In His sight

Precious is a most-likely Oscar winning movie based on the novel Push by Sapphire. I can only imagine that it's a biography (that is, not just a novel), about an overweight gal struggling with middle school, an abusive mom, and her second pregnancy--to name a few. Oh, and she's only 17.

Here is a movie that made me angry, sad, and oh so convicted. These verses seemed to be whispered in my ear:

You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more. (Psalm 10 :17-18)

One of the gals that I watched the movie with happened to be sitting next to a counselor and a social worker. Apparently during the movie, these two kept nodding, saying things like, "Yep, I have to deal with an abuse case with so-and-so.. I have to file a restraining order for this kid and that kid from his/her father.." etc. etc. When she asked them after the movie how they deal with it all, they answered that they drink. A lot.

And truly, I'm glad I had a small meal before seeing the film, as moments of incest, physical and verbal abuse made my stomach groan. How can people treat each other the way that they do?

What surprised me, as I was telling the girls during a post movie discussion at Denny's, was that through all of those trials, Precious doesn't blame anyone. She simply asks the age old question, "Why me?"

I answer, I don't know. I don't see why anyone has to be so unloved as ones like Precious. Or like the little girls in brothels in India. Or the Dhalits in the same country. Or the women forced into circumcision in Africa. Why, in the midst of all of this, do I get to enjoy a warm bed every night, and have been blessed with at least one meal every day of my life?

The verses earlier are so critical. God hears the cries of the oppressed and the afflicted. He does not forget them, but He fights for them. Many times too, He uses people like you and me to join that battle. That's why companies like IJM are so wonderful, and as the president of that company writes, there is Good News about Injustice.

Are we a people who will love justice, show mercy and walk humbly with our God?

I don't know how, but I want to. Whatever it takes. People should know how beautiful they are in His sight. Like Jesus, it wasn't so much the fact that He healed people, it was that He acknowledged them at all. It's that He would look into their eyes and call them "Son" or "Daughter." People who had been ignored all their lives; people who had been forced into isolation, or forced to wear a bell around their necks when they did go out in public, so that others would avoid them at every measure. In the same way, Mother Theresa would hold the leprous as they died, to let them die with dignity. They were be touched like they had never been touched all their lives.

We start here and now. We pray for open eyes to see the hurting in our community. That way, once we are called somewhere else, we have already instilled a lifestyle of love. We don't need to wait till we go. We love now. We fight now. Because what if Precious lived next door?