"Life is a very precious gift"

There was a fun and memorable episode from the TV show “Lois and Clark” that started with a heavy tone.  A man with a colorful name – William Wallace Webster Waldecker – is completely overwhelmed with the issues in his life.  Waldecker attempts suicide, but Superman swoops in and stops him.  I love the words that Superman says to him: “Sir, please, life is a very precious gift.  Every day we’re alive is another chance for us to be the best we can be.”  Not many has the credibility to deliver these words of wisdom; no wonder Superman is sometimes referred to as a Boy Scout. 

In the process of saving Waldecker, some of the Man of Steel’s powers were actually transferred to Waldecker.  This development inspires the man to take on the role of a superhero – he gives himself the name Resplendent Man.  However, his actions are hardly heroic; he charges money for the “service” of saving people’s lives; he uses his x-ray vision to look at women in a locker room, and he basically only thinks of himself.  However, when Waldecker’s sister is kidnapped, as well as Lois, Resplendent Man saves everyone, including Superman himself.  Ultimately, he sacrifices the powers, as they are transferred back to Superman. 

Waldecker’s takeaway from the whole experience is priceless.  He says, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from all of this, it’s that life really is worth living for as long as you get to.  Because you never know what’s going to happen next.”  I can relate to that sentiment.  I could write a blog on just instances of that fact in my own life.  Instead let me return to Superman’s words.  He said, “Life is a very precious gift.”

Furthermore, I submit to you that life is a gift from God Himself.  He is the One who holds our breath (Daniel 5:23); keeps our hearts beating (Psalm 139:13); and sustains us while we sleep (Psalm 3:5).  In fact, the Bible declares, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).

Yes, life is a gift.  But it is equally true that life can hurt us deeply.  Life can be full of troubling challenges.  As I was putting all of this together, I watched a film titled “The Christmas Chalet” primarily because it stars Erica Durance, who was an excellent Lois Lane in the TV show “Smallville”. 

The film centered around how a chalet (which, I learned from viewing this, is sort of like a cabin) was double-booked.  One party is Grace Mitchum (Durance), her daughter, Lexi, and Grace’s mother, Helen.  The other party is Jack Manning (played by Robin Dunne), a popular writer of fiction novels; he booked the chalet to write.  One scene in particular caught my attention.  Lexi, an aspiring writer herself, asks Jack where he gets his inspiration.  His surprising answer is from pain.

“When you think about it,” Jack continues, “What do you really know about yourself unless you’ve been through something dark?  That’s what it means to be human; that’s storytelling.”  They go on to talk about some of the difficulties they each have faced in their lives.  A little later on in the scene, Jack gives these profound words: “What’s out there [in the real world] is messy, and complicated, and painful, and beautiful.  If you have the courage to embrace that amazing chaos, that’s going to elevate your writing.”    

Let me conclude with this.  Matt Redman, who has written dozens of memorable worship songs such as “Blessed be Your name” “Heart of worship” and “10,000 reasons” wrote an excellent book back in 2001 titled “The unquenchable worshipper”.  His words put a nice bow on my thoughts today.  He writes this in chapter 1:

“There is a kind of worshipper who “always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:7), and who goes through the storms of life with a heart still blazing [for God].  Sometimes it comes down to a simple choice.  We may be hard-pressed on every side, weary and not able to sense God.  But then a choice faces us – to fix our eyes on the circumstances or to cling to God and choose to worship Him, even when it hurts.”

Kevin