Of Gods and Men

Last night, at our local municipal hall which serves as a cinema every other week, Pascal and I watched the film : Of Gods and Men (or About men and gods) - Des hommes et des dieux. It tells the tale of 7 Trappist monks living in Tibhirine, Algeria, serving the local community in the 1990s. Islamic fundamentalist soldiers/terrorists were sowing terror all around, killing men, women and children and attacking foreigners. The monks decided to stay on inspite of recommendations to leave. Their community wanted them to stay; the leaders told them "You are like the branches of a tree. We are the birds. If you leave, where can we perch ?" We accompany these men of peace in their realisation that they will probably die, murdered by these soldiers. As they were in 1996- firstly taken as hostages, but when the French Government refused to release imprisonned terrorists, they were beheaded.

It's a very fine film, nuanced,  where so much is portrayed by close-ups of faces expressing emotions, debating, petitioning God, the journey of accepting one's inevitable violent death, the sense of intimate community and wider community, sense of responsibility and refusal to enter into a violent, non-Christian approach to one's aggressors, even a celebration of life and love over evil and death. It's a story of courage and selflessness, and of following Christ's example.

A beautiful, challenging film, full of the Gospel. And you know what was so great about last night ? The hall was full - around 100 people were there! It's the first time since we have been watching films there that we have seen so many people. My guess is that many came because they are nominally Catholic, interested in understanding Christian monastic faith, and in recognising different forms of expression of the Islamic faith. Everyone in France remembers this episode and the audience was probably searching for some explanation.

My question to our church is : did you realise so many people are interested in spirituality? Were you there last night and did you know anyone? Did you notice how Christian spirituality is faithfully portrayed in  this commercial film? How can we get a 100 people coming to our activities searching for answers?

It comes back to the emerging missional church discussion - people are not going to come to us - we have to meet them on their home ground and develop bridges between their culture and our faith.

Please pray for Pascal and I as we share this concept with our parishioners through our different activities and discussions. Pray that they will so want to share their understanding of God that they will accept to step out of  their own church culture in order to meet others.

To read more in French : http://www.algerie360.com/divertissement/les-7-moines-de-tibhirine-assassines-en-algerie-canonises-a-cannes/

http://www.lejourduseigneur.com/Emissions/Les-veilleurs-de-l-Atlas?gclid=CNfwibXGiaUCFVBc4wodmntgMw

In English : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_the_monks_of_Tibhirine