This evening I caught the end of a movie called, “The Gathering”. From what I could gather, the movie which stars Christina Ricci playing the role of a young woman who gets hit by a car and loses her memory remembering only her name and the country of her birth, is trying to stop two terrible events from happening.
The woman driving the car who hit Christina Ricci feels bad that this young woman is alone with no one to care for her so she invites her to stay with her family until she recovers. During this time some interesting things are taking place. Two people are killed accidental from falling into a deep hole. This hole (I believe) is actually a buried Church and the room the two people fell into is one that has a scaled replica of the Crucification and all around the cross is a stone mural of various onlookers.
It’s Creepy!
During the excavation of this ancient Church, a priest makes a copy of the faces depicted in the mural and through his research, he starts to see the same faces in early Christian art, gathered at times and places historically significant from all around the world and Christina Ricci’s character has seem them in the town.
It comes to be explained that these people are of The Gathering. 2,000 years ago, these were individuals that for one reason or another, by happenstance or by reason and purpose, they came to watch the Crucification of Jesus Christ. As they watched this event take place, they did nothing to try and stop it, nor did they speak up to protest against this happening.
They just watched.
From that day forward these individuals were cursed to watch the most despicable and heinous events in human history for all time. Soon they stopped being simple observers and began taking an active role in seeing that circumstances are aligned so that events will in fact take place when they are supposed to.
Several are putting the pieces together including Christina Ricci’s character who attempts to stop the murder of an innocent child (who is the son of the woman who accidentally hit her), and a devastating event from taking place that would kill many. With some success she able to manipulate the event from causing significant destruction and death but she fails in her efforts to protect the boy…she is shot and killed.
Relax, the boy is fine…his father comes to the rescue.
At the end of the movie, when all is good and well, Christina Ricci’s character visits the boy while he’s supposed to be sleeping and explains what, why and how. She tells the boy that she was one of those who gathered to observe the Crucification and getting hit by his mothers car was her second chance for redemption…to right the wrong she had done 2,000 years ago.
The wrong she committed was not doing something!
Her wrong was that she didn’t try and stop what was happening nor did she speak up…she and those gathered and simply watched. In coming to realize who and what The Gathering was and neglecting that fact that she was told by one of The Gathering she was one of them, she chose to try and stop whatever was to come and make a difference.
She chose compassion and died for her efforts but ultimately found salvation.
I don’t know why I decided to watch a movie with little more then 30 minutes left to it. The acting was bad and the over all film had a low budget feel to it but I watched it and I’m glad I did. Recently on the Ashla Knights forum board I posted a story about a homeless man who helped a woman who was being robbed and for his efforts, he was stabbed and left to bleed to death on the street: http://ashlaknights.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=362 As the man lay their pooled in his own blood, people passed by without stopping to see if the man needed help. Many people stopped to snap pictures and take video all while he bled to death.
There is Close Circuit Television of this footage and not one person…not one, stopped to see if the dying man was okay. Instead, they Gathered and observed. For many years I have come to believe that it will be our own humanity or lack there of that will ultimately be our physically destruction and our spiritually damnation.
No Ashla Knight will ever simply gather and observe. If it is in his or her power to ask and/or do…in the service or support of another, then it is their obligated to do so.