Today, Gina Richardson discusses the movie "A Hidden Life." The clips have been omitted due to copyright laws, so the timestamps for the clips mentioned are below:
(3:30 to 7:51) Franz and Frani are living the life they had dreamed of in a small village in the mountains of Austria, but their idyllic life is interrupted when Franz is drafted and sent to a training camp to fight for the N*zis where he begins to wrestle with the justifications for war and his spiritual beliefs.
(31:38 – 34:58) Franz wrestles with his spiritual beliefs and goes to visit the Bishop to discuss his objections to the war. The Bishop tells him to support the war and Franz finds out later that priests are being threatened if they don’t preach solidarity with war and country.
(59:20 to 1:00:57) Franz questions what God wants from him. After much struggle he follows his conscience decides to enlist.
(1:50:36 – 1:52:24) A lawyer visits Franz in jail to help him get out of fighting, but he would still have to pledge to H*tler, but he keeps to his convictions and refuses
Good stories have the power to move us, challenge us and open us up new awareness of ourselves and God. It is in the subtle art of storytelling that humanity often portrays its deepest longings, its greatest wonder, and its most heart-felt angst. These are all places that God shows up whether we recognize it or not. Today, movies are perhaps one of the most compelling sources of storytelling. Not all their messages are good, but many profoundly explore the human condition, our place in the world, and our relationship to God.
Through this annual series, we will hear from community members about how a movie has stirred them to a deeper connection to Jesus. Since we can find God throughout culture, even in some unlikely places, we try to avoid choosing overtly religious movies with an obviously spiritual theme.
