Where, Oh, Where….

Send Proof
Director: Elijah Stephens
Stars: Elijah Stephens, Che Ahn, Heidi Baker
Cinematography: Kendall Bryant, Sr., T. L. Green and Jesse Sehluntz
StarGazer Company
Documentary
No Rating 

“Send Proof” is about miracles. Are they real? A fiction of the mind? Was the Bible giving truth about miracles? Do miracles happen in today’s world? This is the theme of this film “Send Proof.”  Elijah Stephens goes on a quest to determine what is a miracle, the definition of which is that something happens where there is no explanation.  Going back to the Bible - and even then, the words we read today have gone through many translations and formats - a question can be made: what is really the truth?  Assuming all is correct in the Bible, in the Old Testament there are a multitude of miracles from the Egyptian plagues to the Red Sea parting to Joshua managing to take down the walls of a city.  In the New Testament, we have Jesus, and then there can be a point of dissemination. How long after one of his miracles was this recorded? Time does make a difference in memory. Also, it is mentioned that there were many miracles that have not been recorded, and are these of Jesus and his disciples? Or without Jesus and his disciples?  Thought-provoking. On his quest, Elijah Stephens asks experts in the field of religion and science. 

In today’s world, it seems, miracles are not of Biblical proportion, but small ones, such as a person who can suddenly walk after being confined to a wheel chair. Medical science today has made tremendous advancements, but that doesn’t account for everything. Stephens asks medical experts, theologians and scholars about miracles. If you talk to someone long enough, they may quietly mention something that happened to them long ago, or to a family member. The tree branch was falling from the tree but went in a different direction and did not harm the child below, or the brakes failed on the car, yet the car came to a safe stop by the side of the road without the driver doing anything, or getting stuck on railroad tracks and the crossing arms were down, when suddenly you were on the other side, the train going by, and you didn’t know how you got there. I have heard of this happening at least three times.  So, what can we assume?  There is a God who protects people?  He has angels to help him?  The earth’s magnetic core did a sudden twist and moved a car from railroad tracks? Nothing is made solid here, but does make one think. 

As for media evangelists working miracles in front of an audience, your guess is as good as mine.  A statement from the film asks, “Are there miracles when the cameras are not rolling?”  I remember the late comic, Richard Pryor, on television in his impersonation of a radio evangelist.  The skit showed Pryor coming down a flight of stairs and going to a radio on a table with a sound technician and microphone. The caller wanted healing, but could only offer a small sum of money. The answer was “no.”  A higher sum of money, and still “no,” then a large amount of money, and Pryor put his hand on the radio and shouted “HEAL.”  This was done to studio audience laughter.If you have had an unusual incident in your life, and can’t explain why, it may have been a “miracle.”  There is no definite explanation, only questions even experts can’t answer. “Send Proof” asks the questions. 

 

Copyright 2022 Marie Asner