Oct 2017 The Road to Daybreak A Spiritual Journey by Henri J M Nouwen

(Continue from) Filmmaking for Peace   I spent the whole day with Bart Gavigan and Patricia Beall. They first came to see me in Cambridge in May 1985, while they were preparing a film about George Zabelka, the Air Force chaplain turned pacifist. Although we had met for only a few hours, we had experienced a deep bond among us and a sense that Jesus had brought us together to support each other in our spiritual journeys. Seldom have I felt so strongly that friendship is a gift of God, not the result of long hours of conversation, shared activities, and deep knowledge of each other's lives. It was simply there - suddenly, directly, unprepared-for. We stayed in touch by letter, and when we saw each other again last night it felt as if we had known each other for a long time and were part of a God-given union. During the morning we spoke about our lives, not so much to get to know each other as to be witnesses to each other of the marvellous ways in which God has touched our hearts. After celebrating the Eucharist together in the parish church and having a meal in a London restaurant, we went to the Soho district, where Brat had rented a studio to cut The Reluctant Prophet, the film about George Zabelka that is now in its final stage of editing. It was quite an experience for me. We walked through the crowded district full of market stalls, porno shops, and shouting people. In the middle of all this craziness, we found Bart's little cutting room. Then we sat watching the beginning of a gripping documentary about the priest who after having blessed those who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, was converted to a committed peacemaker. It struck me that we were sitting in a dark upstairs studio watching a film about peacemaking while voices of lust and violence surrounded us on all sides. Bart is a very unusual filmmaker. When he discovered that in most filmmaking the communication of ideas and ideals is completely subservient to the making of profits, he joined a Christian community to test his priorities. Now, many years later, he is ready to make films not for money, but to follow Jesus' way. In this lustful and violent world he has to risk his money and reputation to do what he feels called to do, but he is determined to do what is just and right, and he trusts that the rest will be given to him. For Bart, filmmaking is ministry. I never dreamed that I would meet within a few days a filmmaker so different from the one I met in Los Angeles. What Jack is doing in the splendid offices of Johnny Carson Productions and what Bart is doing in his upstairs cutting room in Soho is the same work of filmmaking. But they reveal two completely different worlds. I keep being struck by the importance of making choices.

- To Be Continued - © Copyright Shalom 2017. All rights reserved.