When I first became a believer, I liked using the Bible and Christian movies or cultural books. Now I prefer ordinary stories with the spirit of truth. Because "religious" tends to make gods feel distanced. In fact, the truth lies in every day when we get up early, in the sweaty kitchen, in the eyes of love, and in a silent tolerance.
Don't let the symbols of "religion" obscure the light of truth. Although this is not the fault of religion, it is because people's eyes are blurred.
"The Book of Eli" is about the end of the world. The first catastrophe has passed. There are only a few survivors on the ground, almost no water, no vegetation, and people even cannibalize each other. Many children born after the disaster do not know what the world is like.
"Please tell me, what was the world like in the past?"
Eli's words were shocking: "At that time, people had more than needed. We never knew what to cherish and was always wasting."
If you have witnessed the film from beginning to end , The desolation shrouded in the twilight of death, the feeling of this passage will be completely different.
We are so happy that we have work, water to drink, food to eat, and Bible reading. In the last days, there is no company, no running water, no crops. There are only cannibals whose hands tremble when human flesh eats too much, and corpses are everywhere in the wilderness.
Eli thanked the meal like this: "Dear Lord, thank you for giving us food, thank you for giving us the bed, thank you for letting us spend the night under the roof, it hasn’t been like this in a long time..."
In contrast, we tasted it. He was eating, grinning, wishing to swallow prayers and food. We are really seldom grateful for the ease and lack of at this moment. On the contrary, he is always controlled by greed, so that he feels uncomfortable if he can't get more.
We are greedy for food, good things, good names, beautiful colors... never enough.
Some are more than needed, never know what to cherish, and are always wasting.
It is precisely our stubborn greed.
I used to spend a lot of time restraining my "greed" for clothes. I don't understand why I am so greedy for beautiful clothes. Be greedy and blame yourself. Obviously knowing there is no value. Nor is it out of normal needs. But it always feels "not enough". I used to envy the simple-dressed people around me, and tried to imitate them through gritted teeth, but for another beautiful dress, I couldn't say-"enough". It was only recently that I finally found the key to liberation.
It turns out that greed is a kind of mental disability.
It's like a cripple can't use the left side of his brain to make a disabled leg. People can't use their will to make the heart disabled by the fall. Even though we can restrain our actions, we cannot kill the "desire" that really exists in our hearts. We look for opportunities everywhere, hoping to coax our conscience and "legitimate" our desires.
We are so obsessed with it, if it is not for the purpose of avoiding bad consequences, we will never bear restraint.
We don't even know why "greed" exists, but it is there, driving us and binding us.
This is the person. Unable to subdue greedy people.
Not only cannot subdue greed, but also indifference, cannot subdue selfishness, cannot subdue pride, cannot suppress laziness... What's more, we sometimes cannot even realize their existence.
We need movies like "The Book of Eli" to alert our brains that have been groggy by desire.
Not only need to wake up, but also need to be healed. After fully understanding our inability and powerlessness to sin, we eagerly pray for healing until we truly experience the freedom of being healed.
When I said "enough" to beautiful clothes for the first time in my heart. I was surprised, it was not like what I did. But it was really willing, and it was not out of hypocrisy and fear to say "Enough". I know my disability, all right.
But this is not over yet, there are still many defects that need to be healed, there are many evils and many greed, waiting for us to rely on grace Say No, Say Enough.
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