Rage and repentance in the interpreter's booth with Gideon Strauss

Complex truth, fragile reconciliation: Learning wonder, heartbreak and hope in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Phenomenological. Anecdotal. Melodramatic. Warning:

The Interpreter (Nicole Kidman)

Athlone

Nelspruit Ω

Matisyahu, JerusalemJerusalem [Chorus] Jerusalem, if I forget you, fire not gonna come from me tongue. Jerusalem, if I forget you, let my right hand forget what its supposed to do. In the ancient days, we will return with no delay Picking up the bounty and the spoils on our way Weve been traveling from state to state And them dont understand what they say 3,000 years with no place to be And they want me to give up my milk and honey Dont you see, its not about the land or the sea Not the country but the dwelling of his majesty [chorus] Rebuild the temple and the crown of glory Years gone by, about sixty Burned in the oven in this century And the gas tried to choke, but it couldnt choke me I will not lie down, I will not fall asleep and im come overseas, yes theyre trying to be free Erase the demons out of our memory Change your name and your identity Afraid of the truth and our dark history Why is everybody always chasing we Cut off the roots of your family tree Don't you know that's not the way to be [chorus] Caught up in these ways, and the worlds gone craze Dont you know its just a phase Case of the Simon says If I forget the truth then my words wont penetrate Babylon burning in the place, cant see through the haze Chop down all of them dirty ways, Thats the price that you pay for selling lies to the youth No way, not ok, oh no way, not ok, ey Aint no one gonna break my stride Aint no one gonna pull me down Oh no, I got to keep on moving Stay alive [chorus]

Psalm 137 liturgy by Roy Berkenbosch (red: all) Hear the sorrowful word of the Lord … How can we sing the Lords song in a strange Land By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the weeping willows we hung our instruments of joy How can we sing the Lords song in a strange Land? Our captors asked us to sing songs of home, How can we sing the Lords song in a strange Land? Our oppressors demanded songs of joy; How can we sing the Lords song in a strange Land? They said "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" But How can we sing the Lords song in a strange Land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, May my right hand forget its skill. If I lose hope and make peace with exile May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth. If I forget the Holy Center of Wonder and Heartbreak and Hope There will be no song to sing in a strange land Remember, O LORD, what happened the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," our enemies cried, tear it down to its foundations!" O Daughter of Babylon, all Enemies of Shalom are doomed to destruction, a reward awaits the one who overturns your evil, who exacts justice for your cruelty, who denies a future to your cause. How can we sing the Lords song in a strange Land?

Psalm 137:9 A reward awaits the one who … denies a future to your cause. Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!

We are a naïve and sentimental people if we equate love with mere social grace and think that niceness will successfully confront the massive and intransigent evils of our day, individual and corporate. Redemption personal, social, and cosmiccomes only through suffering. The paradox is that while we should not wish pain on anyone, it seems to be a perfectly loving and realistic act to pray for it. Mark Galli

Psalm 88 (The Message) ΩΩ 1-9 God, youre my last chance of the day. I spend the night on my knees before you. Put me on your salvation agenda; take notes on the trouble Im in. Ive had my fill of trouble; Im camped on the edge of hell. Im written off as a lost cause, one more statistic, a hopeless case. Abandoned as already dead, one more body in a stack of corpses, And not so much as a gravestone Im a black hole in oblivion. Youve dropped me into a bottomless pit, sunk me in a pitch-black abyss. Im battered senseless by your rage, relentlessly pounded by your waves of anger. You turned my friends against me, made me horrible to them. Im caught in a maze and cant find my way out, blinded by tears of pain and frustration I call to you, GOD; all day I call. I wring my hands, I plead for help. Are the dead a live audience for your miracles? Do ghosts ever join the choirs that praise you? Does your love make any difference in a graveyard? Is your faithful presence noticed in the corridors of hell? Are your marvelous wonders ever seen in the dark, your righteous ways noticed in the Land of No Memory? Im standing my ground, GOD, shouting for help, at my prayers every morning, on my knees each daybreak. Why, GOD, do you turn a deaf ear? Why do you make yourself scarce? For as long as I remember Ive been hurting; Ive taken the worst you can hand out, and Ive had it. Your wildfire anger has blazed through my life; Im bleeding, black-and-blue. Youve attacked me fiercely from every side, raining down blows till Im nearly dead. You made lover and neighbor alike dump me; the only friend I have left is Darkness.

Psalm 51 (ESV) A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.