Carpe Diem
In the movie "Shawshank Redemption," Red speaks about Brooks, his beloved inmate friend. After a lifetime in prison, he was released -- only to take his own life. He couldn’t live on the outside. “Brooks is just institutionalized," Red mused.
This is the sad state of many Christ followers. We have been “institutionalized.” Set free from the sentence of death, we have never learned how to live. Our lives lack joy, passion and peace. Sins continue to imprison us. We circle our wagons and decry the sad state of affairs on the outside. Like the sincere but misguided saints in "Babette's Feast" we are content to wait out their days until Jesus returns. We are institutionalized, and we like it that way.
Another of my favorite movies is "The Dead Poet’s Society." John Keating is the new teacher a stuffy private school. In his first class meeting he asks his students to read aloud the introduction of their poetry textbook. After they have done so, he demands that they rip the page right out of the book.
Keating explains to his startled students, "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."
He wants them to discover that poetry is not a “paint by numbers” affair. It is not formulaic and pedantic, as the textbook suggests, but that it is … life. And life, he wants them to see, is not merely biology; it is passion, beauty, pain, joy, love. “Seize the day boys,” he says, “make your lives extraordinary.” Carpe diem.
Implicit in these cinematic stories is a powerful message for the follower of Jesus Christ. Pardoned from the sentence of death, we are set free to -- how shall I say it? We are set free to live!
We honor Christ’s death and resurrection not merely by avoiding sin, but also by drinking deeply from the “wells of living water” which Jesus says he came to offer. After all, didn’t he say, “I came that they might have life, and have it to the full?”
In celebration of your freedom, then, live life fully. Love passionately. Celebrate riotously. Risk precipitously. Laugh uproariously. Cry unashamedly. Give abundantly. Dream impossibly.
When it rains, jump in the puddles. When you come to a fork in the road -- take it! (Apologies to Yogi.)
I don’t know what that means for you in this moment. It may mean telling someone that you love them. It may mean repenting of your sin and receiving his grace. It may mean letting go of the bitterness which consumes you. Or it might mean letting go of selfishness and embracing love.
It might mean painting a picture, writing a story, or taking a hike up Black Mountain. I don’t know what it is. But I'm sure that if you listen carefully to that little voice inside you, you will know.
Carpe diem!
"To Life!"
This is the sad state of many Christ followers. We have been “institutionalized.” Set free from the sentence of death, we have never learned how to live. Our lives lack joy, passion and peace. Sins continue to imprison us. We circle our wagons and decry the sad state of affairs on the outside. Like the sincere but misguided saints in "Babette's Feast" we are content to wait out their days until Jesus returns. We are institutionalized, and we like it that way.
Another of my favorite movies is "The Dead Poet’s Society." John Keating is the new teacher a stuffy private school. In his first class meeting he asks his students to read aloud the introduction of their poetry textbook. After they have done so, he demands that they rip the page right out of the book.
Keating explains to his startled students, "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."
He wants them to discover that poetry is not a “paint by numbers” affair. It is not formulaic and pedantic, as the textbook suggests, but that it is … life. And life, he wants them to see, is not merely biology; it is passion, beauty, pain, joy, love. “Seize the day boys,” he says, “make your lives extraordinary.” Carpe diem.
Implicit in these cinematic stories is a powerful message for the follower of Jesus Christ. Pardoned from the sentence of death, we are set free to -- how shall I say it? We are set free to live!
We honor Christ’s death and resurrection not merely by avoiding sin, but also by drinking deeply from the “wells of living water” which Jesus says he came to offer. After all, didn’t he say, “I came that they might have life, and have it to the full?”
In celebration of your freedom, then, live life fully. Love passionately. Celebrate riotously. Risk precipitously. Laugh uproariously. Cry unashamedly. Give abundantly. Dream impossibly.
When it rains, jump in the puddles. When you come to a fork in the road -- take it! (Apologies to Yogi.)
I don’t know what that means for you in this moment. It may mean telling someone that you love them. It may mean repenting of your sin and receiving his grace. It may mean letting go of the bitterness which consumes you. Or it might mean letting go of selfishness and embracing love.
It might mean painting a picture, writing a story, or taking a hike up Black Mountain. I don’t know what it is. But I'm sure that if you listen carefully to that little voice inside you, you will know.
Carpe diem!
"To Life!"