“Putting the Power of Film at the Service of the Poor”
A Question
The radical message for which Christ died
is dramatically opposed to our culture
of selfish individualism and unchecked consumerism.
Should not our Christian faith compel us,
by means of our transformed hearts,
to live differently from the rest of our culture,
whose values are rooted in the material realm
and are far from the teachings of Christ?
A Waste of Time
Prayer is the consciousness
of God’s loving presence.
The closer you come to God
the more compassion you will have
for your neighbor.
If the fruit of our contemplation
is not an increased love of others,
then our contemplation is faulty
and a waste of time.
Spirituality and social responsibility are interwoven.
Jesus understood that compassion
had to be far more than a feeling.
For Jesus, compassion
was never separated from action.
Fueled By Love
Competition seeks to defeat our opponents;
compassion longs to embrace the defeated.
Competition is driven by compulsion;
compassion is fueled by love.
Compulsions are nurtured
in the soil of self-centeredness.
Self-centeredness blinds one
to the needs and feelings of others.
Without compassion there is nothing to stop
the compulsion to destroy one another.
A Thin Line
The line between happiness and depression
is very thin.
Prayer broadens it.
Without solitude,
finding sanity and sanctity
is virtually impossible.
Time alone is a doorway
to yourself…and God.
Silence is not emptiness;
silence is a presence.
Either-Or
Contemplation and solitude increase our ability
to become more compassionate.
Compassion frees us from
the “either/or” dualism that chokes us,
and leads us to a reconciliation of opposites.
As we grow in compassion,
we see more clearly how the world
is interconnected.
Compassion opens the door to heaven.
What happens to a poor person
living in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya
is happening to you.
We are one.
Compulsion, competition and dualism
denies that unity.
One Body
The enemy in our battle to overcome
chronic, unjust poverty
is our misguided spirit of individualism…
our snobbery, apathy, prejudice and blind unreason.
Though we are many,
we are one body in the eyes of God,
all animated by one Spirit.
And as members of one body
we each have a responsibility
for one another.
We cannot separate justice and charity…
they must go together, hand-in-hand,
in order to solve the problem created
by chronic poverty.
The Latest Fad
Compassion is equally as important as worship and liturgy.
Pity is far removed from compassion.
Pity grows out of a sense of superiority
rather than a spirit of solidarity with others.
Compassion requires us to forget ourselves
and remember others.
Which is why we see so little of it,
even among Christians.
We don’t want to die to ourselves.
Spiritual transformation is far removed
from the latest fad for self-improvement.
We can improve ourselves
but only God can transform us.
Transformation involves a total metamorphosis.
To be transformed requires death and rebirth.
Holy and Divine
For Jesus, compassion was a way of life,
and he repeatedly and strongly urged
his followers to be compassionate.
Jesus said,
“Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.”
Compassion teaches us to treat all creation as holy and divine.
Everything that lives is part of one infinite, gracious Spirit.
God is present
in the slap of the sea
against the shore.
Intimate Communion
Each of us is on a life-long journey to wholeness.
We all want to overcome the fractures and divisions
we feel within ourselves
and among our circle of family and friends.
Our lives are like puzzle parts
and we can’t see the full picture.
Wholeness and completeness is ultimately
only found in intimacy with God.
And intimacy with God is only found
through desire and surrender.
When we desire God above all else
and when we let go of our clinging egos,
God is free to enter into intimate communion with us.
“There comes a time when it is no longer important to prove one’s point, but simply to live, to surrender to God and to love.”
-Thomas Merton
The Road to Joy
Robert E. Daggy, editor
(New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1989): 96.
