Defiance

No witty title for this one... just the word, plain and simple... and ironically, there's nothing plain and simple about it.

Defiance is the title of the movie I saw today... it stars Daniel Craig and tells the true story of the Bielski Otriad, and how they protected nearly 1200 Jews during Hitler's reign of idiocy. They lived in the forest for 3 years - they knew nothing but fear, sadness, death, sickness, hunger, grief, and faith. FAITH. That word just kind of sneaks in there... it's almost like it doesn't belong. I know for a fact that, if I had to go through all of that, I'd lose my faith... Big guy upstairs knows how fickle I am, how many times I've turned my back on him because things haven't gone my way, because I felt my prayers weren't answered.

There's a scene in the movie that really grabbed my attention. One of the teachers is leading the group in prayer after two of their comrades had died, and he says something to the affect of, "we have no more grief, no more tears to shed, no more blood to spill. We've endured your trials... please, God, pick a different people." It kind of brought to light everything the Jews had to go through - Nazi Germany wasn't the first. Jews were prosecuted in Serbia for being Jews - Communists put them in prison, Hitler put them to death. For years on end, Jews were persecuted, and this particular group lived in the forest for 3 years. Later in the movie, the same teacher speaks to the main character and says "I almost lost my faith, but I believe you were sent by God to protect us." He ALMOST lost his faith... I couldn't imagine going through that and only kind of doubting God... Christians today, for the most part, are so fickle in their faith... we live a life of ease and when things are even the least bit difficult, we get our noses bent out of shape. I know I'm a prime example of it... why can't we follow the example of those left for us? I was discussing this with Mikayla right before I wrote this, and she said "If your faith was as strong as when you were sick, you would probably be in perfection." And that's true - our generation has never really had to suffer for anything, so we don't know what it's like to have nothing but faith and hope. We have everything at the ready, that whenever something goes wrong, we panic. We never really lean on God until we think we REALLY need Him... which is ironic because we REALLY need him 24/7.

Despite touching me very deeply and opening this whole can of worms - the movie was fantastic, very moving. The sheer strength of the Jews left me in total awe... and it amazed me that Nazi Germany started this whole thing because they felt THEY were the superior race... but if you really think about it, no one was weaker than the Nazis... and no one was stronger than those they persecuted. Daniel Craig did a GREAT job, as did the rest of the cast. :) I was in tears for most of the movie. I recommend everyone see it, it will certainly change you... it changed me a little bit (every piece of WW2 history I acquire does, but you know what I mean).

I guess what I'm trying to say here, as I step off my soapbox, is that I would love to have faith similar to that of the persecuted. I would love to be able to realize how blessed I really am. And I would love for everyone to realize the same if they haven't already - because I don't know anyone stronger than someone who knows what they have when they have it. Someone who knows what could be, and loves that it isn't that way.

Let's get this. :)

~Lauren