There is a place for all of us

Blue Again, a "cult movie"

Last week, for the first time since before Covid, I went to see a movie, yet another post-Covid milestone.  "Blue Again" was the movie, being a social comment on Thai society.  Knowing here so well, a 3 hour 10 minute, human drama movie just flew.  I found it a powerful experience, sharing key messages that rang home.  

Ay is the central character, a young woman from the rural, northeast.  She heads off to Bangkok for a four year, fashion course at university.  Having a western dad she has never known and growing up in a Catholic community in a Buddhist country, she is different from the start.  With both height and brown hair, she always stands out as different.  She knows being bullied at home.  Bangkok is going to prove no different as she is now the poorer, rural girl amongst a more sophsiitcated and wealthier dominated set, but she goes with determination to meet her goal to stand up in life.  .  

The key life question posed is - where is our real place in this world and how do we find it?   Put another way, Gunn, a fellow classmate, who is happily gay and independent, tells Ay - "Our world cannot deal with the odd ones out".  Then I think, aren't we, as Christians, the odd ones out in our world? 

As followers of the Gospel, we are called to stand up for values that our world often thinks to be foolish or outdated, or simply dismisses.  To be a disciple of  Jesus is to be a counter sign to our world, particularly when things go wrong or thinking gets screwy reagrding human life.    

Jesus is the ultimate sign, presence, person that tells us that God is with us.  With Jesus, God's plan is defined once and for all.  The Grand Christian Narrative is that God has immersed his Kingdom in our world, while not defined by it.   In this narrative, God chooses us to be his companions, to be his way of moving forward with humanity.  Amazing!  It is God himself, through Jesus, who is calling us to be with him and follow him, so as to be builders of his kingdom in our here and now.  Can we take in how extraordinary this is?  It is no other than God who asks us to follow him.  This is radical stuff.      

Yes, we are the odd ones in our world but surely there is a place for us in a world created by God, for God himself offers us our place.  He does so simply because he loves us and chooses us out of love, to achieve so mch good.  Is this not enough for now?   Let us sit and ponder the mystery, as it evolves.