At a time when people in the UK are becoming increasingly concerned
with our financial woes, Slumdog Millionaire helps get things into
perspective. I watched with gobsmacked astonishment. For me, it
wasn't actually a first time introduction to a deprived shanty town -
I've walked through them in the Philippines, in South Africa and
Brazil, but what was new was the overhead photography giving a sense of
scale. These places are vast beyond comprehension. In the event of
recession persisting to depression in this country, we are likely never
to come close to slumdog's place of origin...
Yet such is life in much of India: clothes are washed in brown
water; children play in open sewers; millions upon millions have no
hope of a better life. What does God think of the unfairness - the
squalor, the incomparable lifestyles in different parts of the globe?
We know that Jesus was attracted to the poor and it can be reasonably
argued that he was born into deplorable conditions. It is said
that the real person can only be found when their wealth and status is
not an issue - the real person underneath the baggage typical of the
west. It happens to be the part in which God sees value. So in his
eyes we are all beautiful - whether "slumdog" or even billionaire. But
who is up for shedding the obscuring baggage to which many have become
so attached?
I believe that that we have opportunities, like never before, to
foster relationships with people in dreadful need. You are reading a
website that can be found anywhere in the world - and may at this
moment be picked up by friends of St Simon's in a difficult part of
South Asia. In Orissa we have developed a friendship with a Christian
community who serve as a helping point to make life better for many.
Hundreds of children attend the school they have named St Simon's; it
is thrilling to hear current reports of how they are getting on through
one of our number who is out there for three months. She is taking
time out of her accountancy career to teach children who are so
materially underprivileged when thought of in the context of our "Wii"
boys and girls back in London.
If you go to see Slumdog Millionaire, you don't get a medal just for
discovering a momentary feeling of challenge. But if you do something
about it - get involved, get networked, get changing your own
attitude or lifestyle in ever such a small way - then you'll be a part
of the solution, and you'll probably discover something of the real you
- the beautiful you, as God sees it.