STRANGE CASE OF DR. BOYD AND MR. BUDDY LOVE

Hello all. How's your personality doing? Are you still intact or are you split... and I don't mean banana. I am a big fan of Jerry Lewis movies...even without Dean Martin. In France...Jerry Lewis is considered to be a filmatic GENIUS. (If you get a chance...listen to Weird Al's song...Genius In France on his CD Poodle Hat).

One of may favorite Jerry Lewis movies...is THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. It is the story of a nerdy professor by the name of Julius Kelp who mixes a potion in his laboratory that transforms him from and insecure, bucktooth, inept professor (who constantly has explosions in the lab)...into the smooth, suave, debonair, obnoxious, handsome, BUDDY LOVE. Stella Purdy (one of Professor Kelp's students)...is not attracted to Professor Kelp...but is strangely drawn to Buddy Love.

The problem is...the more Professor Kelp turns into Buddy Love...the Buddy Love personality begins to take over...and Kelp is driven to keep going back to the potion for longer lasting effects.

Much of the action takes place in the college hangout called THE PURPLE PIT where Love makes his first appearance. He plays piano, handles tough punks, sets the ladies hearts aflutter. He even teaches the bartender how to make a new drink called THE ALASKAN POLAR BEAR HEATER:

--2 shots of vodka
--A little rum
--Some bitters
--A smidgen of vinegar
--A shot of vermouth
--A shot of gin
--A shot of scotch
--A little brandy
--A lemon peel
--An orange peel
--A cherry
--Some more scotch

The bartender is then instructed to MIX IT NICE...and then POUR IT IN A TALL GLASS. The bartender asks if he can try it...takes a sip and immediately becomes in a frozen position. Of course Buddy Love chugs it with no ill effect. Hmmmmmmmmm....Professor Julius Kelp is MIXING a drink to make him cool...and Buddy Love is mixing a drink that is a result of him being cool. Another side note...many movie critics point out the apparent similarities to the estranged Dean Martin (Buddy Love) and Julius Kelp (Jerry Lewis). Whatever the comparison...this is a definite comedic play on STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL and MR. HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson.

The STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE...was a novella written by Stevenson in 1886...as a result of dreams he was having about "bogey men".

The case is told from the perspective of a lawyer who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde. Like the Nutty Professor...the experiment goes awry as Mr. Hyde takes over Dr. Jekyll...and the inhibitions are released...reflected in rampant hedonistic lifestyle. Where the good Dr. had restraints...the bad Mr. has no restraints.

It reminds me of that verse...Proverbs 29:18..."Where there is NO VISION (revelation)...the people perish (cast off restraint...are unrestrained)...but happy is he who keeps the law". The vision talked about is insight into the Word of God...the thing that restrains behaviour. No revelation...no restraint...enter in the world of lasciviousness or licentiousness.

Paul writes about this dualistic personality in Romans 7:13-25 as he struggles with sin, good, evil. NOTE: Depending on which theologian you are reading or listening to...the struggle is Paul BEFORE he became a follower of Jesus...OR...it is Paul lamenting about his life AFTER his conversion. Whatever the time frame of the struggle...the ANSWER to the struggle is found in JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD (Romans 7:25)

I for one relate to my SPIRITUAL ROLLER COASTER RIDE...as I struggle with this thing called the FLESH versus the SPIRIT. A cursory look at the EPISTLES (letters) from the various New Testament writers...you can see a lot of warnings and corrections to believers. Peter...who was ONCE a coward and impulsive follower of Jesus...went from a denier of Jesus in the face of pressure from a little girls accusations...to the chief spokesman of the FAITH. He was saved, baptized in the Holy Spirit, a strong witness...some say he was the first Pope...founder of the church. This stalwart of the faith had to be rebuked and corrected in the eyes of others by Paul when he reverted back to OLD FEARS and acted differently in front of religious people than in front of the ones he preached to. (Galatians 2:11-21)

Here is the problem that Paul was encountering...

PROBLEM STATED

"For what I am doing...I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. For what I WILL TO DO...that I DO NOT PRACTICE; but what I HATE, that I DO NOT PRACTICE; but what I HATE...I DO. If, then I DO what I WILL NOT TO DO...I agree with the law that it is good...BUT NOW...it is NO LONGER I WHO DO IT...but SIN that DWELLS IN ME. For I know that IN ME...(that is, in MY FLESH) NOTHING GOOD DWELLS...for TO WILL is present with me...but HOW TO PERFORM WHAT IS GOOD...I DO NOT FIND. For the GOOD that I WILL TO DO...I DO NOT DO....but the EVIL I will NOT TO DO...that I PRACTICE. Now if I DO what I will NOT TO DO...it is NO LONGER I WHO DO IT......BUT SIN THAT DWELLS IN ME. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the INWARD MAN. But I see another law in my MEMBERS...WARRING against the law of my MIND.... and bringing me INTO CAPTIVITY to the law of SIN which is in my members." (Romans 7:15-23)

DECLARATION AND QUESTION

"O WRETCHED man that I AM! Who will deliver me from this boyd /body of death? (Romans 7:24)

THE ANSWER

"I thank God--THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD! So then...with the MIND I myself server the law of God...but with the FLESH...the law of sin." (Romans 7:25)

If you are in CONDEMNATION because of the STRUGGLE...there is a way that you can have NO CONDEMNATION.

NEXT TIME: How To Break The Power of HYDE/BUDDY LOVE.

Love and Julius Kelp Kisses
Rodney "Staying Away From the Alaskan Polar Bear Heater" Boyd