“This is Cinerama” was full-length film which came out in 1952. The film began in black-and-white in the standard 4:3 aspect ratio. Newscaster Lowell Thomas appeared on screen to discuss the evolution of motion picture entertainment, from the earliest cave paintings which suggested movement up to the kinetoscope and the later introduction of sound and color. At the conclusion of the 12-minute lecture, Thomas said, “This is Cinerama,” and the screen expanded into the full Cinerama aspect ratio of three side-by-side screens and multiple sound tracks.
The film included scenes of a roller coaster, the temple dance from Aida, views of Niagara Falls, the Vienna Boys’ Choir, the canals of Venice, a military tattoo at Edinburgh Castle, a bullfight, a stereo sound demonstration, scenes from Cypress Gardens, and the singing of “America the Beautiful” by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir backed-up with scenic views from the nose of a low flying B-25.(1)
The cinerama technique seems pretty tame compared to today’s IMAX, surround sound, and 3D movie formats. But it was as thrilling as Al Jolson breaking into song in “The Jazz Singer” or black-and-white Kansan Dorothy waking up in full-color Munchkinland.
Panoramic art was not a new idea. Artists in the 19th century conceived of a 360-degree visual scale. It was called a “cyclorama” and visitors to these now-rare paintings are still wowed by the scale, detail and experience of being immersed in a 360-degree scene.
One of the most famous in the world is the “Panorama Mesdag,” housed in The Mesdag Museum in the Netherlands. The painting, a mind-boggling 14½ meters high and 114½ meters long, depicts life in the Dutch maritime village of Scheveningen in 1881. The scenes of coastal life were each produced first as sketches, transferred to canvas, and then painted to bring out the vivid and realistic panoramic view. The viewer stands in the middle of the surrounding panorama, mounted in a cylindrical building, and is captivated by the visual feast.
The recently restored Gettysburg Cyclorama has been welcoming visitors for more than 100 years. It depicts the full scope of the three day battle. Another famous cyclorama is at the Atlanta Civil War Museum. It depicts the battle of Atlanta and Sherman’s march to the sea.
Movies work on the principle that humans tend to be focused on what’s right in front of them, which would seem to be a product of the physiological fact that we don’t have eyes in the back of our heads (unless you’re a mother or a teacher). As a result, we’re easily enticed to focus on one image at a time which is quickly replaced by another. Unlike a panorama which invites lingering and taking in the whole scope of a work of art, film limits what we imagine and seeks to wrap up life with a neat conclusion in about two hours. We lose something when we can’t slow down enough to recognize and immerse ourselves in a panoramic vision of life — the kind of vision with which God sees the world.
The book of the prophet Habakkuk is like a section of a larger painting. The prophet and the people of Judah focus on what’s immediately in front of them: the invasion of the Babylonians. God’s response to the prophet’s lament reveals a more panoramic view of history and God’s purposes.
Habakkuk asks, “Lord, how long will I call for help and you not listen?” This is a recurring question throughout the prophetic literature and much of the Old Testament. It is asked so often that it must have been as obnoxious in God’s ears as the children’s long-drive refrain, “Are we there yet?” The prophet’s myopic vision sees only “injustice” and “anguish.” “Devastation and violence” seem to be the only themes revealed in his narrow line of sight. The unnamed wicked have “warped justice.” That most likely refers to the pre-exile worsening of the state of affairs of Judah during the reigns of Jehoiakim and his son Jehoiachin.
God does not provide a pretty picture of the coming invasion by the Babylonian army. God says that they will be his agents for punishing Judah for its apostasy. The images rival the terrible combat images of the Gettysburg and Atlanta Cycloramas or the film footage from the wars of the last 100 years. The Babylonian invasion was more than a battle; the future existence of God’s people was at stake.
In spite of the prophet’s narrow view, he is asking a broader underlying question: How can God visit punishment on his own people by using a pagan empire? Unfortunately the prophet asks a narrow question. He is confused by God’s seemingly unfair judgment. He asks, “Why would you look at the treacherous or keep silent when the wicked swallows one who is more righteous?”
As chapter two starts, the prophet goes up on the wall to look out on the wider horizon of reality. God’s reply to Habakkuk’s questioning puts the previous scenes of distress into a 360-degree context. Where prophet and people see only a section, a fleeting image of destruction, God, the master designer of past, present, and future, sees this scene as part of the all-encompassing canvas of his plan for the people of Judah and, indeed, for all creation. God reminds the prophet that “there is still a vision for the appointed time” and that if prophet and people will “wait for it; for it surely will come, it will not be late.” Only God knows how the whole picture will look when it is finished. Until then the righteous will live by faith.
In chapter three, Habakkuk prays to God:
Lord, I have heard your reputation.
I have seen your work.
Over time, revive it.
Over time, make it known.
Though angry, remember compassion. (Hab. 3:2)
As the prophet allows his vision to widen, he is more able to rest in the Lord, and to believe that God really does know what God is doing.
We are all victims of narrow vision, of over-focusing on small pieces of a larger whole that God has under control. This election cycle is an excellent example. We focus on one issue and ignore many others of equal importance. And in the various narrow focuses we take, we worry. We worry about a grandchild trying to find a job. We worry about what the stock market will do following next week’s election. We worry about the next doctor’s visit. We worry about all those threatened side-effects from some drug touted on television. We worry about Christians focusing on beliefs different from ours and about disciples being more interested in doing faith rather than sitting in pews being harangued or coddled by preachers. Add your own worries to this list.
In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus told his listeners to “stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matthew 6:34).
Worry is the narrow vision which only sees a minuscule slice of the whole of God’s reality. Habakkuk reminds us of the grander vision of God’s purposes. We see this in the canvas of God’s kingdom. More importantly we see it depicted and proclaimed in the suffering Jesus, whose death and resurrection prove that God is willing to enter the picture of our human predicament. “Father, into your hands I entrust my life” (Luke 23:46).
Sometimes it is not years of experience that allows us to see the larger picture God has created. Sometimes it only takes wide-eyed wonder and heartfelt compassion to know that God is at work far beyond our understanding.
You will remember the startling picture in the news of a young Syrian child refugee, Omran, strapped in seat in a emergency squad. Several weeks ago, President Obama told about receiving a letter from 6-year-old Alex from Scarsdale, New York.
“Alex told me that he wanted Omran to come live with him and his family. He wanted to share his bike, and teach him how to ride. He said his little sister would collect butterflies for him. ‘We can all play together,’ he wrote. ‘We will give him a family and he will be our brother.’ Those are the words of a six-year-old boy – a young child who has not learned to be cynical or suspicious or fearful of other people because of where they come from, how they look, or how they pray. We should all be more like Alex. Imagine what the world would look like if we were. Imagine the suffering we could ease and the lives we could save.”(2)Alex wasn’t locked into a narrow momentary vision of the world which God has created.
Habakkuk invites us to join Alex in seeing that God has 360-degree vision for all that God has created from forever ago to forever from now. We will never be able to see the whole 360-degree work of God at once. Our human vision is limited. Nevertheless God invites us to trust that somehow, God will make all things good for those who trust in his panoramic vision of our lives. The risen and reigning Christ is the start of our widening vision.
General Resource: “The Panoramic Vision of God,” Homiletics, October 31, 2010.
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_Cinerama, accessed October 6, 2016, 15:00 GMT.
(2) www.CNN.com, September 22, 2016.
Unless noted otherwise, all scripture references are from The Common English Bible, © 2011 www.commonenglishbible.com.
Copyright © 2016 First Presbyterian Church of Waverly, Ohio. Reprinted by permission.
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