Scored a faith piece in The Age this morning. Here it is:
Here’s a film that everyone should see.
Of Gods and Men is set in a remote and mountainous region of Algeria in the mid 1990s when a military government ruled the country and terrorists plagued it.
It is based on the true story of eight French monks – middle aged and elderly – in a Cistercian monastery just up the hill from a poor, mainly Muslim village. The narrative tension is provided by the sudden, troubling presence of a band of terrorists in the area. As the monks decide how best to act as pressure from both the terrorists and the government intensifies, their personalities are revealed, as is the depth of their faith and their commitment to the people of their village.
What has stuck with me is not this drama, however, but the fact that the film captured the nature of faithful Christian living: work, love of neighbour, and prayer.
The monks are poor. They get about in moth-eaten cardies and old woolen hats. Their rust-bucket of a car keeps breaking down. But they find satisfaction in the mundane tasks that are required for survival and that make us all human. They grow veggies, bottle honey and sell it at the local market. They mop the floors, chop the wood and wash the dishes (and how refreshing to see men in a movie doing these things!)
They love and serve the people they live alongside, without trying to convert them. Although their poverty means they are constantly running short of medicine, their dispensary is open every day. They provide what little they can – a pair of shoes here, a listening ear there, to ease the lot of the villagers.
They offer non-judgmental companionship. The abbot studies the Koran as well as his own holy texts. The monks attend a local Muslim ceremony, listening respectfully as it unfolds and the prayers are intoned.
Most importantly, through all their hard physical work is woven the business of prayer. Even when a military helicopter is hovering threateningly above their tiny chapel, all but drowning out their songs, they sing, defiantly, gloriously, putting me in mind of the wonderful old hymn, popularized by Eva Cassidy, How can I keep from singing?
Like the life of Jesus portrayed in the gospels, the film, to me, was a vivid picture of what it is to be a Christian. Discovering meaning and beauty in everyday tasks. Loving and serving our neighbours, with no strings attached. Being steeped in prayer, no matter what else is going on around.
In a time when Muslim-Christian conflict dominates the news, I wish every Muslim and Christian in the world could see this exquisite film that captures so beautifully something of what makes truly faithful lives.