It all happened right after we had our lunch.
My sister cooked practically half of the stuffs laid on our table. They are comprised of rice, sautéd vegetables and fried fish. I, on the other hand, prepared the dessert and the beverages. I have a penchant for shakes and salads so; it fell on me (as the least talented in cooking) to prepare the fruit shakes and the desserts. I provided mango shake and avocado shake as beverage and fresh Durian as dessert for this meal.
Most of the time, especially when I and my three sisters are present at home, this is the routine. They cook; I take care of whatever is left to be taken care of. This time though, there were only two of us present. We still managed. I cleaned up after the meal and my parents went to attend to our business.
April (older by three years) and I then went inside the house to amuse ourselves with whatever it is that we could amuse ourselves with. I played the violin; she played her flute. A few minutes later, we both turned towards the TV. For days now, I couldn’t find the ‘movie channels’ (our satellite’s been behaving weird lately) but by some wink of luck, I managed to find Star Movies. There, I saw Bridge to Terabithia.
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The movie was about two kids who weaved their own world (Terabithia) through their combined minds.
I thought the two looked good together, but anyway, the movie was for children so I highly doubt that the intent of the producers was to make the audience think of romance. It’s probably just the hopeless romantic in me that made me notice this fact (^_^).
I love the way the makers of the movie unfolded the story of the two ‘misfits’ and how they became friends. I was also delighted about the way the difference in Leslie’s and Jess’s family was portrayed (the psychologist in me talking).
It was saddening though, that the girl had to die in the end and that the boy almost ended up ruining himself because of guilt. See, at a certain point in the movie, the boy went to a museum with his beautiful teacher (who also happens to be his crush). All the while the girl went alone to Terabithia (the wood at the back of their house) where she drowned and died. The boy then wallowed in shame and guilt. He thought that if he only invited the girl to the museum, she wouldn’t have drowned.
Guilt is funny that way. It makes one irrational, that although some things are beyond our control and we don’t intend for it to happen, we still blame ourselves. I guess there is no worse critic of oneself than oneself. Anyway, it was only during the end of the movie that the boy managed to get over his burden and move on. He finally decided to embrace life for what it was; the girl being dead and him being alive.
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I think the girl’s presence in his life made an impact not only to him but also to his family. In the latter part of the movie I’ve seen how his dad’s attitude towards him changed (for the better in my opinion). I’ve also seen his maturity after the crisis. Another truth that is in the movie; after a trial, we either become stronger or weaker. In this case, the boy opted for the path that will make him better.
And yet another wisdom shared in the movie was “The best joy in life is working well at something worth doing”. This was said by the girl’s father during one of their house-painting sessions. Quite piercing to those who are forcing themselves upon doing something they don’t really want, such as, I don’t know, taking up a course that is not really of your liking? Sticking to a job you hate? It tells us to reconsider. It is known that God wants us to have joy in life. He made us for His glory. But then, how can we bring Him glory if we always feel miserable? I believe then that we don’t have to deprive ourselves of options. Life is short.
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Okay. So I was busy watching this movie and filing away some nice lessons when my gaze fell upon my sister. I was astonished of the fact that she was sniffing and secretly wiping her tears. Yes, I know. On some level, although my sister does not really confide that much things in me, I understood that she cried because she unwittingly put herself in the boy’s shoes. I understand that she loves her friends and that if things like those in the movie happens to them, she would also feel bad.
Funny is that thing called friendship. I admit, I can’t really relate that well to it. The closest things I have to best friends are my sisters. I have friends of course but not best friends. And let me get this straight, I’m not bitter about it. I guess that’s the price of independence. Relying solely in God and yourself in times of trouble really has its way of you being not-too-attached with anyone.
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Actually, my sister isn’t the only one who has musings of her own. During the middle of the movie, there was a scene where the two friends built a tree house. I remember when we were little we built our very own tree house as well. We sawed. We hammered. We cooked using tin cans. The tree house was about six feet above the ground and is anchored upon the mango tree beside our abode. (background song: pana-panahon ang pagkakataon maibabalik ba ang kahapon.*laughs*)
We dressed up ourselves. We were the Power Rangers! The Magic Knights! The Bananas in Pajamas! I can’t imagine that we used to have that kind of imagination. Truly remarkable! After watching the way those kids in the movie create such magnificent world with their minds, I almost remember what it felt like to have imagination as vivid as that, to think of things in their best light. Then, it made me wonder where all those imagination have gone to. What went wrong? When have I turned into a person whose realism almost border on jaded cynicism? What made me give all of those things up?
Then I realized, REALITY happened. LIFE happened. Which is why now, I don’t see the world as I did years ago. But is it for the better? Is my seeing the world through the eyes of realism making me a better individual? Well, I think in some ways it is. It made me more ready of the battles ahead. But for the most part it’s not. It only made me suspicious of the world and quite frankly, more pessimistic – always expecting the worst things to happen because some things are just too impossible to happen (spoken from the perspective of an unimaginative person).
As Believers, what should be our stand in this? I believe we must have both. Realism and imagination should come along in harmony. Although we understand how things work in life, we must not be afraid to imagine, and to expect these imaginations to come to life. In the problems and trials that we encounter, we must remember the biblical Truth that with God nothing is impossible. He can accomplish things far more than we DARE ask or IMAGINE (Ephesians 3:20-21). Being too serious and too realistic can sometimes rob us of the joys of being youthful, even of our salvation.
In this note, I would like to end this post by quoting Jess from the movie: “What good does being too serious do to a person anyway?”
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