Lilies of the Field The movie, “Lilies of the field”, by Ralph Nelson is an inspiring film that covers tolerance, trust, and true friendship through its exploration of a most doubtful relationship. The story follows Homer Smith (Sydney Poitier) an ex-GI who has been traveling in his station wagon through the American Southwest, as he stumbles upon a challenging mission in the middle of the desert. The “challenging mission” Nelson gives him, is to learn to help five German, refugee nuns with chores around the house and more importantly, accomplish the dream to build a church with no funds, no equipment, and no volunteers. Mother Maria (Lilia Skala) constantly thanks God for sending her a blessing and answering her prayers. Knowing he could be a crucial factor in helping her fulfill her dreams, she does everything in her power to make him stay. The fact that these women could barely speak a word of English, softens his heart towards them, as he helps them replace the old translator with countless hours of English lessons and a mix of different musical traditions. The prominence here is on people doing as they should be doing, helping one another and learning and growing from the experience. The story showed many qualities one …show more content…
After doing a few chores for Mother Maria in return for what he expected to be money, he essentially became part of the family. Knowing Mother Maria and her nuns were basically broke, he developed a greater outlook on the situation. Homer liked to be in charge, he liked the feeling of being needed. Although neither of them realize it, Mother Maria and Homer both truthfully care for each other. As she continues to put off Homer’s request for payment, she never fails to go a day without thanking her Lord for the “big, strong man He has sent”. As Homer joined with the Ashton building company, he then started to put together a wonderful chapel for Mother Maria and her