Long time no see, blogger.com. I don't really have much a reason for the absence except busy-ness. Oh well.
Today I was watching this music video of a song by a band called Mogwai. The song is decent but as I watched the video, one of the early shots really intrigued me. The shot begins in the sky and then descends to focus on a person walking. The shot is very clearly done in order to make the person the focal point of it. This got me thinking. Why are we all so man-centered? Why is all of our culture, all of our politic, almost all of our everything focused on man? Even our religion, something that should be so distinctly NOT focused on man, is often more about us and OUR relation to God than it is to God Himself.
I think some of this comes naturally. God has created us in His image and therefore we are drawn to man for the trace of the divine. Like all natural things, however, this has been corrupted and turned into something more than just an appreciation. I do not think that our culture differs very much than Graeco-Roman cultures that worshipped man as the center of all things. Sure, we don't bow down to "gods" in the shape of bronzed men, but we have games to celebrate the physique of men, we spend billions of dollars to accessorize and decorate ourselves, even a "holiday" meant to give thanks is turned into a day to gorge on food and then shop for discounts on things we don't need.
This can't be how it should be.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
Out of sight, out of mind
Tonight I finally got around to watching the new James Bond movie, Skyfall. It was good, though most people I know had hyped it so much that I had somewhat high expectations. It did not live up to these expectations but it was a good action movie nonetheless.
In it, there is a scene where Bond is in a casino of sorts and he is fighting some guys over a pit where there are multiple komodo dragons. Needless to say, Bond and one assailant fall into the pit. After some fighting, the bad guy is grabbed by one of the komodo dragons and dragged into the darkness screaming. Another dragon rushes to join in as Bond leaps out of the pit to safety while the man screams and is (presumably) eaten alive. Now in the rush and context of the movie, this scene might not stand out much to people. To me, I wouldn't have paid much attention to it had it might reminded me of another scene in a movie I recently saw. I saw Django Unchained the other week and while I loved it, there was one scene that really made me feel awful. I won't go into the plot but there is a scene where a black slave, who is already severely crippled from having been forced into fighting other slaves in full-on bloody fights, is given over by his owner to be torn apart and eaten by dogs. Now this scene is much darker in context than the Skyfall scene, but while the Skyfall scene did not really bother me, the Django scene did. Why? Because Django's director, Quentin Tarantino, showed the man being eaten alive. It was not a complete take of it, but there was a good 15 seconds of flesh being ripped off bones and screams of utter anguish. This scene bothered me, as it did one of the main characters who later plays the horror over in his mind.
So what does this have to do with Skyfall? Well, the scene in Skyfall did not bother me. However, it showed me a little about myself and I think about the world I live in. The key difference between these scenes is what the audience sees and doesn't see. In Django, we watch a man being ripped apart by dogs. In Skyfall, we merely see a man disappear in the shadows and scream. I think this says something very important about humanity. We don't care as long as we don't have to see.
The world. Unreached people groups. Lost people. Unbelievers.
These are some of the things we call other people. We distance ourselves from them by assigning them to a category, group, or system. Why? Because at the root of our hearts, we don't care about anyone but ourselves. So we distance ourselves in order to remain apathetic, yet we assign categories as if to seem like we do care. What matters is my flesh and blood, my choice, my life, me. I me mine. Other beings of flesh and blood, choice, life...they just don't matter. At least, not like we matter to ourselves.
So we don't like to see the man being torn apart by dogs. We can know its happening and can lull ourselves into being okay with it (as long as its distanced from us), but just don't make us see it. We can know that large numbers of people, with the same flesh and blood, choice, and life as us, are suffering and dying all over the world, but it's not something we really care about as long as we don't see it or have to know the names of the people. We can know that those around us are burdened, and maybe even make enough effort to whisper a half-heart, generalized prayer for them, but we all have our own burdens to look at so don't make us look at anyone else's. "The desert is in the heart of your brother."
So what do we do? We love, and we fight, and we love more. We love God first and foremost, beyond anything and everything else. "Though none go with me, still I will follow." And in His grace, we fight ourselves. We fight the heart in us that seeks to worship itself, that seeks to please me and only me, that pushes everything but me out of sight. And then, as we love God and fight our nature, we love others. We deny ourselves and we put others first. We give ourselves away, not because any other people deserve it, but because life and salvation were freely given to us when we did not deserve it. "Freely you have received, freely give."
In it, there is a scene where Bond is in a casino of sorts and he is fighting some guys over a pit where there are multiple komodo dragons. Needless to say, Bond and one assailant fall into the pit. After some fighting, the bad guy is grabbed by one of the komodo dragons and dragged into the darkness screaming. Another dragon rushes to join in as Bond leaps out of the pit to safety while the man screams and is (presumably) eaten alive. Now in the rush and context of the movie, this scene might not stand out much to people. To me, I wouldn't have paid much attention to it had it might reminded me of another scene in a movie I recently saw. I saw Django Unchained the other week and while I loved it, there was one scene that really made me feel awful. I won't go into the plot but there is a scene where a black slave, who is already severely crippled from having been forced into fighting other slaves in full-on bloody fights, is given over by his owner to be torn apart and eaten by dogs. Now this scene is much darker in context than the Skyfall scene, but while the Skyfall scene did not really bother me, the Django scene did. Why? Because Django's director, Quentin Tarantino, showed the man being eaten alive. It was not a complete take of it, but there was a good 15 seconds of flesh being ripped off bones and screams of utter anguish. This scene bothered me, as it did one of the main characters who later plays the horror over in his mind.
So what does this have to do with Skyfall? Well, the scene in Skyfall did not bother me. However, it showed me a little about myself and I think about the world I live in. The key difference between these scenes is what the audience sees and doesn't see. In Django, we watch a man being ripped apart by dogs. In Skyfall, we merely see a man disappear in the shadows and scream. I think this says something very important about humanity. We don't care as long as we don't have to see.
The world. Unreached people groups. Lost people. Unbelievers.
These are some of the things we call other people. We distance ourselves from them by assigning them to a category, group, or system. Why? Because at the root of our hearts, we don't care about anyone but ourselves. So we distance ourselves in order to remain apathetic, yet we assign categories as if to seem like we do care. What matters is my flesh and blood, my choice, my life, me. I me mine. Other beings of flesh and blood, choice, life...they just don't matter. At least, not like we matter to ourselves.
So we don't like to see the man being torn apart by dogs. We can know its happening and can lull ourselves into being okay with it (as long as its distanced from us), but just don't make us see it. We can know that large numbers of people, with the same flesh and blood, choice, and life as us, are suffering and dying all over the world, but it's not something we really care about as long as we don't see it or have to know the names of the people. We can know that those around us are burdened, and maybe even make enough effort to whisper a half-heart, generalized prayer for them, but we all have our own burdens to look at so don't make us look at anyone else's. "The desert is in the heart of your brother."
So what do we do? We love, and we fight, and we love more. We love God first and foremost, beyond anything and everything else. "Though none go with me, still I will follow." And in His grace, we fight ourselves. We fight the heart in us that seeks to worship itself, that seeks to please me and only me, that pushes everything but me out of sight. And then, as we love God and fight our nature, we love others. We deny ourselves and we put others first. We give ourselves away, not because any other people deserve it, but because life and salvation were freely given to us when we did not deserve it. "Freely you have received, freely give."
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