God Wins Best Supporting Actress

Last night, God was again nominated for and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. In the words of Jennifer Hudson whose physical form was honored by the academy for embodying and facilitating the supreme acting skills of God, "Look what God can do." If you weren't impressed with any of His previous miracles, maybe this one will do the trick. God himself could not be there to accept the award, but Jennifer Hudson was happy to accept it on His behalf. God has been nominated many times, and has previously won awards for Best Cinematography, Best Picture, Best sound mixing, and is widely credited with letting there be light. Looking at other things God can do if he puts his time and effort into it, we can add multiple NBA championships, Stanley Cups, AYSO tournament victories, American Idol record deals and, my personal favorite, the creation of Silly Putty.

God's omniscient passion for sports, dramatic films, and televised singing and dancing competitions apparently makes it very difficult for Him not to stick his hand in and tip the scales in favor of his personal favorite team or actor, a temptation we would likely all be equally subject to if we had the abilities He has.

But I can't help but find it slightly less impressive an achievement if you admit right off the bat that it was really God who made it all happen, guiding your game-winning shot into the hoop, giving your 9th inning grand slam just enough extra lift to sail out of the park, or in this case, divinely intervening on your behalf to get you enough votes to land an Oscar. These moments of humility seem to negate the entire point of a self congratulatory event like the Academy Awards where rich, famous and glamorous people tell each other how great they are. Take a little credit for God's sake! Maybe next year the academy should consider skipping the middle man and give all the awards directly to Man Upstairs.

Whether you want to give full credit to God, or maybe split it between Jennifer Hudson and her creator, (75-25 seems fair) they can both sleep well tonight knowing that their hard work was recognized and celebrated by their peers. The real worries should be for those supporting actors, directors and make-up artists who were passed over. I suppose they can take their nominations as evidence that they are still on God's good side, but it's just not the same...