Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2002 (14. évfolyam, 4-45. szám)

2002-03-01 / 9. szám

AMERICAN Hungarian Journal MEDITATIONS by Dr. Bela Bonis Pastor (562) 430-0876 First Hungarian Reformed Church, Hawthorne LENT tears us from the glow of Christmastide and Epiphany and propels us into a harsh new season. The early warning signs - the flight into Egypt, Rachel’s uncontrollable wailing, the talk of the cost of discipleship - were easy to gloss over while the Carols were still ringing in our ears. But now it is Lent, and the same Holy Spirit who gave Jesus life in Mary’s womb has led him to the place of Devas­tation in the desert, that he might be tested. In the wilder­ness, all music stops and the silence is deafening. The silence is broken, after 40 days and nights, by a verbal combat be­tween Jesus and Satan. It’s not a question of who knows the Bible better. First, it is the question of hungry millions. Bread? Of course, hungry people must be fed. But bread comes from the hand of God and not from you, Satan. Physical safety? God takes no interest in foolish bravado. Political power? It will be central to the justice of the new realm of God. But not at any price. And not for its own sake. Having fasted 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus knows to cling to bedrock truths and commandments. Worship the Lord your God and serve only him. The real battle, Jesus teaches, is to be waged and won in the believer’s heart. The foes are internal: the temptation to apathy, indif­ference, selfishness and self­promotion. The temptation to confuse ends with means. To rationalise it all, every step of the way. It should come as no surprise, then, that he church sets aside 40 days as a time of self-examination and a setting aright of priorities, a time to repent and do penance fitting the deed, a season to refocus on love of God and love of neighbor. In places where the church wrestles with notorious sins or where the church has been persecuted, where the church has been complicit in il­legitimate brutal power, where fear and survival drove neigh­bors to hate and betray one another - the challenge is to create healing through confes­sion, truth telling and repen­tance, in order that reconcilia­tion and restored life might be­come possible. The Tempter will return again and again. However, we are never left alone in the wilderness of our struggles. God sends angels to us, heavenly messengers who bring sustenance and restore strength. They will come to us suddenly, when we are ex­hausted and vulnerable. When we most need them they will come and lift us up. Please read Matth. 4:1-11 and Ps. 32. ************************* Comments on "CHICO" By MIKLÓS GYULAI Whether you are a diligent observer of the political events of the recent decades, or you’re just a casual listener of the news on the radio, the story of CHICO, a motion picture by IBOLYA FEKETE, will vividly revive your memory of that period, in a captivating, multi-continental manner. And if you happened to be somewhat personally related to any of the places, events and the hippocratic ideology well depicted in the'film - as many of us in the mostly Hungarian audience did - your emotions rose high in many instances. All you could think was, thank God that now we’re sitting in a nice movie theater, just watching all this and when it’s over, we can drive home, back to our comfortable life and not be confronted with the dilemmas and atrocities we’ve witnessed watching the movie. Through the experience of Chico, the film’s protagonist, we’re exposed to a masterful compilation of recent history. From the collapse of Chile’s Allende government to battles in Croatia. We see how a decent human being may find himself fighting in either side of conflicts. The film is a great cinematic presenta­tion of the human conditions of our confusing times. Interestingly, at the end, despite the enthusiastic applause when the lights came up and writer/director Ibolya Fekete came to answer questions, there were only questions, no one seemed to praise this monumental production that covered several countries, languages and continents. (Even the subtitles were of the greatest quality!) I was still speechless under the gaze of reopened wounds. I wanted to congratulate the filmmaker, but I couldn’t find the right words. I have been in Hungarian villages in Bácska as a refugee after I escaped to Jugoslavia in early ’57. I recognized those houses, the streets, the people, young and old fleeing from their homes in the name of Ethnic Cleansing. As a student refugee, I too was in those lines crossing the border, escaping retaliation from the Russian puppets in Hungary. So then, I raised my hands and thanked director Fekete for the great treasure she produced about the Human Experience. I pointed out that in watching movies, even those I like, I most of the time find areas that stagnate, that could be shortened - a bit or a lot sometimes. In CHICO I was so fascinated throughout the movie I didn’t feel the need to tighten anything. And I’m a film editor. THANK YOU, IBOLYA FEKETE. CSAK ÍGY TOVÁBB! Miklós Gyulai ************************* Hungary Renews Criticism In Row With Neighbours Reuters/BUDAPEST - Hungary's prime minister refused to back down in a fierce row with his Czech and Slovak neighbours on Sat­urday and renewed criticism of controversial ethnic laws passed by Czechoslovakia after World War Two. Viktor Orban's earlier comments on the Benes Decrees, which stripped Germans and Hungarians of Czechoslovak land