Lopez lures Ayers into a safe haven – the Lamp homeless shelter in Los Angeles – with the gift of a cello donated by one of his readers. As Ayers settles in to sleep during his first night, he closes his eyes and recites the Lord’s Prayer as the camera takes flight – it truly becomes “on earth as it is in Heaven” – giving us a tour of the shelter and all of the troubled faces and trembling hands within its protective embrace. The effect is graceful, comforting.
In an effort to draw Ayers out of his shell, Lopez arranges for them to attend a rehearsal of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. As the music swells, Ayers appears near overflowing with happiness and again closes his eyes. And we experience the music as he does, as an abstract dance of light inspired by Disney’s Fantasia. It’s ecstatic and joyous. It was that experience of being in that auditorium on that day with Ayers that left Lopez speechless until “grace” came to the rescue.
Both of these scenes are realized so beautifully, so perfectly that they feel divinely inspired. They filled me with joy, a joy like what I imagine Ayers felt on that magical day when Lopez placed a cello back into his hands.
(Note: This is an on-going story. You can continue to read about it every week in Lopez’s Los Angeles Times column.)
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