The Human Experience Page #6

a mother's love.

Suffering is a journey

deeper into the heart of life.

You can't make

a superficial description

Of the meaning of life

As though it's oriented

around pleasure or beauty

Or, as I said earlier, fun.

It's obviously gonna be full of pathos,

Full of struggle,

And indeed, for many,

full of terrible suffering.

Even in the deepest suffering,

there is significance.

There is a meaningful process

of positive possibilities.

We have to recover

the language of humanity.

We cannot understand suffering

without it.

When we suffer with a friend,

that friendship is deepened.

When we suffer with a nation,

A great love for that nation

is developed.

There's this struggle in life

in every class of people.

It's part of life.

It's what we do with it

that matters.

Facing death every day,

you know,

How do you deal with it?

Because I never had a chance,

you know,

To actually speak to my mom

before she passed away.

What would be some words that

you would leave with your kids

To always remember you?

Hmm.

They should trust in god.

And to be...

to observe the rules of god.

They should walk according to...

When you walk according

to what god said...

God will let you prosper

in all that you do.

That will be the only thing

I will tell them.

I think the suffering

of the earth

Is only understandable

in the context

Of some kind of

a cosmic spiritual conflict.

There was this whole tradition

of lament

That the jewish tradition

still has

But we lost as a culture.

We don't know how to lament.

The bible is not

what's called a theodicy,

An explanation,

a rational explanation of evil.

It's a religion.

The crucifixion

was the culmination

Of the drama of suffering

and the drama of love.

Death and love brought together

at the crux point

Of all of history.

Where there's

your deepest suffering,

There's also always

an opportunity

For great compassion.

You know,

there is peace on earth,

But we have got to work for it.

It's not gonna

just be handed to us.

They got those who suffer

are leading the army to peace.

I didn't even know

leper colonies still existed.

What do I know about africa

and diseases?

Aids, that's the first thing

that comes to my mind,

Not a leper colony.

And here I find myself on my way

to visit a leper colony.

I didn't know what to expect

when I got there.

I had no idea

what I was going to see,

How repulsed I was going to be.

I really didn't know.

We find out that it's kind of

almost looked upon like a curse.

Your family and friends

kind of desert you,

And you're looked at

as an outcast.

And you're actually sent to live

in this colony

Almost like, you know...

Segregated from the rest

of the population.

They obviously don't live

normal lives,

So how do they cope with living?

Why do they bother getting up

in the morning?

Here this man is.

He tells me he's got no feet.

It's difficult

for him to walk.

He's been abandoned

by his family.

His son doesn't look at him

like his father anymore.

All these problems,

and he's explaining to me

That he's happy

because we're here.

I look at...

I look in the mirror.

I have a zit, you know.

In new york, people are gonna

look at you differently now,

Because they're gonna just focus

in on that one imperfection.

I go to this leper colony,

and I realize...

I'm introduced to people

who are missing fingers,

Missing legs,

missing their limbs.

They're slowly decaying,

And they're missing everything

on the outside.

But on the inside,

they have everything.

Whoever's watching

this is gonna see, you know,

One of these guys with no feet,

no hands, you know,

No teeth, you know,

blind in one eye,

And they're gonna go, "aww,"

or they're gonna go, "ooh,"

And they're gonna make

all these sound effects.

They're gonna look at this guy

like he's a monster.

I just hope that they don't miss

what he has to say.

I was born, my left arm

is shorter than my right arm.

No matter what people say,

no matter what people think,

People don't really know unless

you walk in somebody's shoes

What it is that they're feeling.

And then you go there;

I'm shaking people's hands

who are missing fingers,

And I don't even care.

You know why?

Because they're smiling.

They tell me I'm welcome.

You know, the ghanaian people,

They have an idea of what

true relationships are about.

They want to know

what's on the inside.

And it's not what's

on the outside that matters.

I mean, his mind-set

is the person,

The human person.

What is going on inside?

What is this person

really made up of?

It was a human relationship

that was starting to be formed

That was based on reality

That I had never

experienced before.

- You guys.

- He's a heavy guy.

Look at them all.

Here is innocence, purity.

Here is peaceful, love,

faith, family.

Family life here

is very important.

The african people know

how to live life.

We see life

more as a celebration.

We celebrate life.

I wasn't the same skin color

as them.

I wasn't the same culture

as them.

You know, there was

more differences

Than similarities, but the one

thing that united us

Was the humanity.

I was a human being,

And that's all that mattered

to these people.

They accepted me

because I was a human being.

And it's just a simple life.

You don't need the fancy car.

You don't need the big house.

They're happy.

No, over here is real.

By temperament, I think

that we are joyful people.

Despite economic problems,

we are happy people.

Our people value life.

Well, I made it this far

at 20 years old

With the people with...

you know, living life,

Meeting people,

getting to know them.

You know, because

I'm always concerned of

Who dislikes me,

who hates me

Or what people think about me

or how I feel

Or what people feel towards me.

Those who have both parents, it's...

They don't know.

They don't know that,

you know...

They will have, like...

You know, that they'll

just do certain things.

You know, they'll be strong

in certain situations,

And they'll do things.

And it's because they have that

backup love from their parents

That no matter what they do,

They know that they're still

gonna be loved, you know?

As of me,

on the opposite hand,

It's like I have to be cautious

of everything, you know,

Because I don't have

that backup love.

I don't...you know,

I have one end, you know.

And like, my mom...

like, I don't even know my mom.

You know, it's like, right now,

I'm going through a thing,

And it's like,

I don't even know it, you know?

As long as you have

both your parents loving you,

As long as you have

a strong home, household,

It's like

nothing else matters,

Because you already

have the love you want,

The love you need,

And that's

from both your parents.

It's great to have that backup,

to have that backup love,

To fall back on something,

you know,

To have a safe zone

where you can be safe.

And, you know, you can go

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