Born Into Brothels

Sex is big industry.

But in countries other than America it is a lot messier. 

Tonight I watched Born Into Brothels, a documentary about a group of adorable children in India who through the power of a simple camera are able to show us the lives they live in the Red Light District of Calcutta. It's a unique film as photographer Zana Briski gives the children cameras and teaches them about photography. The children's photography is quite impressive, but what is more impressive is their deep thoughts and incredible resiliency captured by Briski and co-director Ross Kauffman.  

In these children's lives there is no hope, no future. The girls will grow up to become prostitutes, following in their mother's footsteps as this is the only way to survive in the district. This is sex industry at its messiest. The girls and boys all know what their mothers do, and yet they still have the remains of innocence about them. This is in stark contrast to the weathered faces of their parents, carved deep by years of pain and shame. 

Briski tries to help the children, but most of them end up staying in the Red Light District. Some of them are able to go to boarding schools and carve a new life for themselves, but unfortunately this is the exception to the deadly spiral of the prostitution. 

I couldn't tear my eyes away from these children. One minute they are smiling and laughing, the next they are revealing these deepest fears and secrets to the camera with surprising honesty. I know things like this happen in the world, but seeing it firsthand--through the eyes of a child-- is a different matter altogether. 

As I sat there mesmerized a thousand thoughts flew through my head. Sex in America is so clean cut and easy. If you want to see a women naked just go online or head to your local video store and within minutes you will be satisfied. None of the physical scars, but the emotional scars are the same. 

Seeing these women in the documentary quietly resign themselves to this fate, made me question a lot of women in America today. Why are there so many women that will just throw away their sexual dignity for money, without being forced, doing essentially the same thing as these women? It's so easy to show some skin, sex up the movies for a little extra money, but why do women in America and other parts of the world embrace this as a legitimate job?

Is this why women in America are free? So they can do the same thing as women who need to prostitute their bodies just to make it by? That doesn't make sense to me and I'm not sure it ever should.

The men are not free of this either. I'm not better than any of those men who solicit the girls. The American man thinks when he looks at porn or when he lusts that he isn't doing anything on the same level as raping a prostitute. But he is. Jesus labels lusting in the heart as adultery. "We are all guilty of the same things, with sinning hearts that make us equal," says popular rock band Emery.

Yet amidst these trials the kids are still loving life, almost inexplicably to us as Americans. It brought me almost to tears on a couple occasions. Where is their hope? How can they have hope? At one point one of the boys, Ajivit, speaks of having no hope. My heart breaks for these kids, but what can I do? 

This is my heart breaking just one more time at the injustice in this world and then in a few days returning to its callousness. In America, even if we want to help, we never do. I want to help. I prayed for those kids and all of the other like them tonight in Warriors. I sang for them, hoping they would find their hope in Jesus. Maybe that is what I can do to help, and I hope I don't forget.

Born Into Brothels is not an easy documentary to watch, but watch it we must. The glimmers of hope are dim, but they still manage to shine through. I watch these terrible, horrible things not because I revel in them or enjoy them but because my heart needs to know the human condition. But I can't put it as well as Ajivit who uttering the last line of dialogue says this of a picture he is presenting to other children, "Although there is a sense of sadness, we must look at it because it is truth."

Old Myspace Blogs #2: Fall

Fall, the season where change is proclaimed most evidently, as the once green leaves change into orange and brown and drop to the ground signaling the death of summer. Fall, when school starts and the care-free days of the summer fade away like the daylight. Fall, the very word brings pleasant memories of sitting inside by the fire, watching the night envelop the day. Why does fall invoke such feelings?

     In life, things fade away but still leave a trace of supernatural beauty. The leaves disappear from trees, and even though they are gone the trees suggest a skeletal beauty, a beauty that says even when life is stripped bare it retains a measure of dignity. Fall shows us that life is in motion. It doesn't take much imagination to jump from spring to summer, but the cataclysmic explosion of color in the fall is much harder to imagine. Never lose sight of the way life moves in and out of its seasons, far quicker and for much longer periods of time than in the natural world.

