Back in January, Husband was given complimentary tickets to a private showing down in the Village for an independent film with an original premise. The film is called Praying with Lior, and it’s about a charismatic youngster with Down Syndrome preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. How he accomplishes this and how it affects the tight knit community that both protects and is inspired by him cuts right to the heart of the meaning of spirituality.
When Husband told me way back when that he had these tickets and they were for a Sunday in February, I said terrific, let’s go. Then last week we looked at them carefully and I said, “They’re for the 3rd. Isn’t there something going on the 3rd?” He looked at me in misery and said, “Do you mean maybe the Super Bowl?” We did a few rounds of “No Way!” and then settled in to the fact that we were on the guest list already and it was invitation only and we were going. Now we had to find friends to (drag along) share the extra tickets.
Everyone Husband called to invite laughed themselves silly so I called my buddy Caryn who I suspected wouldn’t be able to pick a football out of a police lineup. It was a sure thing she’d be free and could convince her husband to join us. She listened patiently to my sales pitch and then said, “THIS Sunday? We’ll be at a Super Bowl party.” I said, “Do you even know who’s playing?” She said, “It’s the SUPER BOWL. What’s wrong with you?”
Daughter answered her phone and said she’d heard of the movie and would love to see it but she’d call back when she found out when kickoff was. Kickoff was 6:20 and the movie would be over at 6:30. We could have her home by 6:50. She was willing to go late to the party she was having at her own apartment. We just had to stop for hot dog buns before we dropped her off.
Praying with Lior had lovely moments that lingered long after the closing credits. In one scene, a young student in Lior’s class philosophized that God gives each of us a test. Perhaps Down Syndrome is Lior’s test to see what he can do in the world, who he is in his heart. And perhaps it’s everyone’s test as well, all the people who come into his life, to see how they treat him and who they are in their hearts.
It was simply said but an incredibly eloquent and spiritual thought for a 12-year-old boy to express. Daughter and I exchanged a pained glance recalling her snake pit elementary school where kids were judged by their peers according to the clothing brands they wore. I could see her thinking, “Oh yeah, I just might have heard anything like this on my 6th grade playground. This kid would have been stoned to death with Calvin Klein beanie babies.” The love and acceptance each member of Lior’s community had for him and for each other was so warm and natural it made us feel sorry not to be their neighbors.
We dropped Daughter and the hot dog buns off by 7:00 and she invited us up to watch. We thanked her sincerely but going to college in Boston pixilated her loyalties and she would be cheering for the Patriots. That I’d rather not see. As it turns out though, their perfect season had one small problem. The Giants.
To Support The Team, Daughter’s Fotos give us mostly New York and a little Boston
gorgeous window
dark clouds on the roof
new neighbors
bahston street aht