The Mobile Church was on again and about 20 of us sat together on large colorful cushions, (toshak) that lined the room. The young woman that led us introduced us to a short film, made in Australia called, The Lost Thing (based on a book by Shaun Tan).
It's a 15 minute animation about a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature while out collecting bottle-tops at a beach. Having guessed that it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but the problem is met with indifference by everyone else, who barely notice it’s presence. Each is unhelpful in their own way; strangers, friends, parents are all unwilling to entertain this uninvited interruption to day-to-day life. In spite of his better judgement, the boy feels sorry for this hapless creature, and attempts to find out where it belongs.
There are so many lessons that could be drawn from the film, but the one that stood out to me was the moment when the boy decided to be in relationship with the creature and the hope that decision birthed in them both.
I have been in a number of places and circumstances where hope has been in short supply, Afghanistan is the latest of them. And in all these places people (including me) have designed wonderful projects to mitigate disaster, to build capacity, to rehabilitate water supplies, to build latrines, to teach health practices, to ensure food security and revitalise economies. And all these things are wonderful.
But, the moment that changes a person: that makes us decide to fight, to build, to learn, to change, is that moment when another person touches us, the moment when another person shows us we are not alone, the moment when when we decide that it is worth hoping - that it is worth forming a relationship.
The moment that people decide that the interruptions to the day-to-day are probably God's moments of hope and grace - foundation stones of relationship - that's the moment that makes the theoretical development model transformational.
