When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5)

During his life on earth, Jesus chose to see and care for people who were invisible to most of their contemporaries. He saw beyond the caricatured identities their communities gave them. Whether they were poor, diseased, working in despised professions or simply condemned for their sins, Jesus knew their hearts and loved them; he knew who they were because as the Word made flesh he was the one who brought them into being, and was now revealing their true identity as beloved of God. The film Winter’s Bone is about a set of people who are similarly invisible because of their lack of status, wealth, and education.

Avatar, the 2009 movie by James Cameron, raised as much discussion and controversy through its piecemeal use of Native American, Norse, New Age, and Wiccan religious beliefs and practices as it did in its application of 3-D technology. Avatar was so popular, in part, because it drew from this bouillabaisse-mix to present a world where every creature, living and dead, is connected to each other—Cameron’s version of the ultimate network. Since creation, humans have struggled with how our reach exceeds our grasp. Apart from Christ, our lens to comprehend who we are and who we were meant to be, and the broken world we live in, is dark and unclear. Avatar teases us with a scenario of experiencing our lives loosed from the limitations of our apartness, whether from God, the world, or each other.

A number of well-known Christian artists have come together in unity with those suffering in Haiti. They created this moving video to raise awareness about the needs and earthquake relief efforts.