I don't know how many of you have seen the movie with Adam Sandler called, "Click". I think it's one of Adam Sandler's best movies because aside from his normal comedic ways, he plays a very serious role about a very serious topic. The fast pace we live our lives today.
In the movie Adam Sandler's character buys a remote control from a store, but this is not just any remote control. It has powers to fast forward through some of the inconvenient parts of his life that he dislikes. He likes this and starts to use it all the time, but there is one catch. As he is fast forwarding through all the uncomfortable and inconvenient times of his life, the remote has a programmable feature, and it will start fast forwarding through these times all by itself when they come up again, even if he doesn't want too. His life is starts to zip by at a very rapid pace, and he misses out on a lot of things.
Watching this movie made me really think about me and my life and life in general. Life goes by so very fast as it is, we don't need some magical remote to help us out.
I look back at my life and see how fast life has clicked by. How many people that have come in and gone out. How many times I was rude and short with all those unpleasant people and situations. There were times that I was so selfish and hurt people that I really care about me, without a thought. It goes by so fast. You blink...and it's over.
I don't know why all this bothers me so much like it does. Maybe I'm just getting older or maybe there is more to it, but when I see these things happen in my own family, it tears my heart in two.
I see a father who says he will take the day and spend it with his daughter, and all he does is take her to MacDonald's, while he sits on the phone talking to someone. He gives her about five minutes of his time, and she just sits there staring into space, while he totally ignores her.
I see a wife sitting at the dinner table, trying to start a conversation with her husband, while he has his nose in the paper or watching the evening news on the TV.
He promises to be at his daughter's dance recital, but has to work late, and he misses his son's basketball game because he has to attend his big bowling banquet.
We are a very selfish people and we let other things and other place take the top spots in our lives when we should be giving more of ourselves to those around us that really need us and love us. You see, you don't really ever mature as a person until you can give yourself away to someone else without ever expecting anything in return.
You know, now as I look back at some of those times in my life that I thought were inconvenient or uncomfortable, they were some of the best times and they yielded some of the most fruitful moments in my life.
Don't live your life in the fast forward mode. Cherish every moment. Take the time to give and to care. Make time for family and friends. You will never really ever have your life, until you learn how to give it away. In giving, you will gain, and in surrendering... you will win. (Matthew 10:39)
I would like to close with the lyrics to a song by George Harrison of the Beatles.