Advent Parable Movie: "It's A Wonderful Life"

One of the most popular Christmas movies, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” began as a book, “The Greatest Gift.” Written by Philip Van Doren Stern, the story tells of a man who is in despair and having self-destructive thoughts. In his despair, an angel shows the man what life would be like without him to try and dissuade him from those thoughts. The main character in “It’s A Wonderful Life,” George Bailey, had a vision for life that included adventure, education, and travel. Over time, however, his sense of responsibility and desire to do good downsized those dreams reminding us that good sometimes requires sacrifice. Through those sacrifices, however, the lives and well-being of others in George’s hometown are secured.

Good things happen for George along the way too, a wife, home, and children. Through no fault of his own, however, a financial crisis occurs with dire implications for the family business and those who rely on its services. Like the man in “The Greatest Gift,” George cries out in despair to heaven above for help. His prayer is answered, but in an unexpected way in the form of Clarence, an underconfident, but aspiring angel trying to do good and earn his wings in the process. Clarence shows George what life would have been like for his family, friends, townspeople, and community had he never existed. Reminiscent of the spirits of past, present, and future, in our first cinematic parable, “A Christmas Carol,” Clarence provides George with an alternative worldview, a world without good.

George is transformed by the experience. With healing of heart and mind, he sees what is truly important, doing good and the affirming, helping relationships formed through that good. “The Greatest Gift,” was with George all along, he just couldn’t see it. Through Advent, we have been waiting and watching for the gift of a tiny baby, Jesus Christ, God with us. His arrival provides us with a new worldview establishing a vision for the Kingdom of God in the present. This vision transforms hearts and minds with an awareness that the Greatest Gift is already here and has been given to us through the power of the Holy Spirit to be and do good.

In his book, “Preparing for Christmas,” Richard Rohr tells us that “We are always the ‘stable’ into which the Christ is born anew. All we can really do is keep our stable honest and humble, and the Christ will surely be born.” Amen.

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