The Book of Eli – Believe

A few days ago we watched the movie “The Book of Eli”, starred by Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Jennifer Beals and Mila Kunis. The genre is called post-apocalyptic, that is a movie about what happens after an apocalyptic event (e.g World War, huge natural disaster etc).
I actually don’t really like this kind of movie because of the gloomy and dusty background with violent scenes. In fact, I felt a bit bored watching it….. If you like cowboy movies or movies like “The Departed”, you’d probably like “The Book of Eli”.
But this movie has wonderful Christianity messages in it, and I recommend to watch this movie (not for young children, not appropriate because of some violent scenes).

It is told that after an apocalyptic event, Eli (Denzel Washington) has been walking to west for 30 years, his mission is to bring The King James Version Bible (the only one left in the world) to a safe place. He doesn’t know what kind of place that “safe place” is and where it is exactly, he’s just following a voice telling him to bring the book and go west. The voice say he will be protected against anyone or anything that stands in his way, and apparently the voice doesn’t lie. 30 years walking on foot, facing hijackers and robbers, hunting bizarre animals for food, with limited water supplies, and only an ipod (is that an ipod? Looks like an ipod to me ^_^) as an entertainment, yet he survives. Eli walks by faith, not by sight.
This reminds me a lot of the journey of Abraham. He also didn’t know his destination, he was just following God. God promised him that he will get a very good land to live in, and that his descendants will be many, like sand in the beach and stars in the sky. It will be a big nation and all the people in the world will be blessed by his descendants. Abraham did not see all God’s promises fulfilled, but he still believed. That is why he is called The Father of all Faithful Man. Abraham walked by faith, not by sight.

Eli carries a hand gun, a riffle (I think that’s the name, I’m not really familiar with all types of weapon) and a big blade. He uses them very well, he can easily kill 5 hijackers in one fight scene. One time, he sees some people in motorcycles robbing 2 travellers, they kill the travelers and take all their belongings, but Eli decides not to help, he decides to stay on his path and that it is not his business.
Later on, when Solara (Mila Kunis) joins him in his journey, he regretly says he read the book (Bible) everyday, but he hasn’t live by it.
I remember the story of The Good Samaritan. A priest and a Levite didn’t help the half dead traveller. They surely knew the word of God in the available scriptures and should help the traveller but they didn’t! They read God’s words everyday but they didn’t live by it.

When his ipod needs recharging, Eli stops by a shop in a small town. He meets Carnegie (Gary Oldman) who’s been searching for the Bible to own it. Carnegie finds out that Eli has the Bible and forces Eli to give it to him. When asked why he wants the Bible so much, Carnegie answers the words from the book can make him more powerful than now, he can control more people and people will follow him because of the words from the book.
Hearing Carnegie’s reason, I can’t help thinking about some “Preachers” who are also using the Bible to gain popularity for themselves (not all preachers, but there are some that I know). They call themselves pastor, reverend, God’s servant, even prophet, but what they actually do is just selling God’s words (from the Bible) to gain popularity, money and power.

Carnegie manages to get the Bible from Eli after shooting him in the stomach. In the scene where Eli is shot, the camera focuses on Eli’s face, his expression is like he can’t believe that he’s been shot! I feel that he might be a bit disappointed because the voice has promised to protect him until the Bible arrives at the safe place, he doesn’t understand why he’s shot now and why is Carnegie allowed to take away the Bible. I was kinda hoping for a scene of miracle, maybe suddenly Eli stands up and not wounded by the shot at all, but apparently that’s not how the story goes……
Eli makes an attempt to stand up, as if he doesn’t believe that he will die before taking the Bible to west, but he falls down to the ground…….
I think it is good that there is no scene of miracle in this movie, because that is what going to happen in real life, if you are shot then you will be wounded.
Sometimes people expect miracles, they think if they follow God faithfully then God will make miracles to keep them safe from harm. But that’s not how this life goes. God can make a miracle when He wants to and when He thinks it’s necessary, but not always, it’s not His obligation. Sometimes God lets us have a hard life because He wants us to learn something from it.
In this point, I think Eli is a winner. The shot has wounded him badly but he manages to stand up and walk again heading west. He doesn’t give up, though no miracle happens, he still believes that he will arrive at his destination. And he finally does.

