Last night I had a date night with my wonderful, beautiful wife. We had a great time with a little Mexican food, great conversation, and a movie. For the first time in I don’t know how many years we were able to see a recent release–The Book of Eli. It was surprising, graphic, thought-provoking, and inspirational.

There were several scenes and themes that were compelling for me. Carnegie’s devious plan to be the one who can read the words from the Book so that people would come to him and do as he says was insightful and disturbing. Solara’s desire to take the Word to her home town was inspiring. Seeing both the purity and change in Washington’s character were encouraging. However, the scene that stood out most for me was a partial, unfinished prayer.

Being with Eli as he prayed, Solara experienced her first prayer. Though uncertain how to behave during and after the prayer or what it was all about, she was obviously touched. This experience with a man that she had seen kill many justly who now treated her with a kindness she had not seen before sparked a change in her. The next morning, she sought to share some goodness with her mom as she led her in prayer. Though never told she must pray nor taught how to pray, she sought to emulate the one that had spent time with her. She was learning about the Father through Eli. Discipleship was well under way.