Zephaniah 3:17 - The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
The Promise is a story about the genocide of the Armenian people. It was directed by Terry George, a Belfast writer, who has also directed other films about the tragedy in his homeland through his 1993 firm, 'In the name of the Father', 1997's 'The Boxer', through his HBO film, 'A bright shining lie', and 2004's film, 'Hotel Rwanda' and even George's 2007 film, 'Reservation Road' had a larger point of societal ills animating at its core. With 'The Promise' Terry George co-wrote this film with Robert Swicord treats the Armenian genocide of the early part of the 20th century, an action was undertaken by the soon-to-be-displaced Ottoman Empire, as a side exercise in its alliance with Germany as World War I was about to break out. Well over a million souls were killed in this action, which the contemporary Turkish government still declines to acknowledge.
Just imagine, if you will, you came from a country where you saw your entire family murdered with you alone as the lone survivor? You lost your heritage, your past warm memories when those memories are replaced with bloodshed and mayhem. Through God's good graces you come to America where you are given a second chance at life. You know what you need is to find people who are willing to listen to your story. You need a friend willing to walk with you on this road filled with horrible flashbacks and nightmares. You need, more than anything, a friend who will also be a trusted listener who will not judge you or say to you 'why don't you just get over it'?
I was particularly impacted by the images of this film because it reminded me of Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, the place I grew up in which was home to the largest group of Jewish Holocaust survivors in Minneapolis. I remember listening to these survivors talk about the good living they had in Germany before the Third Reich took control of their land and they were ostracized because they were 'Jew'. When these survivors came to America, they brought with them a willingness to make a new life for themselves, but they also brought with them the long ago memories of trauma locked away in the inner vault of their mind.
The problem with locking those memories away is eventually they will come out in insidious ways from interruptions in their REM sleep, to excessive alcohol consumption to attempt to medicate the deeper emotional pain from those long-buried memories. Many chemical dependency treatment programs will say that many entering their programs have used alcohol to numb the pain of tragedy in their lives.
God understands the pain of trauma and loss when He sent his son Jesus to take the blows on the cross so that we all can come and experience true forgiveness and healing of our own pain. Jesus not only died for you, but he rose from the dead and desires to walk with you every painful step on your journey of loss.
For anyone experiencing the loss and deep wrenching pain of loss, there is hope for you. Through a 13 week group called 'GriefShare', you can find hope and healing from your losses. No matter where you live in this country chances are likely there is a GriefShare group near you. You can find your group by going to this link, www.griefshare.org.
I was particularly impacted by the images of this film because it reminded me of Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, the place I grew up in which was home to the largest group of Jewish Holocaust survivors in Minneapolis. I remember listening to these survivors talk about the good living they had in Germany before the Third Reich took control of their land and they were ostracized because they were 'Jew'. When these survivors came to America, they brought with them a willingness to make a new life for themselves, but they also brought with them the long ago memories of trauma locked away in the inner vault of their mind.
The problem with locking those memories away is eventually they will come out in insidious ways from interruptions in their REM sleep, to excessive alcohol consumption to attempt to medicate the deeper emotional pain from those long-buried memories. Many chemical dependency treatment programs will say that many entering their programs have used alcohol to numb the pain of tragedy in their lives.
God understands the pain of trauma and loss when He sent his son Jesus to take the blows on the cross so that we all can come and experience true forgiveness and healing of our own pain. Jesus not only died for you, but he rose from the dead and desires to walk with you every painful step on your journey of loss.
For anyone experiencing the loss and deep wrenching pain of loss, there is hope for you. Through a 13 week group called 'GriefShare', you can find hope and healing from your losses. No matter where you live in this country chances are likely there is a GriefShare group near you. You can find your group by going to this link, www.griefshare.org.
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