The weekend.

Well, made it back from Oceanside. Unfortunately, the trip was too short. It was quite nice to be away even just for a little bit. Thanks to our gracious hosts, the Lacanientas, we really had a wonderful time with them. I’m looking forward to doing it again, sometime soon.

I finally saw “Amazing Grace”. What an inspirational movie. I cried. I just couldn’t imagine fighting for something you feel so passionately about for 20+ years, and almost not seeing it come to fruition. But William Wilberforce never gave up the fight to abolish the slave trade, and he was able to see it all happen before his death. I’m surprised that William Wilberforce is not more well-known, and well-recognized than he is. This man fought hard to abolish the slave trade in England in the late 1700’s-early 1800’s. He was also a faithful servant of Christ, and his spiritual revival in his mid-20s was pretty much the catalyst to his fight to abolish the slave trade. And he did all this with failing health (he had colitis, which he eventually died from). Ioan Gruffudd played him brilliantly. I felt like I was watching Horatio Hornblower all over again! haha They could’ve developed the story more, especially his relationship with John Newton, former slave-trader and writer of the hymn Amazing Grace (hence, the title of the movie). Bernard Cumberbatch was fantastic as William Pitt the younger, the PM of Britain at the time and Wilber’s best friend. He was supportive of Wilber’s fight ’til the very end.

This is a must-see.

My favourite lines in the movie:

John Newton (to Wilberforce): “I once was blind, but now I see. Did I write that?”
Wilberforce: “Yes, you did.”
John Newton: “At last it’s true.”
John Newton: “I’m a great sinner but Christ is a great Saviour”

Other DVD recommendation: A&E’s Hornblower series (starring Ioan Gruffudd)