Bad and the Good

John and I recently watched the movie "The boy in the striped pajamas." We'd heard from lots of people how great yet sad of a movie it was. It is a story of a young german boy who resides close to a concentration camp and befriends a Jewish boy who is trapped on the other side of the fence.


I don't know if I've ever watched a movie about the Holocaust without being moved and saddened by the torture some people had to experience. This movie in particular was difficult to watch as it in large part portrayed that period in time from the eyes of young kids. Children are naturally so naive and innocent and that provided such a stark contrast compared to the adult world and ugliness they really lived within.



Our book club this month is reading The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. Again an account of a family during the holocaust. Only this time it is a family of watchmakers in Holland who made it their personal work to save and hide Jewish people. It's a true story and unlike the movie above it left me feeling a little bit of hope. They risked their lives to help 100's of people and in the end they were found out and sent to a camp themselves. Corrie Ten Boom was the only family member who survived the camp, and she spent the rest of her life speaking to others about her experience and all that she learned during that time.

It is an incredible journey in which she comes to accept God's hand in all things, and helps those around her feel comfort even in misery. The book is full of lots of suffering and lots of ugliness that could only come from such an ugly time. But it is also full of goodness.

Selflessness.

Courage.

Faith.

Her message was simple.

"When we are feeling poorest- when we've lost a friend, when a dream has failed, when we seem to have nothing left in the world to make life beautiful- that's when God says, You're Richer then you think."- Corrie Ten Boom