In the end, Eli and Solara arrive at the “safe place”, but without the Bible which is taken by Carnegie. But having been reading it everyday for 30 years, Eli remembers everything that is written in the bible and dictates it to a curator who collects important things from before the apocalypse. Finally, the Bible can be re-printed and Eli dies because of his wounds.
Imagine reading the Bible everyday for 30 years! No wonder he can memorize everything. What a shame that I have lived for 30 years but have never been able to read the whole bible even for once……

And what a struggle a man has made to preserve the Words of God.
When describing life before apocalypse to Solara, Eli says that people waste things that they now kill each other for. It’s true that now people can have the Bible easily that they take it for granted. In certain places, people can’t get access to the Bible and have to put their lifes on the line just to read a torn page of the Bible.
It also applies for other things such as food, clothes, education, time etc. How often are we wasting the things we have, just because we can have plenty of them?
My boss once said : “If you can have it easily, then you take it for granted.”
That is true indeed!

I give 5 stars for the meaningful messages in this movie ^_^

MendapatkanMu dalam kehilanganku by Yohan Candawasa (ringkasan lepas)

Kenapa disebut ringkasan lepas? Karena yg ditulis disini bukan ringkasan lengkap dan kaku dari buku tsb, tapi sebuah ringkasan hal2 yang mengena ke g pada waktu g baca buku ini.

G sangat merekomendasikan buku ini untuk semua orang Kristen, buku ini akan semakin menguatkan iman kita kepada Allah dan benar2 mengubah pandangan kita terhadap Allah dan kehendakNya. Buku ini bukan hanya berbicara mengenai kehilangan orang2 yang kita kasihi, tapi juga kehilangan damai sejahtera, harta benda, sukacita dll yang disebabkan oleh masalah2 yang kita hadapi dalam hidup.

Yang pertama menohok g adalah, dalam buku ini dinyatakan bahwa kita sebagai manusia hina tdk berhak sama sekali untuk menuntut apapun dr Tuhan, memohon pun tdk berhak.
Ada ilustrasi tentang seorang tukang obat yg pada waktu kerusuhan Mei 98 istrinya dibunuh, tokonya dibakar, dan anak perempuannya diperkosa. Dia kemudian pindah ke kota lain dengan anaknya, dan suatu hari dibawalah seorang yg luka parah untuk dia obati, ternyata orang itu adalah salah satu orang yg membunuh istrinya pada saat kerusuhan.
Kira2 bagaimana perasaannya? Secara manusia, dia ingin membiarkan orang itu mati saja atau justru meracuni orang itu, tapi akhirnya dia putuskan untuk menolong orang itu. Itu yang dinamakan anugerah!

Selama ini g berpikir Tuhan wajib untuk mengasihi, melindungi, memberkati, memberi sukacita dan damai sejahtera buat g. Padahal g uda jahat banget, bagaimana mungkin g bisa berani minta macem2 begitu???

Yang kedua, manusia lebih menyukai pemberian drpd Pemberinya. kita suka kalau diberi kekayaan, kesehatan, keamanan dll tapi jarang peduli kepada Pemberinya. Kalo semuanya itu diambil, manusia akan meninggalkan sang Pemberi krn merasa bahwa tdk ada manfaat lagi kenal sm Dia krn Dia tdk memberikan apa2. Jadi kita ini sdh menjadi materialistis.

Padahal sebenarnya harta yg paling berharga itu ya Tuhan sendiri. Kalo kita punya Tuhan ya butuh apalagi?? Tuhan sdh beri semuanya buat kita. Yang dimaksud semuanya itu ya bener2 semuanya, nyawaNya, apalagi sih yg bisa diberikan oleh orang yg mengasihi kita kalo orang itu sdh memberikan nyawanya untuk kita?

