A Must-see Movie

Earlier today I was lamenting over losing tens of thousands of dollars in my retirement funds and other investments due to the Wall Street melt-down. It was a brief pity party, though, because my outlook changed after I popped in a Netflix movie called "God Grew Tired of Us." Trust me, once you've seen this movie, if you are an American with a roof over your head and a full belly when you go to bed at night, you'll begin to realize just how much more you have than many other people in this world.

The movie is nothing less than moving. The story is fantastic - it is about how the "Lost Boys" of the Sudan survived the long trek by foot across Africa to Ethiopia and later to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya to escape the civil war in 1992 - essentially to prevent getting shot for being Christian. Many watched their parents and siblings get shot. Many also watched half of their fellow refugees die of disease, starvation, and wild animal attacks during their journey.

These are young men who never knew electricity or running water. When someone in their clan got ill, it would take 20 men to carry that person the 75 miles to the nearest medical clinic. Their lives are community oriented, and they entertain themselves by singing, dancing, and laughing. It's touching how much they missed their families when the Lost Boys came to the states, and how their primary goal was to work hard to send money back home to help their community.

One of the interesting parts of the movie is when John Bul Dau, the lead Lost Boy in the movie, genuinely questions the purpose of the Christmas tree. Sure, it's a beautiful thing, he says, but he just doesn't understand the purpose behind it. In Africa, he explains, Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Whoa.

Very powerful stuff. With the economy in the shape it is right now, and all of us being stressed out, tense, and depressed over our finances, I can't think of a better time to watch this movie.

There is also a memoir, God Grew Tired of Us: A Memoir, written by John Bul Dau, who has made amazing strides to help the people in his homeland since coming to America in 2001. He now regularly appears at speaking engagements across the country. To find out more, visit http://www.johndaufoundation.org.