and citi­zenship in 1945, prompted Prague and Bratislava to boycott a re­gional summit that Hungary was to have hosted next Friday. But Orbán has stressed national interests ahead of tightly contested Hungarian elections in April - despite pressure for regional diplo­matic solidarity as the states negotiate entry to the European Union - and he returned to the charge on Saturday. "Every decent man stands on the side of human dignity and against an international tradition...that was incorporated in the leg­islation of some countries and which declares ethnic groups, Hun­garians among them, as collectively guilty," he told reporters. Under edicts issued by President Edvard Benes in retaliation for German and Hungarian annexations of Czechoslovak territory in 1938, some 2.5 million ethnic Germans were expelled, mostly from the Sudetenland, and tens of thousands of Hungarians were also stripped of citizenship and land, mainly in Slovakia. Czechs, who dissolved their Czechoslovak federation with the Slovaks in 1993, fear lingering controversy in Germany, Austria and Hungary over the Benes decrees could complicate their acces­sion to the EU and are also anxious that a formal repeal of the laws could see foreigners returning to claim land. The EU commissioner responsible for-the enlargement of the 15-nation bloc, the German Guenter Verheugen, has said the de­crees will not be a factor in accession talks. Orbán said: "This is a European issue and I am convinced that once central Europeans join the Union these legal leftovers from a bad historic period will wither and fall to dust, as did the systems that created them." The summit had been meant to present a united front to Brussels by the four nations that hope to join the EU in 2004. „CITY Of LIGHTS" BY SUSAN JANCSO (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) 8. I picked a 50 cents machine, because that was something I would not try on my own, only with “windfall” money, and it lived up to my expectations. I just barely escaped with $20 before it all went down the drain. I also tried one of the quarter slots encircling a red Mercedes to be won, and I didn’t do too badly there. I got the three red sevens (100 coins) three times in a row and I left with a total of $78 in winnings (minus the $50 I had started with). I was back in my room with the fabulous view by 10:30 p.m., and asleep by 11. No need to stay up late, I had two more days ahead of me. 1 woke up around 5 am, and I was tempted to go back to the casino, but the thought of cleaning people and attendants “milking” the machines all over the floor was enough to change my mind. I took a moment to admire the view, just as splendid at dawn as it had been at dusk, and went back to sleep. I slept soundly till 8 am, and woke up well-rested, ready for the new day. Down at the Casino, as I walked by a row of quarter machines, Betty Boop seemed to beckon to me. It was still early in the game, and my pockets were full, so I took out a twenty-dollar bill and got to work. I got some minor rewards to keep me in business, my credits never went below 60 or 70 coins, but I wanted more than just to break even. I had my eye on the three star-studded pink sev­ens, and sure enough, they came through for me. Cashing out the 150 coins in winnings plus the initial capital, I managed to pocket a nice crisp fifty-dollar bill which went straight into the envelope marked “winnings”, never to be touched again. I did not stay at the Aladdin for long, because I knew, if I were to do any walking, it would have to be now or never. The fountains of the Bellagio were dancing again when I went outside, this time to a tune from Cabaret or some other American musical. I think it was New York, New York. I stayed on my side of the street, stepping in to Paris Las Vegas in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. I had been there when they first opened in September ’99, with Catherine Deneuve, Michel Legrand and Charles Aznavour as guests of honor. The ambience was fine, but the chances for wining - forget it! Things have not changed much since then. I tried “Popeye” and, let me tell you, I went through a ten-dollar bill in the blink of an eye, without ever winning a.penny! “Pull, Game Over, Goodbye!” sums it up. The quarter machine called “Paris Gold” was O.K. for fifteen minutes, but I never got any money out of that one either. So I said “au revoir", passed by Bally’s without even a glance, and crossed over Flamingo Road to down-to-earth Barbary Coast. There I am guaranteed to have fun every time. I visited “Cleopatra” and she was more than willing to share with me at least 800 coins. I stopped by to chat with Regis too, but I did not take out my modest winnings when I should have, and so I lost every last penny. Disgusted with Barbary, I moved on to the place that had been our base for years: the time-honored Flamingo Hilton. It happened there, one morning at 5 am that I, on my way up to the room, tired from a whole night of playing the nickel machines, passed a dollar machine with huge pink flamingos painted on it. On the spur of the moment, I pulled out my last se­cret 50-dollar bill and slipped it into the slot. I pulled once, twice, and on the third pull - lo and be­hold! - I watched, like in slow motion, the second palm tree get in line with the first, and then the third one join the other two. I had won three hundred dollars, just when I was ready to give up all hope! (TO BE CONTINUED) 2002. március 1. WXMfiM 11

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