Making Life Meaningful

 Ever since 1988 when Tom Hanks starred in Big, we have enjoyed his acting career.  Forest Gump, Castaway, Saving Private Ryan, A Man Called Otto.  To name a few.   Whenever a new Tom Hanks movie is released, we want to see it, or at least, check it out. So, we went to see Here, his newest movie released in October starring Hanks and Robin Wright who played Jenny in Forest Gump.

 As usual, we were late comers.  The movie had been out several weeks before we found a day and time that worked for us.  When we arrived, the fact that there were only 7 people in the theater should have been a clue.   Despite impressive technical effects, Here has apparently been a Box Office bomb.

 The story line focuses on a particular spot on the earth, “Here,” and all that happened on that spot including a Native American couple who fell in love, had children, grew old and died.  The same can be said for other families that occupied the house built on that spot. Each of them, falling in love in their youth, having children, settling for jobs to make a living, growing old and dying. The stories are told in a non-linear script, with constant flashbacks, and flash-forwards. But in the end the stories are all the same.  When I left the theater, I felt depressed.

 Is this all there is to life? Disappointment, misunderstandings, unrealized dreams, constant struggle to make ends meet, old age, illness and death?  Perhaps this is the way most people live.  I hope not.

 Six years ago, for our 50^th anniversary, I wrote “Our Story” for our children and grandchildren.  We realized that our children and grandchildren know their stories that intersect with ours, but, by and large, they did not know “our story.”  It was a good exercise in reflection.  At the conclusion, after 50 years of marriage and more than 70 years of life, we wrote, “God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams and imaginings. We have loved and enjoyed one another every step of the way. He has blessed us with beautiful children and grandchildren of character and faith. They are kind, thoughtful, honest and generous.” Other friends with whom we started our journey more than fifty years ago could say the same.

 Jesus teaches us all how to make something special out of our lives by forgiving, encouraging and believing in one another.  He teaches us to live our lives with a focus on something more than “getting by” or “making a living.”  Just as Peter wrote,  ^“For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘all flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’” (1 Peter 1:23-25).

 Jesus’ promise is ever true. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you,” (Matthew 6:33).  “The Lord is good. His lovingkindness is everlasting and his faithfulness to all generations,” (Psalm 100:5).