We watched the best movie I have seen all year last night, called Beyond the Gates. It is a movie depicting a true story from the Rwanda genocide. Initially, it might be easy to think, oh, I've seen Hotel Rwanda...but I urge you to find a copy of this movie and watch it. And to remember, the same thing is going on today in Darfur. There is a really moving quote by Ellie Wiesel at the end of the movie, "The opposite of faith is not heresy, but indifference." That has convicted me all day. It's easy to tell ourselves we are too busy tending our own families but can we really live with the thought that people are being murdered while we don't even think about it? And to think what passes for news, and what we find ourselves entertained by while these atrocities continue.
One of my best friends shared with me awhile back that her mother always told her "when you educate a mom, you educate a family." This quote also helps affirm my belief that we should always encourage our girls to receive robust educations even if their dream in life is "only" to be a stay-at-home mom. But in regards to Rwanda and Darfur, I think that as moms, we need to be educated on these topics (even though so, so hard to hear) so that we can raise a cultural sensitivity in our children as they grow. To teach our children there is more to life than working hard, accumulating wealth so you can have a comfortable retirement, support a few good causes but mostly lavish your family with every convenience they could dream of...all while such a large percentage of the world struggles for sustenance and existence. It is the one who will for Christ's sake lose his life~he is the one that will truly discover what living is. How do I model this, practice this, convey this and pass this on to my children?....who are so easily influenced and a mere trip to Walmart can stir discontent even when we live such a bountiful life.
I am horribly uneducated in these issues. I've seen two movies now, read a little, but have been deeply moved to do more....at the least, to take the time to care.
Isaac
with "Dionto," a neighbor's lawn ornament that Isaac has to stop and share the love with regularly
Maddie
this pose is SO my girl: the baby, the shoes, the crossing of the legs
Si
the smile says it all
Cole
Cole
Si
Maddie Kate
Isaac
can you say punkin'?
no guts, no glory
Cole & Si
first day of school
Maddie Kate
first day of preschool
Aunt Bethie visits
the good life
Philadelphia
D.C.
Easter 2008
I am my beloved's and he is mine!
About Me
10 months and loves to wave!
9 comments:
Good, convicting thoughts
It is tough, isn't it? Living here with all the "neccessities," to really teach about what it is to do without. Really without. David feels like he experienced this first the first time when his parents took him to the mission field in South America. I remember seeing men dig through dumpsters in DC when I was about 10. And these are examples are nothing(!) compared to Darfur. We find that our boys are so different when faced with less fortunate. One will say, "get a job." The other is deeply, deeply touched. With the one who is less sympathetic, we try to expose him to more where he can really see the truth. Neat quote about teaching a mom. Thanks for the powerful reminder. My "needs" are really nothing in light of this.
First of all...you're becoming quite prolific in stylin' your page! I love it!
And appreciated your thoughts on this post as well. Especially that quote about mothers. What a well-put thought...and I think it's so true. While the daddys lead, it is definitely the mamas that tend to set the tone of conversation and stay abreast of these issues. Really challenges me to do better and be better at this role....
Thanks for sharing....
Love the look and "Right On" on everything!!
I will try and see this. A similiar DVD I saw recently is The Constant Gardener. I struggle to understand why we are not more troubled about these issues...and with how powerless I feel to make any difference. But I want to live in the truth..of what's really happening in this world..not in just some comfortable, self-focused mini-world easy to create. That mindset is encouraged not only by a materialistic culture but by some church worlds' overfocus (in my humble opinion:) on "keeping out" vs. living in a suffering world. God help us all!
Love the quote. I'm feeling quite convicted right now. It is so easy to get caught up in the housework and homework and lose sight of what is going on the world around us. I will try to find that movie.
I echo thanks for your convicting thoughts. I can be extremely nearsighted at times. God help me to broaden my vision.
Thanks for the heads-up on "Beyond the Gates." I think beyond the pity factor, which is, of coarse, in order, the film highlights some very significant realities that we need to square with in order to ensure that such things don't continue to happen. One would be that we need to work towards either serious reforms that would overhaul the UN in such a way as to give it a mandate to intervene in enforcement of the peace in such instances, or else to do all within our power to bring about the cessation of our government's carrying the water for a morally bankrupt UN. Our servility to the UN ties our hands in such matters, though I must regrettfully admit it doesn't seem to hinder us when there are economic issues at stake.
On a different level, I too feel a sense of overwhelming futility in respect to what I as an individual may do to make a difference in "matters too great for me." And yet, as I discussed the movie with a friend I began to realize that perhaps what we do by small works of faithfulness in our lives and vocations do more to uphold the moral order than we can imagine. Perhaps the Christian tradition is correct in averring that we are priests of creation, and that the world is sustained by our participation in the priesthood of Christ who upholds all things by the word of His power. And more mundane, we fulfill the function of providing some measure of hope just by being here, living as we do the profoundly divine legacy of our Lord's freedom, equality, and fraternity.
Matt
Great comment, Matt...AMEN!
And you are definitely right in that this movie will make you disgusted with the UN. I thought that part where they were given orders to deal with the "dog issue" to be absolutely repugnant. I also liked that an Anglican priest was the hero of this movie--when have we last seen a portrayal like this in recent times?
Watched this tonight..(some with my face covered)...the truth is hard to see...ashamed I wasn't more aware then, and determined to be aware now!
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