Sound of Freedom, Act of Courage

I went to see Sound of Freedom this weekend. It is a powerful movie, a high-quality production that is well written and acted. The fact that this film is based on actual events in the unspeakable world of child sex trafficking makes the story even more gripping. Actor Jim Caviezel plays real-life Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard with an earnest intensity that does justice to the harrowing realities portrayed in the film.

The reviews of Sound of Freedom almost always refer to it as a "faith-based" movie. This is a laughable description, and it demonstrates the lengths that media will travel to squelch any public deviation from their carefully crafted left-wing narrative. In watching the movie, I couldn't identify Ballard's religion, aside from the fact that he believes in--gasp!--God. The real-life characters portrayed do infrequently mention in conversation--gasp!--God. If this qualifies it as "faith-based," there are innumerable movies that need to be recategorized.

The impression I got from Ballard's story is not so much faith as personal values and investment. Ballard's assignment was capturing perpetrators of child sex trafficking. As he became more aware of the details involved in the children's horrific fate, the plight of sex trafficked children consumed him on a personal level.

In real life, as depicted in the film, Ballard has several children; the reality of sex-slave children was too close to home, and he became personally committed to saving them. Having worked in the healthcare industry, I know that this happens on occasion to doctors and nurses. One patient's case speaks to them on a deeply personal level, and they become immersed in that patient's journey. We are all human, and we each have our soul's touchpoints. Child sex trafficking became such a cause for Tim Ballard. He gave up his job and government pension to rescue enslaved children. 

Actor Jim Caviezel has endured stereotyping and persecution for his values and beliefs, beginning two decades ago with his portrayal of Jesus in The Passion of the Christ up to and including his outspokenness about therapeutics in the fight against Covid-19. Caviezel is an excellent actor and a brave man who has paid a high price for his honesty and integrity. I'll support any movie he appears in; he never films junk.

Sound of Freedom is a movie that holds you. Although the viewers know the outcome, the suspense in the theatre is palpable. I could sense everyone (including myself) leaning forward during the rescue scenes. This movie depicts real children in unthinkably evil circumstances. It is an important film with a critically urgent message. I hope millions more Americans will see it.

From Sound of Freedom

Life Taking Over

I've been offline for a while due to a number of reasons. Coming home from Europe, one expects a healthy dose of jet lag. I didn't expect a walloping case of Covid-19 to hitchhike along with the jet lag, but that came home with me, too.

I was body-slammed for the first week of July with a diverse smorgasbord of revolving symptoms that astounded me. It took three and a half years, but when Covid finally nailed me, it seemed determined to show off all its stuff. Prominent among Covid's many manifestations were the two-to-three-hour naps I felt compelled to take every day. When I was able to return to the office after a week of working at home, the lingering fatigue accompanying me had me longing to close my eyes and put my head down on my desk each afternoon, just like a sleepy kindergarten pupil. Had I done that, I would've been out cold.

Next in July came two sets of visiting relatives, their dates partially overlapping. This was wonderful fun for me, and I enjoyed all the company immensely. However, such lively circumstances do not leave much time for written composition (especially when they include all four grandchildren at your home).

Now I find myself engulfed by the home improvement phase of summer. There are installers, painters, and repair technicians all scheduled at my house in the past few weeks and into August. Oh well, if I want to retire in the foreseeable future--and I do--I'd better get such loose ends dealt with now.

I call times like the unfolding month "life taking over." There's too much to deal with in too little time. We all find ourselves in this unpredictable boat at times, being swept along by the domineering currents of multiple events, commitments, and situations. I like to say that if we come out on the other side with enough energy to complain, it couldn't have been that bad. Depending on whether or not life decides to back up off me, I hope to check in again sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, may all your life takeovers be happy ones.

American Soul

Returning Home

After spending two weeks in five countries of central Europe, an American may very well notice some startling differences in daily life. Below are just a few of my own observations.

1.    The streets are clean. There is no trash or garbage in the gutters, on the sidewalks, or in the roadways. Street sweepers are out early; there are even sidewalk-sized sweepers that leave the walkways damp in the cool of the morning and debris-free for the day.

2.    There are almost no homeless people visible.  There are a few indigent individuals here and there who sit quietly with a cup or a cap in front of them, awaiting donations. I saw no tent cities, no one being harassed, no drug addicts shooting up, no one copulating or defecating on the streets as happens so often in major US cities.

3.    Monuments and memorials are everywhere, and they are honored.  In response to a question in our group, one of our tour guides answered that memorials are patrolled by police at night and that the penalties for desecrating monuments vary from stiff monetary fines to jail time. That sounded good and right to me.

4.    Police are visible and respected.  It was easy to feel safe, with police cars and officers a standard presence on the busy streets.

5.    There are huge throngs of people crowding together, and no one seems fearful of any harm coming to them.  Even with the onset of the summer holiday season, the endless hordes of people at every point of interest tended towards the overwhelming. Yet there was no pushing, shoving, arguing, name calling, or any other negative behavior that I could identify throughout my visit. Coming from our currently contentious American environment, that was impressive.

Today is July 4, the celebration of our national Independence Day. In Europe, I saw American flags sharing space with the rainbow flag on several US embassies. I took no pictures of, and no "pride" in, that reality. Our flag should always be above any prevailing political currents.

I'm hopeful, though, that Americans are beginning to awaken from our "woke" slumber. One returns from traveling abroad with a fresh perspective on our homeland. Our history is newer than Europe's, but we have shown strength, toughness, and resolve throughout many social and political storms long before today's controversies. As my dad used to say, "Americans never give up." Happy birthday, USA. It's good to be home.