the pursuit of happyness

February 6, 2007

i watched the movie, the pursuit of happyness, a few weeks ago. jer had mentioned to me that it looked really good. when i watched the trailer for the first time, i knew i wanted to watch it. this movie was based on a true story?and i must say i absolutely love watching true stories! i find it fascinating how people overcome struggles, difficulties and hardships in life. i like seeing what motivates them, what drives them to affect change. it's truly a wonder how God created and placed in us so much capacity and ability.

this movie was inspired by the life story of chris gardner. chris was a guy trying to make ends meet for his family. his situation was very bleak. as the movie progressed, my heart broke more and more. i couldn't believe all the struggles he had to go through. i couldn't believe how desperate his situation was. i couldn't believe how much his story mirrored what i knew to be factually true of families living in toronto. i asked God, is this really what people have to go through to make ends meet? is this how desperate people become in order to simply live?

while i knew that families lived like the way chris did, i never "saw it." i never felt it deep down, not like this. watching it on the big screen did something to me. it tore my insides. how was justice being met? how was this fair?

i'm fortunate. i have a full-time job that pays more than minimum wage. i get to work 40 hours a week. not everyone has these types of opportunities. there are many people who try so desperately to find work, but they simply aren't able to get it. so often we pigeonhole the homeless with stereotypes like "oh they're just lazy" or "oh they don't try hard enough" when the issue is that they don't have enough hours or their jobs aren't paying enough. some of the working poor do work 40 hours a week, but their wage is so low they aren't able to make end meets.

chris' story is about the working poor: people who do their best to make ends meet but don't receive enough compensation for it to happen. the movie only showed short snippets of the frustrations, the hardships, the struggles he had to endure. i can't imagine what it must be like for people to have to face these types of things on a day to day basis. this is not right. something must be done.

as i learn more and more about the economic and social conditions in toronto and in the world, it breaks my heart that Christians aren't more involved. it breaks my heart that we don't feel or care to feel the injustice that goes in. where is the church in this? it seems that the church typically advocates for issues that are noticeably against them, issues like what marriage is. but when it comes to issues like minimum wage or affordable housing, we don't say a word and we don't care.

may God have mercy on us all. may He instill in us the same heart that beats in Him. one that fights for the oppressed, that stands for justice, that speaks on behalf of those who have no voice, that loves unconditionally.