Anyway, last night i watched the last 2/3 of Forrest Gump.
It ranks amongst my favorite movies, mostly because i've always dreamed of being insanely rich on accident and not caring about money one bit.
But one of my favorite parts of the movie is when he starts running.
He says he doesn't know why he started running. He just figured he'd run to the end of the road; then he just never stopped.
He ran for like 3 years or something ridiculous.
To quote the movie, "When i was tired, i slept. When i was hungry, I ate."
Now, clearly the movie writers didn't bother figuring out HOW or WHERE he slept and ate.
But that image stays with me: a guy running, with nothing on his back, nothing in his hands, just some dirty Nikes and a mass following.
Something that i've always wanted to do is to take a trip somewhere far away, and bring nothing but a wallet. Recently when i've gone places like my grandmother's house or youth convention, i've done as much as i can to pack as little as possible.
There's just something that strikes me about being completely unprepared, on purpose.
Even though Forrest Gump is fake, there's something inspiring about him. Everything he needed was right there in front of him, except a razor and scissors to cut his hair. He didn't need his mansion or anything like that to get by. He was entirely self-dependent.
Now society values self-dependency.
In history class this year, the theme has been "The American Identity", and one of the key parts of the "American Identity" is the Self-Made Man. Think Benjamin Franklin, or Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, etc. We look up to people who have made it to their perch in society on their own strength, without being pulled along by those ahead of them.
Consider the image i made below:
This would be a continuum of self-dependency verses dependency on others.
Note that most of us probably fall around the middle.
Society, and most people in general, consider the far right side to be the most ideal place to be, whereas we lump hobos (not necessarily their fault), moochers, and 23 year olds who live with their moms on the far left.
Now, why are you bothering to read about what you already know?
Try to stay with me here.
In Luke 12:33&34, Jesus is in the process of telling his disciples not to worry about their lives, that God will take care of them: "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourself that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."[NIV]
There comes that image of Forrest Gump again, running without anything but the clothes on his back. Jesus also said, "I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes." (Luke 12:22)
Bill Gates and Benjamin Franklin were self-dependent. But God doesn't want us to be self-dependent.
God doesn't want us to be model citizens that society looks up to. God has something more epic planned for us.
Consider this second diagram:
Our first diagram was one-dimensional; it had a left and a right.
But God ads a second dimension to this little outlook.
God says be neither dependent on others or your own strength.
Rather, be dependent on the one who has infinite strength, infinite ability, and will provide everything we need. Rely on something way bigger and way higher than what there is here on the earth.
Forrest Gump never did that, but he sure did become a fishing boat captain...
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