Foote committed this message to film most memorably in his screenplay for Tender Mercies, a film whose 1983 trailer makes the journey from sinner to, if not saint, at least not-sinner much easier than it proves to be.
Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Until I heard news of Foote's death earlier this week, I didn't know who he was, and I would never even hazard a guess as to whether he personally believed the words he put into the mouth of Robert Duvall's Mac Sledge: "I don't trust happiness. I never did, I never will."
I have known for decades that I love Tender Mercies and that the movie has brought me several days' worth of hours of enjoyment. It is one of three films that I will watch until it's over every time I happen to come across it on television. The other two are Duvall's The Apostle and Steve Buscemi's Tree's Lounge.
It can be no coincident on my end that each movie is about a man stumbling -- often hammeredly -- toward grace.
Nor is it possible to miss the shared moral that while happiness is often difficult to find and impossible to hold indefinitely, redemption is always only a word, an action, a person away.
Thanks for the lesson, Mr. Foote.
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