Oh! God

Isn’t That Strange

I can’t explain where the memory came from. It was vague, but refused to leave me alone. Does that ever happen to you? Unknown events triggering something from the past?

The memory — you ask? It’s a movie I saw when I was about nine or ten years old. The stars were George Burns, John Denver and Teri Garr. The name of the 1977 movie was Oh! God. It was based on the novel by the same name — written by Avery Corman.

As I already said, I’m not sure what caused me to think of Oh! God, but the positive memory was strong enough to push me to look it up.

Unable to recall any of the details — outside of George Burns playing the role of God, Wikipedia filled me in on the plot. John Denver’s character was a grocery store manager approached by God. God called on him, an ordinary guy, to spread his message.

Of course when people started hearing about this, there was a pretty strong reaction of disbelief. John Denver’s character ends up in court where God shows up as a witness. Wikipedia does not share what happens in court, but lets us know God eventually disappears for good, telling John Denver’s character he will not be taking on the earthly form of an elderly man anymore. He tells him if he needs him, he should just talk and know God would be listening.

As a child, I can remember that I found the ending sad and unsatisfying. Why would God not come back?

As an adult, I can see it’s all about faith in the unseen.

Strange memory, eh? I wonder what brought it on.

Here’s a link in case you want to check it out: