It’s a life worth living

By RICHARD ROSS

I’ve been having a hard time with spirit of the holidays this year, and I feel I am not alone.

I first noticed it at Thanksgiving. The holiday seemed to come out of nowhere. At the time, I attributed it to September 11. It was as if we had lost a month in shock and grief. Nevertheless, after gathering and enjoying the simple pleasure of my family at Thanksgiving, I felt at home and at peace. Unfortunately, the feeling was temporary and the eerie gloominess returned.

The events of the past months have cast a pall over the world, and the specter of those events has silently and insidiously penetrated my very core. There is so much misery and pain on this planet that I find myself feeling hopeless and sad. I don’t find anything noble or heroic about war and violence. The news from Afghanistan and from the Middle East has, to put it simply, has made me ill at heart. Celebrating “peace on earth and goodwill to all” sounds like the greatest hypocrisy. My discomfort increases with the empty ritual of shopping and spending in the face of such destruction, desolation, hunger and death.

Seeking to rediscover some vanished sense of Christmas, I rented two classic Christmas movies to show to my young children. I thought that if I watched them, the spirit of the season might return to me. I am speaking, of course, about “Miracle on 34th Street” and “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

Don’t ask me how it is I have lived 54 years without seeing “It’s A Wonderful Life.” I always meant to. I thought it was another feel-good, lighthearted film like “Miracle on 34th Street.” Needless to say, it isn’t. If anything, the film is dark and somber. Much of it seems to depict an American dream gone terribly awry. George Bailey’s life is one of disappointment. His lifelong dreams—to see the world, go to college and to travel—are forever unrealized.

When George’s brother returns home with a wife and goes to work for her father rather than to assume the reins of the bank as planned, George dutifully stays on. When George gets married to the love of his life, his honeymoon plans are dashed by the untimely crash of the stock market. George takes the $2,000.00  that he and his wife were to spend on their honeymoon, and doles it out to the panic-stricken depositors to save the bank and the community from the clutches of the greedy Mr. Potter.

Seemingly, his faith is rewarded. Years later, the community is thriving. George and his wife have converted an old wrecked house into a secure and cozy home, replete with four children. The Depression is over and townspeople have built their own homes, thanks to George’s unselfishness, courage and good agency. And then, George’s uncle Billy inadvertently places the bank’s deposit of $8,000 inside of a newspaper which none other than Mr. Potter gets a hold of. This sudden loss of funds, just before an audit, spells disaster. In desperation, George goes to Mr. Potter, not realizing that the unscrupulous cur has taken the money, and pleads for his help. His request is met with derision and vengeance. George realizes that all he has left is his life insurance policy, and that he is worth more dead than alive. He decides to kill himself.

At this juncture, dear reader, you are probably asking yourself what this has to do with Christmas, the war and the spirit I have been so earnestly seeking.

In the film, George’s attempt to kill himself is thwarted by an angel who shows George that his life matters. George is afforded a look at life had he never lived. As he stumbles through town, no one recognizes him and the things he worked hard to build do not exist—not the homes, not his family, not even the memory and recognition of his brother’s heroic rescue. George is shocked to see on his brother’s gravestone that he died when he was eight. George was not there to save him.

Seeing the effects of having never lived, George cries for the angel to give him his life back. George runs home to the welcoming arms of his family, prepared to face whatever adversity awaits him. He finds that people have arrived on Christmas Eve with money to save George from destruction. One man’s faith in another is repaid. Acts of kindness do indeed matter, and the spirit of giving and joy supplant the feeling of meaninglessness and futility.

Every life matters. We are all here for a reason, and the world is forever changed by our presence. Find your place and purpose, and live your life with meaning and love. This is what Jesus came to teach us. It begins simply with one person’s faith and love extended to another. It is the only way out of this downward spiral.

Restore your faith in what is good, and we might all be rescued from the abyss we approach. At a time of new beginnings, let us remember that it is a wonderful life we have been given.