Gospel as Tragedy Session #1

I am first off all perturbed. I do not know which is more upsetting, the last video we watched or the fact that it didn't seem to affect anyone who watched. Still, an hour or two later I am upset and keep on playing the video through my mind like it's on a loop.

But then I analyze what I saw and heard and think, "Did I need to hear that? Am I not like those people at the dinner party who were more disturbed by the curse word than by the fact that 30,000 children have died from malnutrition? Was I really upset that those women and children died in that truck or by the fact that I had to see it, or rather a portraying of it?"

At first, and still even now, I wondered why Professor Leeper decided to show such a video to his class. Then I realized that not only was it a superb artistic portrayal of what we feel when we do something bad or even when we do not help those in trouble when we have the chance, but it was also a portrayal of how we ignore the fact that bad things happen all around us. This guy in the video was dealing with the fact that he had either helped or just witnessed the death of hundreds of women and children and did nothing to stop it from happening. As with the video called "fridge," don't all of us look at the chaos around us and think that it has nothing to do with us? Don't we all have those situations where we see where there is a person in need, whether drastic (like the boy in the fridge) or minor (like seeking someone who needs a friend) and fail to do something?

What also strikes me from the lesson today is where Professor Leeper was talking about how we sometimes don't express our feelings because of our not wanting to offend someone listening. We tend to hold back our feelings and just go with the decision made because we want to avoid confrontation or avoid offending others.

Since I myself struggle with not wanting to offend others or trying to make sure they are happy rather than express my feelings and thoughts on the subject this is a lesson I needed to hear. However, I agree with Professor Leeper's statement that there is a time to be blunt and express your feelings and there are times to just let it go (if I understood him correctly).

All in all, the lecture I heard today in the Intro to DMA class was very insightful and profound and though it was hard to hear, it needed to be heard. It is funny the way God decides to speak to each one of us. He has spoken to me in many different ways but it never occurred to me to be spoken to by God on such a deep level through one of my college classes.  (Not very insightful but it did penetrate my proud exterior and made me ask some hard questions).