george and i

during the Christmas holidays i made an effort to catch "its a wonderful life". to see it every year would lessen the impact of the film, but i hadnt in several years so i set out to reexperience its glory. i was a bit worried that time might have faded its glory. you know, how like when "knight rider" with david hasselhoff seemed all cool at the time but today you watch it and its like "this socks deek".

anyways, "its a wonderful life" didnt fade for me. this year more than ever i really related to it, especially the lead...george bailey. hes the eldest of two brothers...me too! his brother appears to be a couple years younger than he is, check! hes forever wanting to leave the crummy town he lives in, check! despite this desire he seems forever stuck, check! heres where the similarities get downright creepy...hes deaf in his left ear, CHECK!!! its like I'm george bailey!!!

beyond these striking similarities, his internal struggle also hit home. his angst resonated as his dreams and desires slip away with his youth. God & life seem to bring him cruelly to the precipice of success only to have it slip from his grasp at the last moment, all while witnessing his lessers surpass him.

thankfully george's awakening was also congealed in me brain. when he gets angelic insight and perspective on what and who matters in this life. its family. its friends. its people. its life. he learns his life has purpose and is not just a series of meaningless mistakes and strokes of luck. this purpose dwarfs the unfullfilled desires that previously drove him to the bridge.