Connor invited me to check out a movie a few weeks back, and the impact is still taking its toll. The movie is called Invisible Children, and it describes the atrocities unfolding in Uganda. The civil wars have degraded to the point where small children are recruited and brainwashed so they can become soldiers in the holy wars there.

(Note: If you have a chance to watch it, do so with a little discretion: the details of the war are not brought across in a delicate manner. Well, theres that, and its made by some college kids, so there’s some puking scenes and a bit where a local shows them how to kill a chicken. I’m pretty sure it can still be found on Google Video.)

The part that hit me the most was where one of the filmmakers was reflecting on the experience. He was remembering when he used to see pictures of African children on television. We’ve all seen the ads: starving, pot-bellied children, covered in flies, sauntering about on dirt-floored buildings, huddling together or to some glass-eyed adult. The images really made him uncomfortable, so he started to ask himself why. I started to ask myself as well.

Have you ever been approached by someone who asked for some spare change? Did you feel uncomfortable?

Ever seen a disabled or stranded person holding a sign at a freeway on-ramp? Did it bother you?

It bothers me. It’s the same feeling I get when I pass someone fixing a flat tire on the freeway. I want to help, but I don’t know how. Or I hope someone else can pick up the slack. What if I don’t have the right skills to help out? Maybe I’m too busy. Maybe the person is trying to deceive me. Maybe they’re dangerous. What if they use my help to feed an addiction or hurt someone else?

Maybe I’m just trying to justify my sins.

Giving is a big part of the Christmas spirit, and I’ve been trying to learn more about how I can better help my fellow man. Most of what I found comes from a short story in Luke 10: the parable of the good Samaritan.

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Luke 10, emphasis mine

I’m not willing anymore to try to justify myself. I think you really need to be careful on how you approach certain situations, but I think I’ve been guilty of the same sin this lawyer was stricken with. So: who is our neighbor? Before we talk about how Christ answered this question, I know another person who is overqualified on answering this question. Fred Rogers. America’s most famous neighbor.

We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say ‘It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.
Fred Rogers

More thoughts on this to come later on. Have you had any positive or negative experiences with giving? What did you learn?

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This entry was posted on Sunday, December 10th, 2006 at 9:50 pm and is filed under Ethics, Politics, Doctrine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.