Kalau kita punya Tuhan, sang Pemberi, maka kita sdh tdk membutuhkan apa2 lagi. Semua harta, kesenangan, kenikmatan di dunia sdh tdk ada artinya lagi, spt yg Paulus bilang, semuanya dipandang rugi oleh karena Kristus.

Yang ketiga, Tuhan itu adalah Allah, bukan seperti manusia yg jalan pikirannya bisa diduga2. Allah itu tak terduga, tak terselami pikiran2Nya, tak terbatas hikmatNya. Kita tdk bisa menduga2 sebab dari tindakan Allah. Kalau Allah memutuskan untuk membiarkan kelaparan , kecelakaan, bencana alam, kejahatan, kita tdk bisa menduga2 apa sebabnya, kita tdk bisa langsung bilang bahwa itu akibat dosa. Lihat Ayub, dia saleh, tp Allah membiarkan iblis mempermainkan Ayub. Allah sama sekali tidak memberitahu Ayub alasan dr semua penderitaannya, bahkan smp semua dipulihkan pun Ayub tdk tau kenapa dia harus sengsara begitu.

Tindakan Allah bukan berdasarkan aksi-reaksi, sebab-akibat (seperti yang dipikirkan oleh teman2 Ayub). Kalau kita jahat maka Allah akan membuat hidup kita sengsara, kalo kita baik maka Allah akan membuat kita tdk pernah susah, bukan begitu cara Allah bekerja.

G benar2 tercengang dgn kenyataan ini, selama ini g berpikir bahwa kalau ada masalah, itu terjadi krn g jauh dr Tuhan, tapi ternyata belum tentu begitu.
Terus kalau tdk ada rumusan kalau kita baik maka Allah baik dan kalau kita jahat maka Allah jahat, berarti Allah itu Allah yg tdk bisa diandalkan dong?

Bukan begitu. Disinilah perlunya iman, yaitu iman bahwa Allah itu baik, mengasihi kita dan bijak. Apapun dan seburuk apapun hal yg terjadi pada kita, Allah punya tujuan yg baik. Dalam kasus Ayub, Ayub benar2 clueless apa tujuan baik dalam kesengsaraan dia, tapi kita tau bahwa Allah sedang membuktikan kepada iblis bahwa Ayub adalah benar2 orang yg saleh dan setia. Dan pengalaman Ayub pun menjadi pelajaran dan kekuatan buat kita semua yg baca kisahnya.

Buku ini banyak sekali membahas soal Ayub, dan g rasa memang cocok sekali, karena kisah Ayub mengambarkan bagaimana seorang manusia bisa kehilangan segala milik duniawinya tanpa alasan yg jelas sama sekali.

Yang keempat, saat Allah mengambil milik duniawi kita, kita berpikir kita sudah kehilangan “segalanya”, padahal apa benar seperti itu? Ternyata tidak! Kita tidak kehilangan segalanya, seperti Ayub yang kehilangan semua anak2nya, hartanya, istrinya bahkan teman2nya, kesehatannya pun diambil, tapi dia masih punya sesuatu, yaitu nyawanya. Kita tidak bisa bilang kita kehilangan “segalanya” pada saat kita masih mempunyai nyawa kita.

Dalam kisah Ayub, Allahpun tidak membiarkan iblis mengambil segalanya dari Ayub , Allah berkata kepada iblis : engkau boleh melakukan apa yang kau suka asal sayangkanlah nyawanya.

Pada waktu akhirnya nyawa kita pun diambil, kita justru mendapatkan segalanya, karena kita kembali kepada Allah yang adalah segala sesuatu bagi kita. What an amazing fact isn’t it??? Jadi baik hidup maupun mati, kita bisa yakin bahwa kita tidak akan pernah kehilangan segalanya.

