Life is Beautiful!
I want to take you back to a 2001 Film, A Beautiful Mind, with Russell Crowe in the lead. It is the true story and biography of John Nash, a brilliant mathematician who suffers from hallucinations, but with medication and the help & love of his wife, Alicia, he is ultimately able to live with and largely ignore his psychotic episodes.
A BEAUTIFUL MIND is a classic tale of struggle, suffering, enduring, persevering and finally of victory over personal demons. Taking one day at a time, supported by his wife, John never gives up, despite his setbacks.
John Nash eventually earns the privilege of teaching again. In 1994, he is honoured by his fellow professors for his achievement in mathematics, and goes on to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for his revolutionary work on game theory.
CLIP 1 – OVERVIEW OF MOVIE
An appropriate movie for Lent, which focuses not just on the suffering of Christ, but also on our suffering; the ever-present element of suffering in life…
The film is real regarding life, love and marriage.
Life is not fair and does not always reward good choices with positive consequences.
Really bad things happen to innocent, good people. No matter what you do, no-one can escape pain, disappointment, trauma, grief en rejection.
But the happiest people I know are those who made peace with Life and who embrace all that it gives us: both the good and bad, the joy and pain, the successes and failures, the smiles and the tears, the carefree times and the trauma…
They are people who can really appreciate the first light of a new day, because they know the depths of darkness. They are the people who live life to the full, who discover the height and depth of love and who not afraid of anything that Life throws at them…
In A Beautiful Mind John and Alicia have to overcome more than the average couple. The trauma caused by John’s hallucinations and conspiracy theories is extreme. And their over-coming of all the challenges that they faced serves as a reminder that it is doable…!
Why? How? Because of love! Love makes the difference…
Real love is beautiful, awesome, powerful beyond comprehension! It can heal any wound, overcome any distance, forgive any wrongdoing, reconcile any enemies… There is no other power as strong as love!
The Bible tells us that God is love. God does not merely love. God is love! And all of the sudden the power of love starts making sense…
1 John 4:16 in the Bible says exactly this: “God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in him. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives away fear”
Love do not mind sacrificing
CLIP 2: Listen to John Nash’s speech when he received his Nobel price.
“I've always believed in numbers and the equations and logics that lead to reason. But after a lifetime of such pursuits, I ask: "What truly is logic? Who decides reason?" My quest has taken me through the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional -- and back. And I have made the most important discovery of my career, the most important discovery of my life: it is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reason can be found. I'm only here tonight because of you, Alicia. You are the reason I am. You are all my reasons.”
Their story always reminds me of James’ strange words in James 1: 2 - 4 (The Message):
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colours. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
Life is not fair and will not always be smooth running, but life is beautiful!
May you learn to see beauty, even when it is not pretty; recognize the gift of the lessons wrapped up in your challenges!
Neither life nor love will always be easy, but may the difficult times make you strong, mature and resilient!
May you discover the mysterious equations of love and allow your own storyline to follow the example of John and Alicia!
May you embrace the fullness of Life and Love and be able to say with Paul in Philippians 4:10:
“I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”
It confirms the truth Jesus spoke in Matthew 5:5 when He said:
“You're blessed when you're content with just who you are - no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.”
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