A lecturer in hermeneutics (the art of sermon preparation amongst other things) used to tell us that the traditionally Church of Scotland sermon was Three points, a poem and a deathbed scene. His manner was one which made it clear he expected better of his students. Watching a film on channel 5 last night made me think of him. The movie in question was Phenomenon starring John Travolta; it had all the necessary ingredients – handsome, likeable hero, homilies that beat the Walton's hands down, love interest and the deathbed scene to end all such scenes, plus a positive ending. We could learn much from this type of film I thought.
Then I discovered the principle actor is a Scientologist, which kind of took the gloss off it.