just like Wilberforce

When Amazing Grace (the movie) was released I was somewhat interested and I made a mental note that it would probably be enjoyable, but as with all movies that are released now-a-days, I never got around to watch it. So when my prof assigned the class to watch Amazing Grace, I had opportunity do just that.

We were out of sweet tea so I pressed play, went back to the kitchen filled up a saucepan, put a tea bag in it and turned on the eye. I put the perfect amount of sugar into the container and dissolved it in some hot water. As with everything, I was multi tasking to be a better steward of those confining 24 hour time slots.

The movie started off a little slow and a little difficult to understand. But as soon as I turned my internal accent comprehension knob to '18th Century English' things were all good.

Twelve minutes later I'm wrapped in my fleece blanket, discussion questions at my side with a big blue cup of sweet tea in hand.

By the time Wilberforce is being shown the belly of a slave ship I'm in a vacuum and there is only me and the movie. I'm engrossed. Throughout the rest of the movie I'm taking in by the enormity of Wilberforce's goal.

His goal was not to pass a bill, but to force others to reckon with the value of human life. People are created equal, Wilberforce said. Genesis says we are the cherry on top of God's Creation sundae. Our Constitution says it doesn't matter where we're from, the girth of our bank roll, the amount degrees we have framed, how well we can carry a tune or a football, or how many friends we have. Jesus says it doesn't even matter which god we bow before, because people are of utmost importance; even worth dying for.

I recently read that we forget God when we forget the people God cares about, and we remember God when we bless those God cares about. Who does God care about? The orphan, the widow, the naked, the hungry, the lost, the imprisoned, the slave, the broken-hearted, the unhealthy, the the the the...

God cares about everyone, but I think God has a soft spot for those people who received an extra cup of crap in their life's recipe. So I'm hoping to have that same soft spot so I can see need and pounce upon it. Just like Wilberforce did.