"Maybe a fella ain’t got a soul of his own, but on’y a piece of a big one. Then I’ll be all aroun’ in the dark. I’ll be ever’where — wherever you look. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there" says Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) to his mother as he goes on the run at the end of The Grapes of Wrath (1940). His words speak about the deep connection between oppressed peoples everywhere as powerfully today as they did when Steinbeck wrote them in 1936. As a Christian they remind me of God's "preferential option for the poor" revealed in liberation theology and of Jesus' words in Matthew 25 that whenever we feed the hungry, or welcome the stranger, we are also feeding and welcoming Him. Tom is right that the souls of the poor are connected, but from a Christian perspective not because they are all simply one - but rather that Christ is present in each of them. So that...wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy....Christ is there. . . . . . . . . . . #tomjoad #grapesofwrath #steinbeck #johnsteinbeck #johnsteinbeckquote #henryfonda #darrylzanuck #darrylfzanuck #johnford #soul #christian #christ #jesus #liberationtheology #preferentialoptionforthepoor #filmandtheology #filmandfaith #matthew25 #blm #blacklivesmatter #hungry #oppressed #greatdepression https://www.instagram.com/p/CFjPVjilb6u/?igshid=13vc2acri68js