    As fall moves quickly towards winter, stop and reflect in the beauty presented in the way the trees move, and the way light shines through the colorful leaves. Take a minute, stand outside and take a deep breath of fall air. Notice the way its crispness assails the senses with something unexplainable. Life and nature show us that sometimes we can get caught up in everything happening and not see the beauty of Creation.

I thought this was appropriate. It's also serving as a way for me to practice my editing skills. 

 

Un Ejercicio en Español

En ocho días solamente, saldré para Chicago. Necesito esta vacación de tarea y exámenes. No puedo esperar ver a Andraya. Primero dos meses de escuela son mucho tiempo ir sin un descanso. Tuve unos días relajarme, pero no fueron bastante. 

Esperamente este descanso en Chicago seré el tiempo necesito. Sin embargo, tendré una examen el día después vuelvo de Chicago. La tarea nunca para. Esto es bueno, porque este año aprendía a manejar mi tiempo mayor que último año. 

Dios me está enseñando cómo tener responsibilidad y me está mostrando su camino para mi vida. Todavía tengo mis problemas, pero sé Dios me está ayudando vencerlos. Y sé podéis ver este blog es en español. Creo que Dios me mostró que debo perseguir español y lo persigo. 

En inglés:

In only 8 days, I leave for Chicago. I need a vacacion from homework and tests. I can't wait to see Andraya. The first two months of school are a lot of time to go without a rest. I had some days to relax, but they were not enough. 

Hopefully, this rest in Chicago will be the time I need. However, I will have a test el day after I return from Chicago. The homework never stops. This is good, because this year I have learned to manage my time better than last year. 

God is teaching me how to have responsibility and is showing me his path for my life. Yet, I have my problems, but I know God is helping me overcome them. And I know you all can see this blog is in Spanish. I believe that God showed me that I should pursue Spanish, and I am pursuing it.

I'm sure there are some grammatical errors in the above post. You can alert me to them if you wish. :)

dream

If it was just a dream

It was the best dream I've had in ages

Getting a Glimpse

"In the crowd I caught a glimpse of your eye. Everything freezes..."-Caught a Glimpse, Blindside

We live our lives with our eyes open, taking in colors and movement, and even when we are asleep our dreams hint at vision, often distorting it. We trust our eyesight, often mistakenly, for almost everything. If we can't see it in front of us, we don't think it exists. And then comes that moment that shatters everything, a glimpse of something. A shadow flickering on the edge of vision, beckoning for you to follow it if only out of curiosity. 

This moment is of utmost importance. In one instant a myriad of possibilities is laid out before you. Which way do you turn? Do you follow the glimpse or turn back to life before? Do you follow your eyes or your soul? 

I live from glimpse to glimpse. Sometimes I don't notice them, but when I do they sustain me. They excite me for life and what the future holds. God gives me these glimpses every once in a while. It used to annoy me that I couldn't see my path laid out in front of me. I like this state of flux now. It means that I don't have to know exactly what my life holds, I just have to trust in God. 

Every glimpse I get I hold onto like a treasure. Sometimes glimpses aren't from God, they might just be a reflection of something you enjoy and people around you. Sometimes they remind you of things God has already told you. But they are always there if you can see them. 

And that's the trick isn't it? Seeing those things in the corner of your eye, the things that don't immediately stand out in life. Seeing the flicker of an opportunity and choosing to take it, succeed or fail. This is the breath of life, taking the chance on something unsure. 

God rarely drops his plan right in front of our face. He puts it in the corner of our eye, and we may have to move from the path we are on or just make a minor correction to follow it. 

God gave me one of the glimpses the other day and is continuing to confirm it in my life. I can't tell you how much I value even a little insight and direction from the Lord. And I can't help but wonder how much I still miss, looking straight ahead at my problems instead of searching at the edge of my vision.

