The Faith Of Cecil B. Demille

THE FAITH OF CECIL B. DEMILLE

Cecil B DeMille, the famous Hollywood film director was responsible for a number of famous movies with Biblical themes such as:

The King of Kings

The Sign of the Cross

The Crusades

Samson and Delilah

The Ten Commandments

DeMille was once asked what his finest religious memory was, and he related a story from his childhood where he happened to be the only person in the congregation at church; there was the preacher and one solitary child (who was DeMille). Apparently, the preacher wasn't bothered by the low turnout and he proceeded with the service as if the room was full! He even gave a brief sermon. The time came for the offering and DeMille placed a nickel in the plate, at which the preacher patted him kindly on the head. DeMille later recounted how the preacher's faith and his kindness had changed him, in fact in his own words he said, "It won my belief and strengthened my faith."

In the same interview he said, "Many of us reach middle age and beyond, with the fear that our lives have been useless, wasted. But is it not possible that we -- parents, preachers, teachers, writers, actors, editors, etc -- might have deeply influenced a child or grown-up as this minister did for me? Many of us have changed human lives for the better without knowing it." And this is one of the tests we face in our work once we hit mid-life. You may be 20 or 30 years into your working life and you're asking -- "Is what I'm doing making any difference? Is it valuable? Am I changing lives?" More importantly, we may be asking, "Have I done what the Lord wanted me to do with my life?"

When he hung dying on the cross, Jesus said to his Father ... I glorified you on earth by completing down to the last detail what you assigned me to do (John 17:4).

Have we done that? Have we, in our work, done what the Lord assigned us to do -- down to the last detail? You see, part of navigating the repetitive routine and even the boredom of mid-life work is to use your work to the glory of God. Cecil B DeMille did. I've already listed several movies he made that were inspired by his faith. He said this ... "It was always a battle to get support and backing for Biblical pictures. Producers feared them on the basis that they would not yield enough money to pay the enormous expense involved ... However, they more than paid their way in both financial and spiritual benefits."