Today, we continued our study of God Grew Tired of Us and culture. Students can watch it here.
In the second half of the movie, we see how strongly values can shape the human experience. It is an example of how culture constructs reality for its members. We see this in the contrast between the cultural values of communal society versus individualistic society. We see the Lost Boys in the United States have food, shelter, jobs and schooling but they feel lonely. They miss their culture because they are so used to communal culture. They miss being together with their friends and family, rather than living nearly alone in an apartment. This is an important revelation that our culture sometimes de-emphasizes to a fault; we need other people. Humans are social and communal beings. Do you see how this individualist way of living and thinking shapes our lives? How can we work to change that and satisfy our biological nature for connecting with other people?
Finally, I like watching the movie with community service in mind. We have so much to be thankful for in our culture. We live in a culture of abundance. We must be mindful of our blessings and mindful of those who have less than us. One way to create this mindfulness is through community service. By finding ways to serve others we become grateful for what we have rather than ignoring those who need help and taking for granted all of our bounty. Perhaps you know someone who is able and willing to help them find a job or donate to their cause - here is a list of ways to help. Also, like John Bul Dau said,
"I believe as a person, we all have different talents and all those talents are serving the community...I have a role to play. I can help others."This is true for all of us. We all have talents that we can use to serve others. That service will give us meaning and contentedness in life. When you get depressed or stressed or disillusioned, remind yourself that you can serve others and find a way to do that.
Other resources from the movie:
Here is the foundation created by John Bul Dau from the movie:
http://www.johndaufoundation.org/
Where are they now?
https://godgrewtiredofusmovie.wordpress.com/where-are-they-now/
Sudan Update - March 2016
Sudan broke apart into two nations; Sudan and South Sudan. South Sudan is where the Lost Boys in the movie returned to. Unfortunately, South Sudan faces a new civil war within itself. Here is a March 8, 2016 report from NPR:
http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/03/08/469502071/nothing-is-going-right-in-the-worlds-newest-nation
