The Pursuit of Happyness
This weekend while I was under the weather with a severe cold I got the chance to watch the movie: The Pursuit of Happyness. For some reason, I found myself crying like a baby through out the entire movie. It was a sad movie mostly because the main character, Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith), had come on to some heavy times from unemployment, to figuring out a way to make a better life for his son, to homelessness, to sleeping in the subway bathroom overnight, to job internship without pay and so on... I felt very connected to the main character on so many levels especially as a parent and a fellow journeyer on the path of the pursuit of happyness. At one point in the film Chris sees business men and women in downtown NY and concludes that they all look happy and it was there where the film was making the connection: money= happyness. Chris sees a guy driving a sports car and says, "Hey what do you do?" And the sports car driver says, "I'm a stockbrocker". At that point Chris says, "Everyone seemed so happy". Everyone was referring to the men and women in business suits and ties, walking in and out of a down town building with very heavy brief cases and very wide smiles. It is at this point of the movie where Chris decides he must try life as a stock brocker since other avenues of work are not coming to fruition. Okay so that's a brief synopsis of the movie, but my exploration on a personal note had to do with this whole pursuit thing...
It seems to me that money (especially in this case) would have helped out a whole bunch in helping his family financially, finding housing stability and so on, thus giving peace of mind and a sense of happiness but can money really bring deep, soul contentment and happiness? Even being a Christian on the path of following the example of Christ and deepening my faith in God-- I find that I'm still in pursuit. And maybe that is what saddened me while watching this movie-- I see myself and the world around scratching around trying to find some inner peace, some joy, some happiness-- yet at times coming up so empty handed.
Maybe the true pursuit needs to be in finding connection with God despite whatever outcomes would come in our journey. Let's face it our quest for God doesn't always give us the warm, fuzzy feelings we always expect or desire but somehow in our faithfulness & steadfastness to the call I believe that it can give us the depth and contentment that only that kind of commitment can bring.
Oswald Chambers says, "Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord ecperienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, 'As the Father has sent Me, I also send you (John 20:21)'.
