So today I went bowling. Well, i say I went bowling, there was a waiting list, so I went to watch a film instead. The next film within an hour was 'Nacho Libre.' It wasn't citizen cain, but it wasn't awefull. Just a few thoughts:
1) In the film, the main charecter, who is a monk at an orphanage (who wants to be a wrestler), asks the orphans tutor, a nun, whether it is always wrong to fight. She points out that to fight for stradom and fame and money is pointless and stupid (as the charecter learns), but we should fight for the justice, for the poor (in particualr in this instance: the orphans), and other such stuff. I wonder whether in this age the Army, desperate to hang on to its age old reputation, is spending too much time fighting to uphold its legendary reputation over fighting for what we were born to fight for: the poor, the sick, those treated unfairly and without trade justice, and the addicts. I mean, when was the last time that I, or any members of my youth group, or any members of the Band, or songsters, or junior groups, or the contempory worship group, or youth band, or anyone I know who isn't employed to went to pray with the sick, campaign for trade justice, volunteered to help at the local rehab centre, which at the end of the day is only a 30 minute cycle ride down the road. When was the last time that someone was able to see Jesus through me?
2) Later on in the film, the lead charecter chooses to go against the clutter of his religious practices and fight to be able to help the orphans lives become better. Now I wouldn't encouage wrestling, but it reminds me of that passage in Amos when God tells the jews he's fed up of all their religious practices because they are preventing them from helping one another. In the army we can somtimes be too quick to let expectations according to our rules stop us from going into the places where we are needed. For instance I have met very few salvationists willing to go into a pub, but these tend to be the centres of communities. Surely if the army wants to be a pillar in its communities it should be willing to enter into them. mmmm
Just some musings. They might spark disscussion, they might not.
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1 comment:
Hi Ben, just doing some catching up with your blog.
It has become a sad part of the modern (british) armys existence that we become more interested in being respectable than performing the duties we were created for.
The army (particularly it's youth that have often sung these words) should put into practice the words of the song which say "and I'll become even more undignified than this". Oh that by my indignity I might bring one more soul into the kingdom!
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