New Documentary Stresses Jesus as the Bond Between Black and White Pastors Suffering With ALS
Director Steve Carr opened up about his final, awe-inspiring film chronicling famed evangelical Ed Dobson's fight against ALS, this time offering a powerful message of hope for those ravaged by today's racial tensions.
The only thing more striking than the fact that Dobson has lived with Lou Gherig's disease for the past decade is that he has done so with undeterred optimism. Previously the emeritus pastor at Calvary Church, the 64-year-old Irishman first thought his life was over in 2001 after being diagnosed with the degenerative disease also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However, Dobson heard the voice of God urging him not to give up, and that hope has persisted 14 years and counting.
"Ed's Story" includes seven short films with the first "It Ain't Over" released in 2011 to the last "Healing" released just recently. The seventh and final short by Carr arrives at a pivotal time of racial unrest in American history. "Healing" takes a deeper look at Dobson's friendship with Pastor Clifton Rhodes Jr., an African-American who is also suffering from ALS.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"I find it fascinating because their bond is so deep. Clifton first thought Ed was 'another white boy," Carr revealed. "These guys are brutally honest, but they found out they have such a deep respect for each other. It's fun to watch them. Ed and Clifton are brothers, and the color doesn't matter; one is a little white guy from Ireland and Clifton is a large black guy, but it doesn't matter. They are brothers in Jesus, a bond from Jesus."
The director addressed the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri before drawing a message of hope from Dobson and Rhodes' brotherhood.
"In Ferguson, man I just wish people could see this film and see the bond between these two men," he continued. "I get so frustrated and tired I think, even Christians, especially Christians, white, telling everybody how to react. Or African-Americans saying, 'Here's how you should look at this.' It's the bond that holds us together. Jesus, if we could get a small glimpse of these two guys from entirely different lives who see each other as brothers."
Carr's film series documents Dobson in his daily dealings with the punishing symptoms of ALS, capturing the Irishman's contagious spirit and rock-solid faith.
"Ed came to us about four or five years ago; one of his sons had the idea to kind of capture his journey after being diagnosed with ALS and he came to talk about it," Flannel's executive producer told The Christian Post. "His story immediately connected with me. He has these expressions he uses that are just so profound and so simple – in one film he says, 'Days are numbered, doesn't mean anything until you hear the number.'"
Today, Dobson has lost the ability to speak and is only mobile on a high-tech wheelchair. Moody Bible Institute's 1993 "Pastor of the Year," whose son Kent replaced Rob Bell as the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, also relies on an oxygen mask to breathe and eats through a feeding tube ... all with help from his wife. Even still, Carr revealed that Dobson's bright light has not waned.
"The person, the soul does not change, he is just as hopeful as the day I met him ... that's just the way he is to this day," the director explained. "He wants to know how you are, not talk about himself. He wears a neck brace because it's hard to hold his head up, he stays at home, he lost his voice ten days after filming and he can't say a sentence. To see him with Lorna is just so fascinating. He can start a thought, and she can finish it."
Although time is running out for Dobson at a greater speed than the rest of us, the former pastor is living each day with renewed relish and focus, taking care to enjoy every last minute.
"When you're in that situation, you immediately focus on what is important and what's not," the executive director for Flannel explained. "That's where Ed lives, in a place where he can just think about the things that matter. It's actually a beautiful place."
Furthermore, Dobson loves life and no longer prays for a cure, but healing instead.
"He sees himself as healed and right with God, he loves life, he doesn't want it to end, but he's ready to meet his Maker whenever that time is," Carr added.
With the last of "Ed's Story" completed, Carr admitted that turning off the cameras was bittersweet. However, Dobson's ironclad faith, wisdom, and perpetual positivity is reaching thousands of people through the film series. To learn more about "Ed's Story," visit the website here. Below is the complete short for "It Ain't Over."
