Let us be signposts pointing toward a bright and happy future
By Abbot Tryphon, November 26, 2019
One of the most beloved movies ever made was Frank Capra’s, “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Staring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, the movie tells the story of an ever optimistic man, who, while facing life’s hardships, set aside his own dreams in order to help others, only to witness a run on his bank. Feeling he’d failed his family, his friends, and the bank’s customers, and that he was about to lose everything, George found himself struggling with the idea of committing suicide on Christmas Eve.
At the point in the movie where George utters the words, “It would have been better had I never been born”, his guardian angel, Clarence, played by Henry Travers, shows George all the lives he has touched and how different life in his community of Bedford Falls would have been, had he never been born. George is allowed the gift of seeing firsthand the lives he has touched, and as a result learns to understand the miracle of family and friendship.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” has become a favorite movie to watch for countless Americans during the holiday season, for the message is timeless. All of us have had moments where we felt we just couldn’t go on, and suicide seemed like the only logical solution. As a young man I experienced a terrible period of depression and despair, and attempted suicide. Yet, when I hear from others how my daily blog and Ancient Faith Radio podcast, both under the banner, “The Morning Offering”, have helped so many people, it is unfathomable that I was ever that despairing young man. Yet perhaps it is because I was that young man, that I am able to sympathize with those who are suffering, and help them see that this dark time can be the very catalyst for a bright future.
It has been my experience that we are all called, at some time or another, to be Clarence, that funny guardian angel who points out the worth of another person, and reaches out with a loving embrace, and soothing words of comfort, and support. If, as Clarence, we pay attention to the fact that many people’s high expectations for happiness will fall short, leaving them lonely and despairing, our own acts of kindness, words of encouragement, and smile of acceptance, will make all the difference in the world, and we will become that signpost pointing the way to a bright and happy future.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
~Abbot Tryphon, The Morning Offering, https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/2019/11/its-a-wonderful-life/.
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