Boxes

Have you seen 12 years a slave?

It is a heartbreaking story of a man who is stolen into slavery because of the color of his skin. The southern states do not see him as the free man he is in the north. His violin playing ability leads him on a performance tour ending in captivity. As if I needed more reasons to never be a touring musician.

I recommend the film, if you're in the mood to be appalled. But I just wanted to share one message I have been thinking about since seeing it.

The most captivating character I find in the movie, or perhaps simply the one I find myself relating to the most, is the slave-owner Ford. Ford is portrayed by Benedict Cumberpatch as a good slave owner.

When he first buys Solomon and others, he intentionally tries to purchase the children of a woman he buys. His attempt is foiled, but you can see some hint of conscience working within the man.
Again, some dim light of the soul is visible when he gives Solomon, a man who he has noticed has considerable knowledge and skills, a violin. I believe the line he says is, "may it bring us both much joy over the years."

But the most poignant scene is when Solomon gets in trouble. After calling a young racist foreman out on his foolish instructions, he is then confronted by this young, prideful foreman as he lays into him with his fiercest attack. The fiercest attack being tucking his tail between his ass as Solomon steals the whip and takes it to him. For this defiance, Solomon is strung up by his neck so only his toes, slipping in the mud, maintain a patent airway.
After hours. After many other slaves witness and can do nothing. After Ford's wife observes from the balcony. Up rides Ford who has been away from the house. Sword in hand, he swiftly cuts the rope choking Solomon in two, freeing the man. He clearly recognizes the injustice put on Solomon by this foreman. He is a savior working within the locked doors of hell.

Ford is working within a corrupt system. He is a man who is working within a box. The box of slavery. The standards of his righteousness can only be as high as that off the box he resides in. Perhaps he has been socialized to believe that this is the way life is. The culture around him may praise him as a good man, but he can only be as good as slavery can be. He is the cream of the crap, but he is still crap.

It made me think about the boxes I live in. The culture I find myself socialized into. The way I let businesses and organizations do my sinning for me through unfair wages, slavery, exploiting the earths resources. What are the boxes I live in that are too small?
There are alot of problems I contribute to by living in the wealthiest society the world has ever known. There are alot of social inequalities that are present in our own backyard and worldwide. There is alot of work to be done in the church if we are to be as radically life-giving, selfless, joyful, trusting, missional as Christ and his early followers (though there are great examples all throughout history and in and among us :))

As usual, I dont have alot of answers, just more questions!
I guess I wish I could have better eyes to see the fictional walls around me. Those socialized barriers I face. I think steps to figuring out those boxes include:

1. Knowing people in different boxes. Christians are especially adept at finding people in the same box. We like seeing the same shaped box, it encourages us. "Nice box" we tell each other, and we pat each other on the backs and make mennonite soup and sing songs that sound slightly like popular music 10 years ago. We build a new box church so even other christians with slightly different shaped boxes won't fit. We can get to know more of the world if we hang out in other peoples box forts.

2..Exploring! Similar to number one I suppose... but different in that it is the physical pulling yourself out of the culture you have lived in and being dropped in elsewhere. Travelling, moving, biking across Canada (a future blog post :)), new jobs. I have this dream that in my life I will have a home base (Prince George?) But every 5 years go and live in a different country for a year. Get random jobs/experience/language training and be someone that never gets too stuck in his ways.

3. Self-reflection. "Are you not entertained!"  yells Maximus Aurilleus. No really, are you ever not entertained? Is there down-time in your life to sit and think. Time to escape to the mountains, or a shack, or a journal, or even just talk your thoughts out over some guitar chords?

Now that I have made a 3-point agenda, the pastor's son in me can rest. And hopefully the rest of me can too, good night!