When I was an early teen, the Matrix sequels were a big deal. So much so, Ron Luce’s crew did a Matrix theme for Acquire the Fire the first year I went. I’ve never seen the second two Matrix movies, so I’m not sure how much came from those, but the whole “red pill/blue pill” thing was a big deal in the first movie and they made it into the “red door/blue door” at AtF. For those of you who might not remember the Matrix, the main characters discovered they lived in a world that just made them batteries to power someone else’s world. People who discovered this could choose to take a blue pill to forget everything and life a copper-top life of ignorance or they could take the red pill and leave the matrix to forever fight against the abuse of humans as fuel. Or something like that; I honestly don’t remember much, and it was a super complicated film.
So the AtF skits changed up the pills for doors because, you know, drugs are bad. At the conference, thousands of teenagers heard that when we left the arena we’d have to choose a door to go through – the red door or the blue door. If we walked through the blue door, we’d be able to forget about Jesus and live blissfully selfish lives; if we walked through the red door, we were choosing to follow Jesus. Somehow I left the arena, went home, and convinced my parents to let my paint my bedroom door red. For the rest of my teenage years, I had a physical reminder that I was walking through the red door each day.
The whole red pill/blue pill thing came to mind when I started reading Matched this week – the characters all carry three pills with them everywhere they go: green, blue, and red. No one knows what the red pill does – I haven’t finished yet, so I’m only guessing it has something to do with leaving the utopia for the unknown “Elsewhere” (I read The Giver for the first time this week, too; I’m on a bit of a dystopian kick).
As I mused about the benefits of the red pill and the consequences Neo from The Matrix and Jonas from The Giver face when they choose to leave behind illusions in favor of unpleasant reality, I thought about my decision to walk through the red door, to take the red pill. I actually literally do take a red pill. Three times a day. I call it my “cranberry power pill” and if you know the benefits of cranberries on the body, you can guess what it’s for. It’s facing a harsh reality to take that pill and every other pill – a total of eleven and a half at six different times – each day.
In dystopian fiction, characters are often required to make a difficult and irrevocable decision about facing difficulty like John and Bernard in Brave New World or Guy in Fahrenheit 451. The decision I made to walk through the red door, take the red pill is irrevocable but totally worth it. Like the escaped prisoner from Plato’s cave, I want to share with everyone I meet about how wonderful life outside the shadows can be.
I bring all this up here because I had a really wonderful talk with Jen last night about transition as I prepare to visit America for the first time this summer. For the first time as a disabled woman and for the first time as a career missionary. I made an irrevocable decision to follow Jesus, and it’s been an amazing journey so far. I thought I had great plans for my life, and his plans were far better. Obviously, I would love to have had a journey that involved fewer pills, but it’s still worth it and way better than the boring life I had in mind. I’m just over two months away from that plan ride to America, and I would love a couple more miracles before I land in DIA to meet my newest nephew on his first birthday. However, I’d also like to let you all know that I’m expecting a lot of physical challenges as I introduce myself to everyone I’ve met before as a newly disabled person; equally, I’m expecting emotional challenges as I explain the ever growing passion I have for the ministry I have here in Kandern and with my students. Some people just don’t get it, but at whatever level of understanding people have for my passion, I’m asking for partnership. This isn’t going to be a vacation for me this summer; it’s a business trip.
To stay long term, I need an increase in monthly partnerships of $500 by August. I am so grateful for the faithful giving and generosity of dozens of people already, and I hope you’ll pray with me that the funds will come in and allow me to continue to serve with TeachBeyond overseas. In June and July, I’ll be sharing with dozens of friends about the work I’ve been doing here and asking if they might sign up to be on that partnership team with me. If you feel like you want to be a part of that, you can sign up to give a one time gift or join my monthly team through this link: https://give.teachbeyond.org/support/lauras-journey/
The increased funds will pay for the co-pay on my pills, the uncovered medical equipment, and the uncovered ongoing physical therapy required to learn to walk. Those are all a consequence of that initial decision to take the metaphorical red pill, but one of the benefits of that choice is the connection I have with all of you readers and prayer warriors.
As a final note, dystopian fiction isn’t the only thing I read. I love all kinds of stories. I especially love red pill stories of major irrevocable life decisions – if you feel so inclined, I’d love to hear your own if you want to share it with me. You can comment or send them to me at mslhewett@gmail.com with the subject “Red Pill.” Like with the “Rip City” emails, I won’t reply, but they will certainly make me happy.
