Stories Within Stories

Great films and books unravel hidden stories, details, and messages within bigger stories…

In a normal movie, you identify with one, maybe two characters. In “Love Actually,’’ it’s nine interconnected stories about one thing we all need to live.

It’s also a character test: Which of the characters touch you? Which reminds you of yourself? Which do you aspire to be like? Which ones disgust you? Which reminds you of earlier versions of you or situations you’ve faced?

I saw “Love Actually’’ five times in the theater in 2003 and then every year thereafter on DVD. It’s become an annual tradition each December.

It wasn’t until this year (after seeing the film 21 times) that I bothered to watch the deleted scenes, learning it was a 3.5-hour film cut down to two hours (even more stories to learn about).

When my friend, director Robert Orlando made “The Divine Plan,” I wound up seeing five versions of the film: twice on my iPad, once in a Church, once in an auditorium and then finally in a state of the art theater with surround sound.

It wasn’t until I saw the “final’’ version on the biggest screen the way it was designed to be viewed and heard that I noticed many of the most intricate details, literally pictures and pieces within smaller pieces.

One little piece transforms bigger pieces. It made me wonder why I bother watching films on my iPad and phone.

The bigger the story, the more stories within stories and frames within frames there are to unravel and reinterpret. Most men of a certain age do this with “The Godfather’’ films.

Such exercises make it obvious how people spend their whole lifetimes trying to understand and connect stories within the Bible because you see one piece of a story but miss how it impacts other stories around it.

Surprise Gifts

The most appreciated gifts are unexpected. Americans hand us gift cards: “Have it your way.’’

My parents (both Eastern European-Americans) shared their own versions of Matryoshka nesting dolls: a physical story within a story within a story.

You get a Matryoshka and open it and a smaller doll “nests’’ within. You open that next one and a smaller one “nests’’ within that. And you keep opening one after another to find the tiniest of all beings buried within.

Matryoshkas are literally stories within stories within stories…

Forty years ago, Dad told the family he’d bought Mom an amazing gift and we all gathered to watch her unwrap it.

One layer of wrapping paper after another peeled way and there it was. Wait, what was that? Oh, a toothbrush holder.

We weren’t impressed but Dad insisted we look closer, that this was actually a really special toothbrush holder as he described its unique design and features. Study it. Look closer.

Mom tried to be polite. Dad insisted it was great but look, look he had something else for her, a beautiful black and beige big sweater. Mom tried it on but by this point, she was getting irritated. A toothbrush holder and a sweater?

Enter the Polish troublemaker sense of humor: “No, you don’t understand,’’ Dad said. “Try it on. Look at this.’’

As the room temperature rose, Dad told Mom to put her hands in the pockets to make sure everything fit right. That’s when it became clear that the true “great gift’’ was hidden in that pocket, a necklace with a gold frame surrounding a clear crystal housing of tiny diamonds lined up in a tall, sparkling row forming the number one.

To tell Mom she was №1.

Mom was now elated and the final surprise gift seemed all the more impressive compared to the other layers of wrapping: the sweater and toothbrush holder.

A Treasure Hidden in a Field

Neal Lozano, founder of Heart of the Father ministries, notes that Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven “is like treasure hidden in a field… There are things hidden from you that God wants you to discover and the purpose of hiding it from you is so you can have the joy of discovering it. God hides things so that they can be found. A Father plays a game. He hides something so it can be found. Jesus hid things in the parables. Jesus was hidden in the Garden of Eden as the Tree of Life. The Trinity was hidden in the Burning Bush. There’s always something that’s there, something given but something to find.’’

Soon after hearing Neal speak, my friend Tom had a “feeling” telling him to grab a Miraculous Medal and a prayer card.

That intuitive feeling, a whisper from the Holy Spirit, told Tom this medal was meant for a waitress at the “great’’ Lebanese restaurant he was taking a group of us to visit.

Some of the ladies were on some sort of crazy diet (no meat, not even fish or cheese) and the Middle Eastern place would have had something for everyone. We walked several blocks through the cold January air only to find the restaurant and see it was closed.

And it was freezing outside.

Suddenly, we were looking for any restaurant still open. But of course, we still wanted the best possible place. As we walked, we decided to stop in a Jimmy John’s just to stay warm up while we searched on a smartphone for all the other options. After several minutes of searching for options, we decided we might as well settle for the Jimmy John’s where we’d wound up unintentionally.

At the end of the sandwich assembly line stood Barbara. Barbara is in her mid-50s, wearing a black baseball cap that partially shielded missing eyebrows and missing teeth, small signs her life hadn’t been easy. But there was a sparkle and vibrancy there as well, a feeling that made me say out loud “I think this is the waitress you were looking for.’’

Tom had the same feeling and quickly handed the lady the Miraculous Medal and a prayer card and asked if he could pray for anyone for her.

Barbara thanked Tom but added, “I’m an atheist. I used to be a Catholic as a little girl and loved the way it made me feel but I think too, maybe I just think too much. Maybe you should pray that I see an undeniable and obvious sign that He is real.’’

Tom, an MD, told Barbara he had a dying patient once who was an atheist who wound up wearing a Miraculous Medal until the end of her life, believing it gave her the gift of hope.

After our meal, six of us, including Father James Mangan, stood and prayed for Barbara. I saw Barbara cry, suddenly shining and looking more radiant and hopeful than she had before. Seemed like a good sign to me.

The hidden, unexpected gift and story within the story…

A few hours later, Tom looked at me and finally asked the question: “Are you Polish?’’

“VERY,’’ I answered. “Wait a minute, are YOU Polish?’’

“Well, I’m half Polish.’’

“On your mom’s side?’’

“No, my Dad’s side.’’

“But you don’t have a Polish last name.’’

“They changed it. It used to be Grabowski.’’

Suddenly, I lit up. I knew I immediately liked Tom the very first time we met several months earlier. Sometimes you “click” immediately with someone and feel like you’ve always known them. Other times you spend months with people and are never quite sure who they really are. Learning Tom was Polish explained the connection even more. After years of persecution, many Poles changed their names to “blend in’’ better.

Polish brothers are too often hidden from each other but our Polish people and ways are like treasures buried in a field or nesting dolls or jewels hidden in a sweater. We have to dig a bit to find the rest of the story of how we are all family.

Back to the Movies…

Tom’s favorite film is “It’s a Wonderful Life.’’ He and his family actually named three dogs after characters in that film.

Certain stories form certain rituals. Every December since 2003, my wife and I wind up watching “Love Actually’’ and we often watch “When Harry Met Sally’’ on New Year’s Eve because that amazing film’s final scene occurs on New Year’s Eve.

When I am down and feeling like a total loser, I watch my favorite film, “Patton’’ because the hero achieves great glory, great humiliation and is reminded at the end that glory is fleeting. Again, it’s about stories within stories: how one man touches far more lives than he could ever possibly realize.

Tom explains:

“Often, broken hearts ache more painfully seeing exuberant joy in others. Sometimes, it feels like we are “the only one” left behind…. But it’s not true. Not by a long shot. As a family doctor, every year I get the privilege of sharing life with my patients. And many of us are wounded. Deaths, addictions, financial hardship, rejection, depression, are just a few barriers to joy.George Bailey — in this video — was as low as a man could be. He believed the lie that it would be ‘better if you had never been born at all.’ But seeing the world in his absence through his guardian angel, Clarence, he realized his life was not a tragedy — in fact, it was a ‘wonderful life.’ Your life is wonderful too! On this bridge, George prayed. The very second George said the name “God,” it started snowing, and his prayer was answered….The life he wished to throw away was given back…’’