Les Misérables, Beliefs, and Grace

Sometimes letting a belief die is more painful than death.

If you don’t believe me, stop what you’re doing right now and book tickets to see Les Misérables.

Synopsis (I just used Chat GPT for the first time!):
"Les Misérables" is a novel (and musical) set in 19th-century France. It follows the story of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who served a long sentence for stealing a loaf of bread. After his release, Valjean struggles to rebuild his life and escape his past as he is relentlessly pursued by Inspector Javert, a rigid and unforgiving lawman.

Along his journey, Valjean encounters kindness and compassion from a bishop, which prompts a transformative change in him. He becomes a successful businessman and adopts Cosette, the daughter of a woman named Fantine who had fallen into poverty and degradation. Valjean's commitment to protecting and providing for Cosette shapes the course of his life.

The novel also weaves in the stories of other characters, such as Marius, a young revolutionary, and Eponine, a young woman who harbors unrequited love for Marius. Against the backdrop of political unrest, social inequality, and the June Rebellion of 1832, the lives of these characters intersect and their destinies intertwine.

"Les Misérables" explores themes of justice, love, sacrifice, and the inherent dignity of the human spirit. It portrays the struggles and triumphs of individuals caught in the web of societal oppression and highlights the power of compassion and redemption.

So, apparently my request of Chat GPT to size up Les Misérables in 150 words was too tight of a parameter to include this part: Javert, the legalistic inspector who chases Jean Valjean throughout his life, dies by suicide after he is faced with Jean Valjean’s grace and compassion. In a moment, earlier, when the tides are turned and Jean Valjean has the upper hand with valid reason to harm, Jean Valjean chooses to spare his oppressor, condition-free. This act of grace is so foreign to Javert that he cannot reconcile it. Javert is unable to accept it, is haunted by it, and ultimately kills himself to rid himself of the pain it inflicts.

Javert’s struggle made no sense to me the first few times I experienced Les Mis. Why not accept the kindness and compassion of being undeservingly spared as an opportunity to be changed? Like Jean Valjean did at the onset of Les Mis?

And then I thought about how painful it is to let a belief die.

Beliefs color us.

They guide our actions.  

They give us identity.

They provide order for us in the chaos.

Javert: I believe life should be ordered around concepts of law and justice.

Jean Valjean: I believe life should be ordered around concepts of grace and compassion.

I hate to go all Christian on ya, but these two contrasting belief systems sound familiar, don’t they?

The leading Jewish Pharisees of Jesus’s remind me of Javert. Jesus reminds me of Jean Valjean.

Jesus said to stop the rigid legalisms and let the law of love be that which guides us.

And yet, here we are, over a couple of thousands of years later, repeating history within the Christian context: a large constituency in the Christian faith have adopted a belief system that embodies Javert’s. They may not even know they’re doing it, but they sit from a place of righteous judgment, hand-picking ways to make there be an “us” and a “them,” seeking out strategies for converting all to their belief system.

How? With weapons, I say.

Javert had a gun and jail.

Christians have the Bible and Hell.  

And yet I am consistently encouraged by a different kind of Christian, the Jesus-y, Jean Valjean-y kind. The one who is too busy loving people to condemn them, too busy issuing grace to assign punishment, too busy wooing people with compassion than chasing them with judgment.

That’s the belief system I want to live with.

But it’s hard.

I argue messy grace is way harder to pull off than orderly legalism.

It’s not soft to lean into and towards grace; it’s brave.

Especially if it’s new.

Javert chose death over the pain of letting his belief system die. Many of us are stuck in belief systems that no longer serve us. Why stuck? Because beliefs color us, guide our actions, give us identity, and provide order for us in the chaos (for better or for worse). Swapping one out for another usually involves being thrown into that chaos a bit, at least for a time.

Can you think of someone in your life who would rather die than have to rewrite a belief in their lives?

They get our grace, too.

At least that’s what Jean Valjean and Jesus would say.