It Really Is Wonderful

Well, you can always tell its Christmas at my house when we break out "It's A Wonderful Life". I can't help it. I will admit, it's my favorite movie ever. For me, that's saying a lot because I love movies. There have been a lot of really good movies over the years and I've seen a bunch of them. My dad was a huge movie buff because his grandmother gave him money to go to the theater all the time when he was a child staying with her during the summer. His interest in movies rubbed off on me. But of all the movies in all the years, my favorite movie, going away, honest to goodness, sure 'nuf, no kiddin', is "It's A Wonderful Life". Jimmy Stewart's best, Frank Capra's best, the best Christmas movie...I know, you get the picture. The story of a guy who is always the victim of circumstance, who is always a better friend and relative to others than they seem to be to him, and yet when push comes to shove, and he's at rock bottom, it is those relationships that come to his rescue. He literally, unbeknownst to him, saves an entire town from an evil old crooked businessman, but he has to be shown by his guardian angel what the world would be like had he never been born before he believes in all he has done in his "wonderful life". To be honest, I could watch that movie every day. I know I've watched it enough times that I can recite the dialog along with each and every character, but it never gets old. At least not to me. In my opinion, the world needs a lot more George Baileys. Folks who do for others over and over again even when it is of great inconvenience to themselves. It is, again in my opinion, the best message to send at Christmas, other than the Nativity itself.

The first thing that comes to mind and makes me love this movie is the era itself. Though each time in history has its good and bad, the simpler times are especially appealing when people worked hard for a living and took pride in their accomplishments in both work, and in the family and friends they had. It was not a throw away society but a frugal one that took care of things and made do with or repaired that which was broken. It was a time of dreamers, whose dreams turned to innovation and whose innovation turned to prosperity. Unfortunately, prosperity today, means financial wealth. In those simpler times, and in the Word of God, it meant much more. It was less objectively measured and tangible and more abstract and of the intangible. Things like character, integrity, honor, honesty, selfless giving, and community. It was enough for Mary Bailey(Donna Reed) to have a home, a family, a good man for her husband, and she chose for that to be enough. Now, for George Bailey(James Stewart), there was always the unknown beyond the far horizon that he longed for. I can empathize with him because I make my living chasing the far horizon as we travel down the vast highways and byways of this beautiful country. Just as he longed for the wind in his face as he sailed around the world, being horseback and trotting across the expanse of the west calls to me as much as the song of the sea calls to a sailer to leave everything behind in reckless abandon to brave the vast unknown. But just like George Bailey settled into a life much different than he expected or thought he wanted, so have I. But, the good news is this. Though, at times, one feels he's "missed the boat" so to speak, it only takes a "stop and look" moment to realize, the boat he missed was the wrong boat anyway and he has been on the right one all along, not even knowing he'd left the shore. For George Bailey, it took a terrible crisis and a mysterious visit from his guardian angel. For me, it is the beautiful and talented wife and daughters sitting in the room laughing together as we open Christmas presents with our son-in-law and our three little grandsons. The place we live, like the old house in the movie, is not especially nice and will be a work in progress for a long while to come, but it is ours, as will be the memories we create here. As the movie plays and we watch it, our own Christmas tradition at the Gore house, I realize that no matter how many times I see it, every time makes you feel even more frustrated with Uncle Billy, more angry at the evil Old Man Potter, more taken back by the love and beauty of Mary Bailey, and while feeling sorry for George Bailey, in many ways, you become even more impressed with his devotion to friends and family, even at his own expense. Because the number one point of the story is that "no man is a failure who has friends". I would expand on that thought only to say this. At the end of yet another year, I am richly blessed. I have friends and family that love me. More than that, I have a Father in Heaven who loves me even more, in spite of my many shortcomings. I am mindful of all those in the world, even in the small town closest to my home, that are not nearly as fortunate. I don't know what the future will bring, but I know it really is a wonderful life.