The First Grader  (2010 British)- Unredeemed History

The First Grader, directed by Justin Chadwick, is based on the true story of Kimani Maruge, a Kenyan man who enrolled in elementary education at the age of 84 after the Kenyan government announced universal and free elementary education in 2003.

Questions about the film:
– Why is it important to know that the film is based on a true historical experience?
– How is Kimani Maruge trapped by his past, and how does it affect his present behaviour?
– What are the qualities he needed to transform his past?
– How does he use his pain to help others trapped in a debilitating social world?
– What in the film touched you, and why? What does it say about your own spiritual path at this time?
– The critic from the London Evening Standard says that the film “ seems to go on for ever and manipulates its audience in the most naive of ways” while the critic for 77 -Square says “it is inspiring and full of real feelings at times.” What is your own critical response and why do you hold such a view?

Questions for Prayer and Reflection:
– What do you make of the quotation, “ What seems to you to be evil is the mercy of God”?
– What are the risks God takes with us in allowing us to be exposed to evil?
– In your opinion why does God take such risks?
– What happens when you bring this question to prayer?
– Someone once said, “God does not give us answers, God gives us experiences.” What is our real experience of God as we live through hard times?
– How does Christ live the unredeemed history of his generation?
– What does he need to live that way?
– What do we need to live in a similar manner?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This reflection is taken from www.fgitd.ca – a website which was developed to deal with current films and with further insights into the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. 

Finding God In the Dark: Taking the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius to the Movies (Novalis) by Canadian Jesuits, John Pungente and Monty Williams, answered a need for those looking to have access to their spiritual life but who did not have access to spiritual direction.  The web site  – www.fgitd.ca – continues this work. Please go to the web site for further material on the theme of the reflection.

The 2013 series –  Redeeming the Time – available on the web-site  www.fgitd.ca  allows users to explore the ways in which God uses our responses to our past, how we live today, and how we anticipate what is coming, to develop a deeper spiritual intimacy with God.   Earlier series – beginning in 2005 – are archived on the site. Check it out . . it could change your life.