"God who is beyond fullness did not bring creatures into being out of any need of his, but that he might enjoy their proportionate participation in him and that he might delight in his works seeing them delighted and ever insatiably satisfied with the one who is inexhaustable."
Listening and Watching
I finally picked up American IV: The Man Comes Around. The title track is awesome. So is the rest of the album. Starkly evocative I think is the right way to describe it. Genuine. Black, white, gray. Cash was honest and hopeful- his eschatilogical vision at the beginning and end of the album envelops the sadness and love in between.
I also bought and watched To End All Wars, which came out last year if I recall correctly, but never made it to theatres around here. Powerful film. It is stories like that which make me realize that I really have no one to forgive- I have no real enemies, and yet I become angered over trifling things, and hold on to grudges. If only in forgiveness this film packs a redemptive punch, but it includes more than that. Well worth seeing.
And then Monday I watched in the theatre Hotel Rwanda, which portrays the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and one man's attempts to save his neighbors. I had heard about it via World Magazine last year, but it was slow in being released in this area. It is an incredible film- deeply moving, and angering. But, while it could have simply laid a guilt trip on us- and rightly- it doesn't simply leave it at that. Rather, we are given the story of a man who stands against the tide, in his own quietly and desperately heroic manner. Neither does it subject us to endless carnage and bloodbaths- I was actually a bit surprised at the subdued nature of the protrayals, considering the subject nature.
I must confess that I have paid precious little attention to Rwanda, other than recognition in my mind that it happened. I was nine when it happened. I don't recall hearing about it on television- I'm sure I did at some point, but it wasn't in my conciousness. I do remember reading- after the fact- a National Geographic article, and in particular a photo of a little boy's drawing of his memories. It was terrible- a little boy (I think it may have been the child who drew the picture) was being attacked by men with machetes- and it still sticks in my mind. This film really helped sensitize me to Rwanda- to the reality that the people who lived and died there were people. It's terrible that I need a film to remind me.
I also bought and watched To End All Wars, which came out last year if I recall correctly, but never made it to theatres around here. Powerful film. It is stories like that which make me realize that I really have no one to forgive- I have no real enemies, and yet I become angered over trifling things, and hold on to grudges. If only in forgiveness this film packs a redemptive punch, but it includes more than that. Well worth seeing.
And then Monday I watched in the theatre Hotel Rwanda, which portrays the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and one man's attempts to save his neighbors. I had heard about it via World Magazine last year, but it was slow in being released in this area. It is an incredible film- deeply moving, and angering. But, while it could have simply laid a guilt trip on us- and rightly- it doesn't simply leave it at that. Rather, we are given the story of a man who stands against the tide, in his own quietly and desperately heroic manner. Neither does it subject us to endless carnage and bloodbaths- I was actually a bit surprised at the subdued nature of the protrayals, considering the subject nature.
I must confess that I have paid precious little attention to Rwanda, other than recognition in my mind that it happened. I was nine when it happened. I don't recall hearing about it on television- I'm sure I did at some point, but it wasn't in my conciousness. I do remember reading- after the fact- a National Geographic article, and in particular a photo of a little boy's drawing of his memories. It was terrible- a little boy (I think it may have been the child who drew the picture) was being attacked by men with machetes- and it still sticks in my mind. This film really helped sensitize me to Rwanda- to the reality that the people who lived and died there were people. It's terrible that I need a film to remind me.
posted by Jonathan | 11:37 PM
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