Posted by Rachel on: 11.16.2007 /
“It was as if the last day, as people say in the Bible, that there will be a last day that Jesus Christ will come, and whatever on Earth will be judged. That was my imagination. I thought that God felt tired of people on Earth here, felt tired of the bad deeds, the bad thing that we are doing, yet God is watching on us. I thought that God got tired of us and he want to finish us.”
- John Bul Dau
For our November meeting, our movie group watched the documentary God Grew Tired Of Us. Narrated by Nicole Kidman, this film tells the compelling story of three “Lost Boys” John Bul Dau, Panther Bior, and Daniel Abol Pach. After fleeing the civil war in Sudan as boys and spending more than a decade as refugees, these young men were given the opportunity to resettle in the United States. The film documents their amazing journey from a refugee camp in Kenya to their new lives in New York and Philadelphia.
In our discussion after the film, the theme that came up again and again was the concept of community. Aubrie commented on the striking contrast between the men’s lives in the African refugee camp where they did everything together and in the United States where they struggled with a sense of isolation and loneliness. Amy noted that in the refugee camp they had “hope and humor and love and community” and she observed that while they were happy to leave the camp for a better life in the US, they also experienced a deep sense of loss in leaving their friends.
The film prompted Karlene to talk about the “deconstructing of community” in our own culture. She said, “We have such an incredible culture of fear and we are so safe; the contrast is stunning.” Karlene pointed out that we don’t have bands raping and pillaging our towns and yet we are taught to be suspicious and fearful. She said, “We have peace and freedom and security, but not community.” Staci asked the question, “What is really necessary for survival?” She suggested that most Americans would list things like food, shelter, and clothing, but would leave out community. And yet we all observed that the one thing had allowed the Lost Boys to survive their horrible ordeal was their powerful sense of community.
Leave a Reply
Comment by: Randy
1 11/16/07 11:46 AM | Comment Link |Wow. I need to see that film. Thanks for the nudge. I’m assuming it can be rented?
Community is a scarce commodity in our culture, to be sure. Even in the church culture, sad to say (although it seems to me we fare slightly better than many outside the church, at least from my viewpoint). We are built for it, and we become something less than human without it. The orthodox Christian view is that God is himself community (we refer to the trinity…Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and has created us in his own image, which means we need community like we need air…it’s literally part of our nature.
But we also fear it and isolate to protect ourselves. This is the universal human condition. I believe it is due to the nature of sin which separates us relationally from God and others and results in increasing isolation (some would argue that the actual temporal and eternal consequence of sin is eternal isolation…a relational definition of hell).
It is in community that we find what life was made to be. We find others, ourselves and even God there. And as you have observed from the film, the circumstances in which the community lives make no difference in regards to it’s power in a human life.
Very cool. Thanks, Rachel.
Comment by: Josh
2 11/16/07 12:57 PM | Comment Link |I’m really looking forward to seeing this film as well. The interesting thing that struck me while reading this post is the idea that violence and fear both have the same affect of putting up walls in our communities. In Sudan, it is the actual violence which forced the Lost Boys to flee. However, it was community which allowed them to survive. In the U.S. we know no such violence as radical genocides, however we have allowed fear to put up more walls in our communities than we can imagine. I think Karlene is absolutely right. It was an event of extreme violence in Sudan which banded these lost boys into community. Where, in the U.S. context, are our departures from un-found fear going to come from? What sort of events will bring us out into our communities and give us a sense of civic solidarity (i.e. We feel more safe together than apart)? I honestly don’t know the answer. However, I think that our media, and government play a large role in perpetuating fear in us.
Comment by: Rachel
3 11/16/07 9:13 PM | Comment Link |Randy, it was a great film and I highly recommend it. I know you will be so impressed by the courage and character of the three young men. (And I bet you will cry at the end like we all did.) I got it in the new release section at Blockbuster so it should be easy to find.