The Last Samurai

Tonight I had a good time watching The Last Samurai in HBO. The first time I watched it was in a cinema. I like the plot, the script, the scenery and the casts' overall performance (not to mention Koyoki with her beauty and great acting skill......ok ok, I admit, she is just pretty). The film potrays courage, honor and dignity through the lives of the ancient warriors called Samurai. I'm sure most of us were touched by this movie in some way or another.

The part that impressed me the most was the last scene, when Tom Cruise's character walked into the emperor's official room while he was about to sign a treaty with the Americans. Tom presented the sword owned by Katsumoto (the Samurai tribal leader who died in the last battle) to the emperor. While holding the sword, the emperor was suddenly enlightened. In the midst of moving Japan towards modernisation, he had overlooked and comprimised the tradisional values that had built Japan in the first place. As old fashion as they might seem, it was these values which gives Japan and her people an identity. "We must not forget who we are!", cried the emperor.

Wow!!! That was profound. It reminds me of my identity in Christ, a child of God, which is so easily set aside or overlooked sometimes. How much do I really tresure this identity? How many times have I let 'logics', 'majority' and self-centeredness propels me to conformity to the world? This identity comes with a price paid on the cross. It is for me to receive (or rather to restore) by grace, and only me to lose it.

Here comes the best part. The emperor, after declining the treaty, asked Tom how Katsumoto died. Tom replied,"Let me tell you how he LIVED."

The identity is not for me to keep, but to live out. I had crazy imaginations of dying heroically, like saving a boy from a car crash??!!? or maybe being stoned to death like Stephen the first martyr? People may be fascinated by how a person died in dignity and sacrifice for others, but let us not forget that God is more interested in how we live. In fact, He will judge us by our living, not our death. We must NOT ONLY see Jesus being hung on the cross, but also acknowledge the fact that He lived 33 years of servanthood and sinless life on earth as a perfect example for us. And He still live today, interceding for us to live a life that will eventually reflect the Father's glory.