Mary and I were delighted to watch a film, The Magic of Belle Isle, on Netflix recently. It is actually the first movie we have ever watched on Netflix having just acquired this service. In this film, Morgan Freeman stars as an alcoholic author who has given up on writing and on life. He has moved to a rural community for the summer to drink and wallow in self-pity. There he is befriended by a single mom and her three daughters. The middle daughter, 9 years old, wants the author to teach her how to write "stories". This relationship is the core of the movie as Freeman's character challenges and guides this young girl in the use of her imagination. He encourages her "to see what you don't see".
I like that phrase and what it implies. For me, "to see what you don't see" is to live in a way that focuses on the possibilities, the potential, and the promise of life. It is to see through the eyes of your heart where love is in a world that seems to be shadowed and shaped by distrust, selfishness, and hatred. "To see what you don't see" is to perceive the Divine Spirit moving among and within the friends and family members that God has placed in our lives. It is to have "Faith". This way of "seeing" might be a good way to approach Lent as it begins this Wednesday. Not squinting our eyes in order to see only what we want to see but with eyes and heart and mind wide open to the miracles of life all around us.
2 comments:
Yen Indeed, I'll have to check this out.
I loved that part of the movie...but it was hard to imagine that the girl had such a hard time learning to imagine...But not hard to imagine how this movie embraces a loving life... so touching.
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