"Defiance"--A story about survival

I watched a movie tonight that has certainly driven me into deep thought. It was a movie about an obscure group of Jews who survived in the forests of Russia against all odds, hiding from the Germans. 1200 of them survived and those who did have grown to hundreds of thousands over the years. Three brothers led this community of Jews through ambushes, harsh winters, trekking through bogs and surviving on root vegetables. They rescued 100's of Jews from a village where the Nazi's were executing them on a daily basis.

It's hard to watch something like that and not ask yourself what do we really have to complain about. Yes, the economy is bad. Times, in our minds, are hard. But most of us have food, a roof over our heads, freedom and luxuries that the rest of the world sees and views us as spoiled Americans. It's a sobering thought to imagine having to fight for our very existence and we are complaining about not having any air conditioning, or broken hard drives, or cars with flat tires.

Sometimes I think God must shake his head and wonder why we can't see all of our blessings. It certainly is a lesson in thankfulness.

Walden Fan