Thought for the week

THE finale of the BBC’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Misérables’ was screened last week. It was, in my opinion, a tremendous piece of television drama, but not least because of the message that it depicted.

The story is all about grace, forgiveness, love and hope and yet the title suggests something quite to the contrary. The protagonist, a thief who is shown love and grace and given an opportunity to turn his life around, does just that and devotes his life to saving someone else’s. The grace that is shown is contrasted sharply with the policeman’s determination to hunt the man, to follow the law and to make him pay for his past mistake.

I believe the thief’s attitude is so refreshing and so different from the society in which we live today. A society that so often mirrors the chief of police’s response, a society hell-bent on wreaking revenge, ensuring people get what they deserve, treating them as commodities.

I hear in the news, stories of social media giants who seem more interested in the success and popularity of their online platforms than the well-being of their users, of people seeking vengeance for past hurt, of politicians constantly accusing, belittling and sometimes abusing their positions of power, and incredibly, a football club demanding its money for a player who has just been tragically lost at sea.

The thief in ‘Les Miserables’ shows us a picture of the grace first demonstrated by Jesus Christ. He died an innocent man, in the place of all people, taking on their punishment and giving them the chance to live life without condemnation. It’s more than a great story however; it’s a counter-cultural truth that could transform our society.