humans, machines and maintenance engineers

So, I just watched The Five People You Meet in Heaven, based on Mitch Albom's follow-up book to Tuesdays With Morrie which was also made into a movie, although I haven't seen that one. It was a good movie, one of those that you can kind of settle into like a good book. One that means something to you, might even force you to think about your life a little bit. Here are a few of my own reflections on the movie.

"Strangers are just family you haven't yet come to know," one of the characters says in the film.

And I thought, you know, what if we really lived that way? Like strangers were family members we haven't met yet? Jesus lived that way and are we not called to be like him? The woman at the well. The disciples. The lady who just barely touched his robe. Those he healed. Dismas, the man on the cross to his right, the one who went to be with Jesus in Paradise that day. All were strangers that he came to know and loved them from the beginning. He loved them and touched them and changed their lives forever. What if we loved people from the start. We always seem to wait until we get to know someone, or until there's trust established in a relationship, before we say we love them. But did Jesus do that? No, I don't think he did. Now, I do realize that in romantic situations there should be a level of trust established before readily admitting that you love someone but on the spiritual level, I believe we are to love with the love of Jesus, to see people through the cross and not through the blind eyes of this world.

"That's the thing about sacrifice... What if whenever you feel like you've lost something, you've really just passed it on?" Eddie's army captain says.

Do I live like I am leaving something valuable behind and what is it that I am leaving behind? Is it something that those who come after me will cherish and remember me fondly for? Or will it be a sore spot, scar tissue if you will, when they are reminded of my legacy? When I sacrifice do I feel like I have lost something? Or do I trust that the transfer was made, that the baton was passed, in this relay race? I give of my time and effort, I give my heart. What is my attitude in sacrificing those things? Is it for the glory of the Lord, or is it to be recognized?

One of my favorite parts was at the end and Ruby, the narrator, says something like "It's most often the simple things you do in life, the everyday things that help people most. Not the grand acts associated with honor and glory."

See, Eddie is the maintenance engineer at Ruby Pier, an amusement park, and all the little things he does: tightening screws, oiling parts, checking brakes, making sure things run smoothly, etc... are all things that have have saved the lives of many people. Without him doing those things terrible accidents could have and would have happened. Machines break down. There's wear and tear that takes place. At the end of the movie all the people he has effected by doing these things are there at the amusement park, with their children, and their children's children, etc... Not only has he saved the 1st generation people but he has indirectly impacted those that came after them. It's at this point, when he sees all those people and he realizes that they are there for him, that he realizes that he's not a nobody, that he's not a loser, and that he's made a difference in many lives - and even lives to come. What we do behind the scenes, the simple everyday things we do, can have the biggest impact on people around us and we may not even realize it. Little things like: smiling at someone; sitting and talking to someone who wants or needs to have their voice heard; going beneath the surface with people in our lives; giving up a seat on the train; hugging a hurting friend; leaving a little extra tip even though the waitress may not "deserve" it from a "business" stand point but on a personal (looking at them as a person and not from the point of view that they are a robot there to serve you and do whatever you wish) stand point they very much deserve it; hailing a taxi and then giving it to someone else; going out of your way to open a door or perform some other senseless act of beauty; all of these have the possibility of impacting lives beneath the surface in ways we cannot even hope to see. Humans, like machines and amusement park rides, break down. There's wear and tear that takes place from the stresses and burdens of everyday life. We need maintenance engineers in our lives to prevent us from breaking beyond the point of no return. We need our screws tightened (is my head on straight?), our joints oiled (with a little TLC), our brakes checked (am I a run-away train heading for disaster?), and someone to make sure our rides are running smoothly (have I hit a bump that has caused a little internal damage that I need to look deeper at?).

Erwin Raphaeil McManus writes in Seizing Your Divine Moment: "A life touched by God, always ends in touching others."

Am I making family out of strangers? Am I doing little things everyday to touch someone's life without benefiting from it myself? What am I leaving behind? What kind of sacrifice am I making?

I suggest you watch this movie.