dignity

Dawn and I watched The Motorcycle Diaries tonight. It's a stunning film. The simple beauty of the American people and landscapes. The purity of true friendship. Adventure and transformation. It made me feel a lot. About people, our common humanity, pain, suffering, and the chance to remind someone that they have incredible worth.

I'm really glad we watched it. I've felt somewhat disconnected and dispassionate lately. But watching the "not yet" Che Guevara go to a leper colony as an aspiring doctor only to be changed forever worked its magic. I couldn't help thinking of Jesus when young Ernesto rejected the gloves and shook Papa Carlito's leprous hand. And though I've felt torn in too many directions lately and have not been able to focus, somehow God is reigniting those places in my heart. I want to burn white hot.

The intriguing thing to me is that this could happen through the story of someone who seemed to reject God at every turn. As for me, I never cared for the forgotten and oppressed until my eyes were opened to God's love for them. So it is a bit weird to see that in Che Guevara. But it also makes me question all that I've ever been told about the Cuban Revolution that Che was a part of. I haven't studied it or him and I don't know what he became, but the movie has the ring of truth and I see someone who would break the rules to love people sacrificially. And I aspire to that.