Only Real When Shared

Thursday, August 26, 2010

9:21 pm

            Tonight, I watched one of my favorite movies for probably the tenth time: Into the Wild. I've been trying to abstain from forms of entertainment that keep me from spending time with others, but I've been feeling like I needed to watch this again for a few days now. Also, I have never watched this movie for pure entertainment. It's always been an important reminder of many lessons that I think our generation is in dire need of learning.

            For those that haven't seen the movie, it's based on the true story of Christopher McCandless who, after graduating from Emory University in 1990, destroyed all proof of his identity and set out to live in the wild. He hitchhiked all over the United States from Mexico to Alaska where he died in 1992 (I didn't give a spoiler warning, because I think most people should know going into this film that it ends tragically).

            I think this film shows beauty in living a life of absolute simplicity in a very special way. You understand completely how someone, especially with Chris's background could fall in love with life alone in the wild. There is beauty to be found everywhere, the way God intended it and whenever I watch this movie I am reminded of many things, which I will try to summarize in two main categories.

LESSON 1:

BEAUTY IN SIMPLE, UNDISTURBED NATURE

            I think that the evil one has done a great job at keeping us distracted. When radios, and televisions started trickling into homes of families across the world, some people resisted, thinking they were no good and of the devil. Sometimes I don't think they were far from being wrong. I don't think radios and TVs were inspired by Satan, but I think he's found a way to keep our attention on worldly illusions and reset our priorities. Even here in Bangkok, television and video games have a strong hold on much of the city's population. Even so, with the poverty and cultural differences, life is much simpler here. I have to explain to nearly everyone I stay with that I don't really know how to cook much, because in America, most of us don't cook every meal. Sometimes, we hardly ever cook our own food. I tell them that for some reason, we are just too busy and even if we wanted to, probably wouldn't have the time. Here, most families cook every single meal. It takes some time too, but they are in no rush. The families I have stayed with rise with the sun and wait for people from the community to come for English lessons or Bible studies. Appointments are considered by many, a Western invention.

            Whenever I watch Into the Wild, I am always captivated by the beautiful imagery that is taken of undisturbed nature. Even in this world of sin, that sin is not powerful enough to reach the awesome wonders of God's creation. And it's so simple; it usually goes unnoticed, right beneath our noses.

LESSON 2:

THE VALUE OF RELATIONSHIP

            In the movie, Chris meets many people along the way who cannot resist falling in love with him and his spirit. They all want him to stay, but he insists he is looking for something that he can only find alone. In the movie's portrayal, as he is dying of starvation he struggles to jot down the one thing he had realized too late, "happiness [is] only real when shared". This brings a few things to my attention. If you think about it, relationship is the very reason we were created. Many search for the meaning of life. I believe we as Christians can confidently say that meaning is relationship. Consider Chris's dying statement as a fact. If it is true, then God could only have happiness if there were some other living thing other than Himself to share it with. Now, of course, there is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but they are also one. So this "One" still needs more. There are the angels and other heavenly creations that we do not know about, but as the Bible tells us, He created us with choice, so that our love could be real. This would mean that we are God's creation so together with Him we could share happiness. Here on Earth we have many people we can choose from to share happiness with, but God is the one who deserves it and has the most to share. It is still important for us to have relationships among ourselves, but God should be right there with us. It's too bad that Chris discovered this only as he was dying and it's a tragedy that so many were waiting his return, eager to share happiness with him. I think like them, God eagerly awaits our return so we can all be happy with Him for eternity. We should cherish those around us, sharing happiness everywhere we go! After all, I believe, it's what we were created for.

            If you haven't seen Into the Wild, I highly recommend it. Be warned, there is a good bit of language and nudity (though none of it is in a sexual context). It's not always easy to watch, especially the end of the film, which is incredibly heartbreaking. I still think there are many strong spiritual lessons that are very important in our present state and time. Over all, I think it's one of the most morally and spiritually sound films to come out of Hollywood.