Amazing Grace

It's been a terrific Thanksgiving at our home -- friends, stories, and way too much food, all enveloped in an atmosphere of gratitude for the blessings of God. I hope your holiday was as wonderful.

This past week, our family rented Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilburforce and the abolitionist movement in Britain. Yeah, I know the movie came out a long time ago and the video has been available for a while, but we're just getting 'round to it now. I thought it was a terrific film, and I highly recommend it. It's provoked my interest in aspects of history that are vaguely familiar to me; I'm really not sure how accurate the film is in its details at points, but it made for a terrific story.

But my favorite part of the film came at the very end, when the story was complete and I was ready for the credits to roll. The finale of this film is a breathtaking rendition of the classic hymn for which the film is named. It was very, very classy and surprising as the music swelled with each new revelation of the camera's movement. If you've already seen the movie, you know what I mean. If you haven't... well, what are you waiting for?