Of Gods and Men

  It's hard to believe that a movie watched at twice the normal speed can still seem slow, and that despite the slowness of the movie it can still be well worth watching, but both facts are true.  We'd had Of Gods and Men sitting on the mantle for weeks--I had selected it when Rachel was away and had never gotten around to watching it, and a movie about Algerian Trappist monks was not exactly her ball of wax to help her relax after a long day of work.  So I invested an hour (rather than 2) into watching it this afternoon.

  It's quite a story--it's the story of French Trappist monks in an Algerian town who have invested themselves in sharing Christ's love with their brothers and sisters.  They are a part of the community, and when the entire community is threatened by Islamic extremists, they face a difficult choice--to stay in solidarity with the community, or to flee.  They are well aware that they are risking their very lives, and yet the thought of fleeing gives each mixed emotions.

  It gives interesting food for thought, to think about what we give up when we follow Christ, about what we are willing to risk for the sake of the Gospel.  Obviously, most of us will never face the same type of choices the monks had to make.  But we each must sacrifice for Christ--we give up this life and take on the life of Christ, one that has defeated death.  But it doesn't make it easy.

  The life of discipleship is a hard choice, and we must choose daily to fight against the influence of the world to choose safety and comfort.  What does that look like in 21st century America?  How do we choose Christ in a world where our lives are not threatened because of our faith?

  I believe that it means we have to find those things that threaten our life in faith--to tirelessly root out the stumbling blocks, the greed and the comfort, the lust and the violence, and constantly die to Christ.  We have to work to choose to love our neighbor, to love our own family, those members whom we so often tune out in favor of our own personal entertainment.  We have to choose love, to choose to embrace the other, even in the face of fear and turmoil, even when we are threatened with the unknown.  We cannot stay safely within the world we know--but rather must boldly choose to serve and to love, and to remember that the old life has gone, the new has begun, in Christ Jesus, our Lord.