"...and I'm ready to give you my heart."

Old Myspace Blog: Flawed

These are some of my old myspace blogs, I'll be sharing some of my favorites over the next couple months, they deserve to resurface, even if it is only Adam that reads my blog.

Flawed. That's what all of us are, flawed children of God because of our sin. Only Jesus can complete us, and not in this world, only in the next. We need to stop hiding our flaws from ourselves and God. Embrace them. God knows them, and He knows who you are and why you have these flaws. Remember God works all things together for good to those that love him...He even uses our flaws. Know your weaknesses, shore them up, don't be afraid to ask someone to help you. We have accepted Jesus, and he lives within us, so when we are walking in the Spirit we are following Jesus' steps. We are in essence showing Jesus to those who don't know Him. So who are we to say God made a mistake, and that these flaws we can't handle. We can't handle these things we can't gain victory of, through Jesus.

"The Gospel tells us two things: We are both flawed and perfect. We are full of pain and trouble, full of questions, yet we are the face of Jesus--blameless, righteous, and perfect."-Dan Haseltine, Relevant Magazine Jan/Feb 2006

I know one thing for sure, when I get to heaven, I am going to ask God why He gave me this mind that is often overthinking, doubtful, and searching. I know there is some reason, but there are times on Earth I feel like there is no reason for me to be thinking all of these idiotic thoughts. Yet, sometimes out of those thoughts come something worth keeping, something that makes an impact. I just wish it didn't take me so long to find that thought.

"It's not about what's underneath, Bruce, but what you do with it."-Batman Begins

God gave me my mind, but my sin corrupts it into the things He doesn't want me to go to. Could it be God does this so that we humans don't trust in our own power, but need someone else to run to? I am to blame for my flaws, but Jesus bought me with His blood, flaws and all. This must mean God will use our flaws in some way. 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not us." God gives us our salvation in our corrupt bodies and minds, so that we can say its not because of me, but because of God. So realize when you think that you are an idiot or you mess up once more; that's where God wants you, realizing that only He can take the flaws and make something out of it. That's what its really all about, glorifying God, flaws and all.

The House

The water began to slowly trickle down the side of the decrepit house, falling from a broken gutter. It traced its way over rotted siding and into shattered windows. A young man stood on the porch in front of the door. A drop of water fell through the eroded shingles and landed on his head. The cool sensation made him look up and observe the decay of the house. Had it been only a year since he last visited? 

The house was new last time he was here. The paint shone in the noonday sun and yard was perfectly landscaped. However, for the young man that was only a distant memory now faced with the condemned building in front of him. What had happened? The young man continued in disbelief as he circled the premises of the house. 

In the backyard he saw the once beautiful garden reduced to shambles, filled with weeds and empty beer cans. The gazebo had collapsed upon itself and was now home to raccoons. A distant memory flickered through the young man's head as he tried to picture what it was like before. But that thought was gone before he could even register he had it. 

The young man knew there was something important about this house, that it carried something inside of it that meant his life would be what it used to be before last year. He decided he was going to repair the house and recover his previous life. 

Over the next five years the man worked tirelessly and finally restored the house to its former glory. He spent a large amount of money and lost a lot of friends because all he cared about was finding what he had before and returning to it. 

One night the man was sitting in the remodeled house and soaking in the beautiful feeling of restoring something that used to mean so much to him. At that instant, he heard a creaking noise coming from the basement. He got up and headed down the stairs. He reached the basement and heard the noise much louder this time coming from the main support beam of the house. He ran over to it and saw that it was almost chewed in half by some zealous termites. 

Then with one final squeal the beam split in two as the house collapsed upon the man. The very thing he had spent time, money and his life on returning to had been his ultimate demise. At his funeral, there were only a few people that showed up, and they lamented the fact that he had spent so much time on regaining the past when he had such a productive future to look forward to living.