Les Mis Devotional

I wrote this late at night for a friend.


(No hate please! this is only interpritation)

We are all sinners, we are bound for much more than 19 years in prison. We have all broken the law- no man is perfect. Grace however can save us, as was exemplified in Jean Valjean's story.

The barricades is often a part of Les Mis that gets brushed over in the allegory, however the barricade has so many different levels of interpretation.  The barricade can be thought of politically and religiously. I'm a huge political nerd, as everybody knows- but for my friend I'm writing my religious interpritation.

Life is the barricade, we are all at a constant spiritual warfare. There is a line where the amis are almost tricked into thinking the enemy will not attack. Likewise- many preachers and teachers make trick us into thinking spiritual warfare is not real. We need to keep being vigilant.

I saw Enjolras' and Marius' relationship as interesting. Enjolras I saw perhaps as somebody saved for a long time, he was always in the fight since he was young. Marius I saw as a new believer- he is gradually getting used to it, and is kind but very distracted. Enjolras never looked down upon Marius, he saw him as an equal.
The barricade was a fight to the death-- in the end however through all the struggles each of them lived in heaven.

Movie Review: The French Revolution

I was scrolling down my tumblr feed, and saw a bunch of clips to this one miniseries called "La Revolution Francise." It looked wonderful- the problem was I did not speak French, however I was delighted to find the whole thing in spoken English on YouTube. It was not a documentary, but a dramatic miniseries.
The first episode was one of my favorites- It starts out with an innocent looking young boy (Maximilien Robespierre-- but we do not know it yet) reading a poem in Latin the the king. The king rudely tells his driver to move on. Young Camille Desmolins (also to become important later on in the miniseries) comforts Maximelien, although it is obvious both boys are offended.
Years later- France is sinking in economic turmoil.  A disaster so bad it makes our current economy look good. King Louis and the other nobles are aware, but somewhat blinded. They form a national convention- somewhat like a congress. Three classes are represented- the Nobles, the Clergy and the Third Estate. The Third Estate is the biggest- but the Nobles and Clergy always ganged up on them. Camille Desmolins looses election to the convention, but Maximilien Robespierre wins.
Robespierre and the others are sitting in the convention talking about the economy-- Camille watching from the galleries. At this point Camille and Robespierre are great friends. The following day the Third Estate is locked out of their meeting room on purpose and forced to meet in a tennis court. The Third Estate refuses to disband, the king though may have them all put to death according to rumors. Robespierre and the others are in the national assembly room, Camille escapes to warn France.
Camille stands on a table in a city square and gives an inspiring speech about liberty. To quote from part of his speech; "Yes, i'am the one speaking up- for liberty! You won't take me alive. I will die before I see France enslaved!"  After this speech the Parisians storm the Bastille in order to get guns and ammunition needed.
I will try to refrain from saying much for for the sake of spoilers, this whole series stretches to the end of the French Revolution.
Robespierre makes an 180 degrees  character change. He seemed like two totally opposite people from the beginning to the ending of this movie. Saint Just, Camille, Danton and the others were very well portrayed. Jane Seymour even made an appearance as Marie Autoinette! Each of these characters are very well-portrayed, and the movie itself was pretty historically accurate but at the same time had enough drama and action to keep the viewer interested.