Wilberforce

In this short post I would like to introduce you to one of my favorite, and I think greatest, movies “amazing Grace”. It is a movie that I've watch many times. It is a movie that gives me, every time, renewed hope in a world of corruption, deceit and tyrants invested in depriving every individual, if possible, of their freedom.

It is a film which contains many of the forces in the world for good that, in my essays, I have hopefully been able to convey to others. It involves the dedication and courage of a member of the British Parliament in the late 1700s and the early 1800s. His name is William Wilberforce.  He was instrumental in bringing major reforms to British society, the most important and dramatic of which was the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. In the life of this individual, God was all important; initially he had to battle with whether he dedicated himself completely to God or whether he used his talents as an orator in Parliament to bring about changes that really involved doing God's work.

One of the truly wonderful things depicted in this film is, after a discouraging number of years, in which Wilberforce was not able to get his bill to abolish slavery passed in the parliament, it took a woman, his new wife, to bring him to the realization that he should not give up.

In addition to the film there is a school in Pittsburg, PA named after this famous British reformer, the Wilberforce school, which has the elements of the kind of education we should be giving our young. The trailer for the film, as well as a video describing the school and its mission, are included on the right side of this post. Both these videos speak for themselves and are worthy of being viewed.

Included here is a worthy biography of William Wilberforce; included in the biography is an image of William which helps us glean the gentleness attributable to a man of God.