I hope the title of the blog piece doesn't sound so spiritual or
religious that it scares you away. As we journey on further
into the Lenten season and prepare ourselves for Good Fri-
day and Resurrection Sunday, I am increasingly aware of my
need -our need- of God's forgiveness.
I recently viewed The Barbarian Invasions (2003), a hard-
hitting and thought-provoking companion movie to The De-
cline of the American Empire (1987), both written and di-
rected by Denys Arcand, a well known French-Canadian film-
maker. The context of the film is post-1966 Montreal, the year
when a majority of people fled from the Roman Catholic Church
and turned their backs on God, the Church, and hope.
The central character is Remy, a feisty child-of-the-60s aca-
demic and a frisky philanderer who is dying. His lifestyle and
philosophy of life have devastated his relationships with his
estranged wife and children. Arcand uses the visits of his aca-
demic colleagues, former mistresses, and alienated family
members to comment on such issues as healthcare, the Ro-
man Catholic Church, financial prosperity, euthanasia, mar-
riage, family relationships, and death and dying.
My overall impression of the film was that it captured the es-
sence of life in North America and Europe: of societies of wom-
en and men who live without God and without hope in the
world. When I finished watching the movie I appreciated how
well done it was, but I was also saddened and grieved by see-
ing people who chose to live their lives as if God did not exist.
I felt a sense of heavy heartedness.
As I have reflected on the film I play back in my mind a scene
that swept past me when I saw it. From the opening scene to
the last portion of the movie, there is a nun who really be-
lieves in God in the midst of a world that does not believe in
God. In one scene the nun is engaged in conversation with
Remy, the dying academic. It was a powerful scene for me to
witness, and I may be embellishing it a bit because I am re-
calling it from memory. He makes a comment about the 3000
dead on 9/11, and how miniscule that was compared to the
30,000,000 indigenous people killed during the Spanish con-
quest of Latin America. Getting more agitated he talks about
the 150,000,000 dead at the hands of the British, Dutch, Dan-
ish, French, and US imperialistic ventures. Emotionally spent,
he falls back upon his bed, exhausted by his tirade.
There is a long period of silence. Remy stares at the nun. She
appears devastated by his outburst, and she struggles to re-
gain her composure. Meekly she utters that there has to be
someone to forgive us. Then with power she proclaims that
is what she believes. Now it is Remy's turn to be devastated.
After a while, he mutters that she is fortunate to believe that.
I do not quite know for sure, but I had the sense that he real-
ly wanted to believe that for himself. I couldn't help but won-
der if he wanted to have someone to forgive him for the infi-
delity to his wife, the withholding of love to his son, the mis-
use of countless women, and the misleading of generations of
students with his take on the latest intellectual fads and isms.
I do believe that the Church, God's people, is called to address
racism, poverty, oppression, hunger, injustice, corruption, ex-
ploitation, contemporary forms of slavery, and the environ-
ment, to name but a few of the issues. But as for me, what I
yearn for most, what I need most, what we need most, is God's
forgiveness. We all have gone astray from God's way: we each
seek glory for our names, build our own kingdoms, and walk
our own ways. What we need more than anything else is God's
forgiveness. We need it more than we need air to breathe, or
food to eat, or people to love us. My heart's desire is that we
would be God's people, the community of the forgiven and the
forgiving.
I'm fortunate to attend a church in which I have the opportun-
ity to celebrate communion at least every Sunday, and some-
times more. Each time that I see the elements laid out before
me, feel the Bread in my hands, smell and taste the swig from
the common Cup, and hear the Gospel proclaimed, I sense my
profound need for the Gospel of the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world. Only then do the questions of who
I am and what I do, of who we are and what we do, are put in
proper perspective and make any sense.
Shalom to you and yours, in Christ's Name.
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