Yang terakhir, di dunia ada suatu pandangan yang g rasa sangat umum dimiliki oleh orang Kristen, maupun bukan Kristen, yaitu : Every cloud has a silver lining, di dalam setiap penderitaan kita pasti ada hikmahnya , Tuhan pasti punya rencana yang baik untuk diri kita di balik semua masalah yg menimpa kita. But unfortunately, pandangan itu ternyata tidak selalu benar.

Terkadang masalah dan kehilangan kita tidak membawa apapun yang baik bagi diri kita.
Pandangan bahwa setelah diberi masalah maka Tuhan akan memberi “reward” itu terjadi karena ke-egosentris-an manusia, segala sesuatu berpusat pada diri kita sendiri sehingga kita berpikir kita seharusnya mendapatkan berkat setelah kita menahan semua penderitaan.

Selama ini g pun mempunyai pandangan seperti itu, setiap kali mengalami masalah berat, setelah berakhir g selalu menanti2 apa berkat dari semua yg sdh g alami, tapi ternyata tdk ada apa2.
Tapi sekarang g ngerti, ternyata tdk setiap kali kita dapat masalah itu bakalan kita yang dapat berkat, bisa saja orang lain yang dapat berkat, dan juga yang dimaksud berkat itu bukan secara materi atau dalam bentuk sesuatu yg menyenangkan, tapi jg bisa dalam bentuk pendewasaan iman dan mental kita supaya kita makin kuat, dan dengan makin kuatnya kita maka kita pun mampu menahan pencobaan yang lebih hebat lagi dan setelah semuanya selesai kita dapat memberikan kekuatan bagi orang2 lain yang mengalami masalah seperti yang sudah pernah kita alami.

Our Pray

Dear Lord GOD, thank you for all Your blessings, thank you for everything that You have given us until now.

Lord GOD, forgive our sin of not behaving as Your children.

Lord GOD, please guide us through this life for we do not know the future. We do not know where to go or what to do. All our plans have fallen a part.

Lord GOD, we know that all these are Your way for us, help us to trust You, help us to be strong in faith in You, help us to walk Your way willingly.

Lord GOD, please unite our small family, keep us bond with Your unfailing love, guard us from the evil that tries to put us apart.

Dear Holy Spirit, guide us through all this so that we can do the right thing according to GOD's will.

Holy Spirit, fill our heart and mind with GOD's thought not evil's thought.

Holy Spirit, help us so that we can teach our child in GOD's way and love.

Thank you Lord GOD, thank you Lord jesus, thanks you Holy Spirit.

In the name of Lord Jesus we pray.

Amen

Renungan Harian 19 Maret 2008

March 19, 2008
A Fragile Lamb
ODB RADIO: Listen Now DownloadREAD: 1 Cor. 11:23-26
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. —Isaiah 53:5
After the Easter eggs were located and the Easter baskets had been opened, Uncle Jay felt compelled to find out whether the white chocolate lamb was hollow or solid. Without thinking of the potential consequences, he squeezed the lamb. Suddenly Jay’s whole body stiffened, as if he’d ingested some paralyzing poison. Finally his eyes moved to see if anyone had witnessed the deed. His thumb, however, remained stuck in the side of the lamb.
We waited for the reaction. A wail. A howl. A cry of anguish over the crushed chocolate candy. As the adults in the room scrambled for words that would soothe the sorrow of 3-year-old Jenna, she calmly spoke words that soothed us. “That’s okay, Uncle Jay. The lamb would have been broken when I ate him anyway.”
While we adults tried to make sacred memories out of Easter traditions, a 3-year-old made a sacred moment for us. She reminded us that Easter is about the perfect Lamb of God, broken so that we can be whole. Her youthful wisdom reminds me of the words we recall at communion: “This is My body which is broken for you.” May we taste and see that the life He offers is sweeter than anything we concoct for ourselves. — Julie Ackerman Link
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,Sorrow and love flow mingled down;Did e’er such love and sorrow meetOr thorns compose so rich a crown? —Watts
Nothing speaks more clearly of God’s love than the cross.