Afajita

Last night I watched a powerful film that unexpectedly rekindled some flames that have been slowly burning out since our return to the States from Cambodia. The movie is entitled “Under the Moonlight” by Reza Mir-Karimi. This Iranian drama is about a young seminary student, Seyyed Hassan, who is struggling between his jadedness with his studies and his desire to please his father by becoming a respectable religious leader. When he finally receives enough money and motivation to buy his supplies for his clerical attire, they are stolen by a homeless boy he befriends on the subway. Being a poor country folk with no means to buy another set of supplies, Seyyed sets out to find that thief. However, what he finds is that the thief, not only steals his sacred garments but also his calloused heart. As Seyyed reluctantly stumbles upon the boy’s “family”, a bunch of bums living among garbage under a bridge, he is forced to face a community that he, and the rest of society, has been driving over all his life. Moreover, he is forced to face his ignorance and neglect. From this community, Seyyed encounters a pain and sorrow that he knew nothing of, but also a love and joy that he never before experienced. As Seyyed finds himself drawn to his new friends night after night, he discovers that these times, under the moonlight, teach him more about God and life than anything he is learning in seminary.

It is amazing how much this Muslim movie resonated with me, a Christian. First of all, this story is awfully similar to mine. Pretty much most of my Christian life, I was happily oblivious to the world. My nose was stuck in the Bible, my mind was on evangelizing the lost, and my heart was set on “doing the right thing”. However, when I was forced to face people that “live under a bridge”, and subsequently my ignorance and neglect, I finally began my journey in experiencing the heart of God, not only for the lost but for the least of this world. After working with abused refugee woman and children in Boston and then spending four years living among the poor in Cambodia, I have found that all that I learned in seminary came crashing down. Systematic theology did not help me address systematic injustice and poverty. Learning to parse Greek and Hebrew did not equip me to share God’s love with a community that has been destroyed by war. Although I loved learning exegetical preaching, it did not learn to communicate scripture to people who are just hoping to live one more day.

“Under the Moonlight” reminded me that, like Seyyed, I need to be with people that have a resiliency and joy that is rarely seen among those that drive quickly past over the bridge. I too have found that living and walking with people whom the world overlooks, is what gives me insight into the heart of God.

There is a scene in the movie where one of Seyyed’s friends asks him, “Why does God look down on the poor?” Seyyed responds, “God looks down at the world and sees everyone as poor, especially the rich”. It is not God who looks down on the poor, it is me. And when I look down on the poor, I, privileged and rich, become even poorer than them. The only way I can prevent myself from looking down is to look to God WITH them.