Behind the Sunni-Shi'ite Divide

TIME Magazine: "Behind the Sunni-Shi'ite Divide" (Click for article)

This article is one of the best I've found to help explain the deep problems playing out in Iraq. It describes the many centuries-old schism in Islam that split Muslims into the Sunni and Shi'ite sects. And it saddens me as it confirms my suspicion that no amount of American troops or rebuilding dollars can overcome these old animosities to bring peace to Iraq. It would take tremendous examples of forgiveness and a transformation from a culture of intolerance to one where freedom of religion is a foundational tenet. This is not the culture in Iraq and we cannot impose this change from the outside. It must come from within the hearts of the Iraqi people.

The Misery of the Human Condition (and the Hope that springs eternal)

I had the great opportunity to view the move Babel on Saturday night at the Little Theater on WMU's east campus. (good call Scott) My first thought after this brilliant movie concluded was, "Wow, they really captured the misery of the human condition." And a slight depression followed me thru the night and into our church service Sunday morning.

Each character in the film is a victim of their circumstances in some tragic way. The two Moroccan boys are victims of innocence and the consequences of an act they did not understand. The tourist wife is a victim of chance as a bullet strikes her on a vacation we see she had no desire to even be on. The Mexican nanny is a victim of an economic system and an immigration policy fundamentally at odds with one another. Finally, the Japanese woman is a victim of a loveless life in a world with which she can barely communicate.

There is not much meaning to find in this movie and the general sentiment as we left was that at least the filmmaker did not make us suffer as much as he could have. Eventually, circumstances shifted for at least a few characters and life will continue for them (well, not really, because they are fictional) with new problems and a continued reliance on chance. They suffered and we just simply experienced their pain. As a reviewer Dave Calhoun wrote, "If misery is your pornography, Babel is your holy grail."

This movie could have simply passed into my memory as a movie I once saw and any depression would have lifted with next episode of M*A*S*H or Reno 911. However, Sunday at The River, Rob preached on The Lord's Prayer. (Matthew 6:9-13) Specifically he preached on verse 10...

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

It was an excellent message about God establishing His kingdom on earth and how it is currently at odds with the kingdom of darkness. As the kingdom of heaven advances, it renews the world, pulling all things towards Him. We as Christians then are to seek after that kingdom desperately as our hope. (And there was a parable about losing a dog named Fred. It was just a really good talk.)

What struck me and stayed with me that morning was the film I had seen the night before. For the characters who represent so much of humanity, their hope was built on nothing more than circumstance. It reinforced for me that we believe in something so much greater than chance. We believe in a God who is jealously pursuing us and redeeming this world throughout history, pulling it toward redemption and better days. When I feel unloved, I seek Him. (unlike the girl who threw herself on others for just a chance at knowing another human's touch) When I'm in trouble, I pray for help. (unlike the man who, while his wife lay dying, looks disbelievingly at another man in morning prayer.) I believe in destiny. (unlike perhaps the woman who now looks across the border at the life she once knew, now lost.)

They say hope springs eternal. But for so many, it does not. And why should it if we are all just blowing around in the breeze? Instead, life in the kingdom of He who "is before all things and in Him all things hold together" gives us the hope that we can rise above circumstances no matter how difficult this life will be.

We are not better than those who rest on chance. But we have a hope beyond ourselves.

Wow

In my last 17 months of professional life, I have:

Sent 2,167 e-mails
Received over 4,000 e-mails

So, I have to wonder... what have I been talking about in this monstrous volume of communication? Because I can only clearly remember about 50 of them being valuable.

Honoring a Champion