It's a Wonderful Life

Do you know the movie? George Bailey and his story of self-sacrifice and dutiful service to anyone and everyone that needed something from him? George got caught up in the hum-drum dailiness of his life, and became very sad and depressed about all that he had missed. He was given the chance to see what the world would have been like if he'd never been born...and he learned that he really did have a wonderful life.

For the last several days, I've been thinking about an idea for the blog that had to do with running...as in, jogging...I couldn't quite figure out how to approach the subject, and certainly not how to approach it in a way that would have meaning for all the people in the world who do not run or jog...

You might wonder why I've spent so many days trying to figure out a way to write on the topic, given that it's Christmas, and the subject matter of this blog is Advent...but the act of jogging has saved me in many ways, and I wanted to find a way to talk about it. Some years ago, I had a seminary professor who told our class the story of how she ran as a means of working through her grief. Her husband had been killed in a plane crash, and in the months after his death, she ran...and ran...and ran. The story made an impression on me at the time, and now...in the wake of a period of deep grief in my own life...running has also helped me to sort through my feelings, and to get in touch with the part of me that can recognize my own wonderful life.

Last night I read a devotional, and in it, the writer talked about the glory of the Lord. He refers to something that an early church father said (Ireneus, in case you'd like to look him up in the archives) about God's glory:

"The glory of God is man fully alive."

Did you know that Jesus was a good-times kind of guy? He was known for attending parties, and having a good time with his closest friends. Laughter and joy are very much needed to help us get through the daily-ness of life...because it really can get pretty boring...routines and chores, and work and school...and then do it all over again tomorrow.

Somewhere in the midst of it all, we can connect with the glory of what it means to be fully alive...if we are healthy, we can run and jump and play...and if we are healthy, and our bodies allow, I would propose that we should run and jump and play. We can make a choice about whether we just exist from day to day, or whether we revel in all that life has to offer. We can embrace laughter, and whatever the present moment offers to us, or we can be like George Bailey, and wallow in the sadness of what we missed.

The thing is, most of us won't have an angel named Clarence visit us and show us what the world would have been like if we'd never been born...and it would really be a shame if we missed out on the fact that it really is a wonderful life! We'll have to figure out a way to learn the lesson, without Clarence, and I think we can do it...

You might not be into jogging, or any other kind of physical exercise, but somewhere, somehow this Christmas week, use your imagination to visualize your life as a wonderful life...and then live into that reality. If it isn't wonderful now, make it wonderful in 2011.