I recently saw a wonderful new film called Monsieur Lazhar. You will fall in love with the heavy-hearted Algerian man who ends up teaching sixth graders in Quebec after tragedy strikes the school. Every word he speaks to the children is a “mot juste” (to stick to the vernacular of the story)—pure, helpful, healing, measured, life-giving. He is the teacher every one of us wished we had had, or wished we had been.
To be sure, this is a movie script, not real life. Nevertheless, what strikes me is that the author of the script somehow knows how a righteous man speaks. Perhaps that author is not even a Christian man, and yet he has wonderful instincts for righteous speech and the perfect word at the perfect time. In this he reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ elderly professor in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, who early in the story handles Peter and Susan’s complaint against Lucy with spiritual deftness.
Read Full Article »