Captain Phillips and African Pirates

Sorry for the long hiatus in blogging.  Sometimes time just gets away from us.  I certainly think frequently about blog topics and jot them down as I go through my day.  However, I definitely have a backlog of blog topics that would give me enough material for at least a year.  I am going to make it my end of the year resolution to be more consistent.  At least that is the intent.

DebSue and I went yesterday to see Captain Phillips.  It is a great movie - rivoting from about a third of the way in till the end.  I was particularly interested in how the movie might portray the pirates.  Would the movie treat them like savages with no real life and no real soul?  Surprisingly, the movie started with their tribal background.  The ringleader was rousted from sleeping and "urged" to go.  There is the youngest one who the film clearly portrays as one who probably shouldn't have been there.  In no way am I trying to justify what they did, but they were real people.

I am reminded of how little we in the west understand developing countries, and in particular Sub-Saharan Africa.  We lump Africa as one massive place together when it is many countries, each with their own identity.  We have been to Rwanda, Uganda, and Ghana, and they all were very different.  I have probably read every book on Rwanda and the complex situation leading up to the genocide of 1994.  How can we possibly imagine where 1/8 of a population is effectively wiped out?  Our daughter Meghan spent four months in Uganda so she was able to see the real deal up close.  It was real surreal to spend an evening with one of Meghan's host families sharing a meal in a small house with no electricity or running water.  But they were real people with real challenges. 

We have to remind ourselves that one third of the world lives on less than $2 a day and are in a daily battle for survival.  And yet some of the strongest Christians - totally sold out for Christ are living in these situations.  It is even harder to imagine a lawless country like Somalia and what occurs there.  There is a point in the movie where Tom Hanks asks the lead pirate why he chose to be a pirate; he indicated there was no other option.  Again, no justification for what they did, but understanding.  I think at the end of the move when three of the pirates were taken out that there was another loss and it wasn't just the excitement over the rescue.  In some way, our emotion was also one of sadness. 

I have to catch myself to say there is no one expendable.  God knows each of us by name and each one of us has value.  Enough value to cost God His Son.