The film suddenly turns around here, and the murderer calmly said through the glass, "Thank God, he has forgiven my sins, and I am a Christian now." Fainted in the sun. The resentment about her life burst out deeply at this moment. Questioning about life is not just "why did I encounter such a painful life", but "I haven't forgiven him, why did God forgive him"? Peace and joy fell into hysteria. The object of her resentment turned from suffering to faith. Then she shouted wildly in church, replacing evangelistic hymns with "all fake" pop music. She threw stones at the homes of believers who had gathered late at night to pray for her until she committed suicide by cutting her wrists. The last shot was frozen at the corner of Shin Ae's feet, who was cutting her hair in the yard after returning from a mental hospital. This corner is shabby but sunny. She recalled the Gospel that the pastor's wife had preached to her, saying that "there is God's love in every ray of sunshine." Shin-ae runs into the sun and asks, so what's in here? The Bible says, "The sun shines on the good, but also on the wicked." In a shabby corner, what happens even with the sun? For Shin Ae, what if the sun rises as usual tomorrow?
What the director wants to question is the repentance of a sinner and the forgiveness of a victim. Is it really that easy? Always listen to people: The Bible exhorts people to have faith and be saved. But it's also too lightweight. Shen Ai's story reveals the difficulty of redemption, a letter, easier said than done.
Lin Yutang once said that there are three types of Christians: one is remorse for sin and desires to be free from the reproach of conscience. The second is the need for comfort and escape because of pain. The third is that they understand what they believe and then truly trust the God they believe in. The first two are the beginning of faith, but they are nowhere near true faith.
The murderer in the film is the first. The Lord Jesus said, "The Holy Spirit has come to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment." And Shin Ae should be the second. She sees forgiveness as a high ground over suffering in front of the forgiven. So when the murderer said that he also obeyed God, it seemed that he had broken the mask she once thought she had. Forgiveness without true repentance cannot be true forgiveness, but a form of moral arrogance. In the "Bible" I read a parable that Jesus said: A man owes ten million taels of silver, and the creditor forgives his debt. But when he went out and met someone who owed him ten taels of silver, he had to take him to prison. The pastor who read this sermon said: The so-called forgiveness is to admit that the 10 million taels owed to you have been forgiven, and then you are willing to forgive the 10 taels that others owe. To forgive is to choose not to live in the past through the support of faith.
Dostoevsky once said: It is never the suffering that makes me suffer, but whether I am worthy of it. If I met Shen Ai, I would say: Faith will always fall on a lonely wasteland, so every day can be the beginning of a new life. Just are you ready?
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