Many of the films were really impactful and I'd encourage you to check out the link above where all of the 24 short films are on the website. There was also a live broadcast from Kigali round the world - witnessing to the power of forgiveness in healing wounds of the Genocide.
However, I left the evening a bit dissatisfied. Many of the films highlighted real issues in all areas of the world such as Lebanon, Iraq, Mozambique, South Africa...and the list goes on. The stories were told on a very personal level, giving a view that goes beyond the news headlines to the humanity behind. Prejudice, anger, conflict, climate change were all highlighted along with psychologist's explanation of the 'them and us' mentality which leads to created borders and generation-old conflicts. But the solutions offered to cure the world's problems were love and forgiveness.
Now i'm not in anyway against love or forgiveness. But especially sitting in that park in Kigali amongst a people who are living daily with the unimaginable pain of not only the Genocide but the decades of violence that went before, it seemed a much too simplistic solution.
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers"(1 John 3v16)
According to God, the definition of love is Him sending His Son to die on the cross for all the world's sins, so that we can be forgiven. To me, love and forgiveness without the power of the cross seems weak. God offers us eternal love & eternal forgiveness which then empowers us to truly love and forgive our brothers and sisters.
So, I vote for another Pangea Day where a more powerful solution is offered.
p.s. No lions seen last weekend, car problems and collapsed bridge thwarted us...next time!
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