Remember George Bailey

Christmas does not feel like Christmas without the classic movie, "It's A Wonderful Life." Like most people, I saw it every Christmas on TV throughout my childhood and skipped over it every time. It's a long, black and white film that just didn't seem worth my time to watch when I was young. Now, I wish I had. One year while home from college for the holidays, I gave in out of sheer boredom. Not expecting much, I was amazed by the lessons I learned through this simple movie.

George Bailey, the main character, dreamed big. He had elaborate plans of travel and wealth. He wanted to see the world and his optimism appeared to be all he needed to make it happen. But through a series of unplanned events, every one of his dreams were dashed. None of his plans happened the way he had hoped. Even worse, despite always being a person of integrity, he ended up in the middle of unfair circumstances that would lead to his arrest. Desperate and hopeless, he found himself standing on a snow covered bridge looking down at the freezing water below.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever felt as if you were standing on the bridge between living and dying, unsure of which direction to take? Have you ever thought, as George Bailey did, that the world would be a better place if you had never been born? The truth is, most of us have experienced these things. Either openly or privately, most of us have reached a point in our lives when we have questioned our own existence. We feel the unfairness of life in the darkest corners of our souls and cry out to God, "Why is this happening to me?" When someone looses this battle of hopelessness, we are left with a million unanswered questions. I don't pretend to understand it myself. I only know that God is there and He holds the answers. Even when His presence cannot be felt, we can still be assured that God is there.

In "It's A Wonderful Life," God showed up in the form of an angel named Clarence. George Bailey was given the gift of seeing what the world would be like had he never been born. Clarence offered this as a way of helping George realize that while he lived a life that seemed unfulfilled, he was changing the lives of others. His surroundings and everyone he knew were somehow altered in the world where George never existed. When he saw that his life had been meaningful in ways that he had never imagined, he ran through his home town shouting with delight, "Merry Christmas everybody!"

The point of this film is that sometimes we never know whose lives we are touching just by being here. We are part of a great plan engineered by God and we have a purpose. We may never know just how significant the slightest action may be in the life of someone who needs encouragement. Every now and then, we may receive the blessing of someone telling us that we made a difference to them. We are equally blessed by offering thanks to those who have touched our lives. Great sacrifices for another's sake are easily noticed and recognized by those who benefit from them. But most of the time, the moments that keep us holding on when we feel like giving up are the simple ones. The little moments that are filled with genuine concern and love can literally last a lifetime and beyond. Those sweet memories live in our hearts forever. When we pass the kindness that we have been given to another soul, we could easily be touching generations not yet born.

In real life, we don't get to see how all of our actions affect others. But for better or worse, we must trust that they do and accept the responsibility that goes with it. Remembering the story of George Bailey is something we need to do year round, not just during Christmas. After I discovered the movie "It's A Wonderful Life," it quickly became one of my favorites. I keep a sign with it's title hanging above my kitchen sink as a reminder that there are secrets attached to my life that only God knows and will reveal in His own time. I don't need to know all of the purposes He has set aside for me. Total understanding is not required. God knows what He is doing! I only need to know that as long as I am following Him, I will fulfill my purpose. To me, fully trusting that is what makes this a beautifully wonderful life.