Tough Tele
I think TV is actually helping me grow spiritually. Don't worry. It's not a religious station. That would just be crazy. PBS is the conduit through which prayers have been answered and more prayers are birthed.
In my worship class this semester we have been talking a lot about how we can experience both God's imminence and intimacy in services. This is an especially big need in the sermons and prayers, as American Christians are really bad at getting out of their own experience and interacting with God's children all over the world. How many times have you been in a situation where prayer requests are shared and they all are some incarnation of Aunt Bessie's sprained ankle. Not that God doesn't care about Aunt Bessie's bum wheel, but we just miss out on an opportunity to pray for needs all over the world and connect ourselves with the joys and needs of brothers and sisters from other cultures.
So one of my prayers lately is that I could find ways to be more connected with God's heart for the rest of the world.
Enter PBS. Enter Independent Lens.
Independent Lens is a showcase for short films (usually documentary type deals) that are produced by individuals.
A couple of weeks ago, they showed the film Black Gold. Right before watching the film I was thinking that maybe I had become a little hardcore in my Fair Trade only coffee mandate. Then I saw this documentary about the coffee trade in Ethiopia, and it was like God was gently reminding me that, no, trade practices in the coffee industry are a big deal. Zinger.
So last night Stacy and I were looking for something to watch. No compelling NBA playoff games to watch last night. No Soccer matches tucked away for later viewing. All Office episodes had been viewed. So we found an IL we had recorded that told the story of two doctors who grew up in Afghanistan, but then got blacklisted many years ago and ended up in the US. Now they are going back to do whatever they can to train doctors in the country, and try to improve health care in a country where the infant mortality rate is 18%. That's almost 1/5, and that's unacceptable.
So, this film was tough. Really really tough. And convicting. And sad that although I knew that women in Afghanistan had it bad due to (1) the country being used as a Cold War pawn by the US and Russia, (2) the Taliban being allowed to take control of the country once the Cold War ended and (3) very little outside support for rebuilding efforts, I never knew what it specifically looked like. Now I know, and I am convinced that it grieves God's heart. And it is just the tip of the iceberg, because it's not the only Third World country that is practically expected to rebuild itself, and it's not the only country in the World where women's rights are trampled on.
So now I know some of the things that God wants me to pray about. They bumped 95% of my prayer requests down a notch.
Fair Dinkum
In my worship class this semester we have been talking a lot about how we can experience both God's imminence and intimacy in services. This is an especially big need in the sermons and prayers, as American Christians are really bad at getting out of their own experience and interacting with God's children all over the world. How many times have you been in a situation where prayer requests are shared and they all are some incarnation of Aunt Bessie's sprained ankle. Not that God doesn't care about Aunt Bessie's bum wheel, but we just miss out on an opportunity to pray for needs all over the world and connect ourselves with the joys and needs of brothers and sisters from other cultures.
So one of my prayers lately is that I could find ways to be more connected with God's heart for the rest of the world.
Enter PBS. Enter Independent Lens.
Independent Lens is a showcase for short films (usually documentary type deals) that are produced by individuals.
A couple of weeks ago, they showed the film Black Gold. Right before watching the film I was thinking that maybe I had become a little hardcore in my Fair Trade only coffee mandate. Then I saw this documentary about the coffee trade in Ethiopia, and it was like God was gently reminding me that, no, trade practices in the coffee industry are a big deal. Zinger.
So last night Stacy and I were looking for something to watch. No compelling NBA playoff games to watch last night. No Soccer matches tucked away for later viewing. All Office episodes had been viewed. So we found an IL we had recorded that told the story of two doctors who grew up in Afghanistan, but then got blacklisted many years ago and ended up in the US. Now they are going back to do whatever they can to train doctors in the country, and try to improve health care in a country where the infant mortality rate is 18%. That's almost 1/5, and that's unacceptable.
So, this film was tough. Really really tough. And convicting. And sad that although I knew that women in Afghanistan had it bad due to (1) the country being used as a Cold War pawn by the US and Russia, (2) the Taliban being allowed to take control of the country once the Cold War ended and (3) very little outside support for rebuilding efforts, I never knew what it specifically looked like. Now I know, and I am convinced that it grieves God's heart. And it is just the tip of the iceberg, because it's not the only Third World country that is practically expected to rebuild itself, and it's not the only country in the World where women's rights are trampled on.
So now I know some of the things that God wants me to pray about. They bumped 95% of my prayer requests down a notch.
Fair Dinkum