Charlie Wilson's War

I watched Charlie Wilson's War this weekend. The more I watch Philip Seymour Hoffman, the more I think he is a genius. In this movie, he plays the best role for him an arrogant, angry, frustrated man trying to create great change in the world. The whole premise of the movie is wrapped up in a parable Hoffman tells to Tom Hanks character, Charlie Wilson. In a village in Japan there is a boy who while walking in the forest is attacked by a tiger. He barely lives and loses use of his legs. All of the towns people lament the tragedy and say the boy's life is over. The village Zen master simply replies, "We'll see." A few years later a war breaks out and all the men are recruited for the army. All the people begin to rejoice at this turn of event. Now the man will not have to go off to war. What a blessing, say all the people. The Zen master replies, "we'll see." The parable continues with tribulations and apparent blessings for a few more turns, each time the response is "we'll see."

This parable plays well into the point of the movie. Just because the effort to arm the Afghanistan's seems to have worked against the Soviets, we'll see on the success. I think this is a good word for Christians and the battles we march into. Sometimes, it seems the victories we experience lead to another challenge, and then without longterm eyes we think that challenge is the total downfall, but we'll see how that turns out. Speaking on legacy this Sunday, we need to remember the long term effect of each of our decisions.