Friday, April 24, 2009

about slumdog and all that jazz


Ok, those of you who watched Slumdog Millionaire, the Mumbai-based poor-boy-made-rich Hollywood flick put up your hands.
Right. Half of you.
Not to spoil it for you who haven't watched the show (where have you been, my friend?), let me take you to where the "tea boy" finally got the money and found the gal.

It was in the railway station.
He'd promised to wait for her at the railway station, for as long as it'd take, until she arrived.
And as he waited, and waited, and waited, she came.
Clad in jeans and a yellow shawl, she stood three train platforms away, breathlessly stunning.
Then their eyes locked.

And in true Hollywood Bollywood style, he ran to her. (I saw the movie twice for this part!)
Now in case you think we’re coming to a slow-mo sequence, you got to remember this is big-time director Danny Boyle.
So it was just running.
From one platform, down the track, up, across another platform, and down, up, non-stop, all the way he pushed until he reached her.
And in cinematomatic magic, as he made his way to her, his life flashed by.
The childhood. The pains. The ups. The ugly. The turning points. The learning curves.
It was as though everything in his life was culminating at this point.

And when they finally stood face to face, he kissed her (of course).
Not on the lips – not just yet.
But on the scar on her left cheek. The scar that says her life was blemished forever.
Kiss. Love. Happy ending. Healing and restoration to her wretched life.

Sigh. That's Hollywood.

But here's the catch.
Our tea boy wasn't the great rescuer.
When he loved her, and got her out of the other slum, really it was she who delivered him.
You see, she - by becoming that one meaningful focus of his miserable life - gave him a reason to be good.
Saved him from aimlessness.

Made him truly rich.

There's a lot of application here, isn't there?
I don’t know about you but for me, I was reminded to not pat myself on the back when I love and do my bit for God.
I'm not doing Him a great favor.
I'm really allowing the One I should love to save me.

Keep me focused.

Keep me from losing my way.

love the ocean - God made it for Himself

About Me

In the Old Testament in the Bible, there was a man named Jacob who "wrestled with God and man." He wouldn't let God go until God answered his prayers. God admired that and renamed him Israel, "the one who fought or wrestled and prevailed". He fought with man--his inner man--and conquered his own weaknesses. He's my hero. He is what I hope God and man see me to be.