Just before Christmas this year I watched, yet again, It's a Wonderful Life starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. It hit me more than ever how George Bailey had longed for and aimed to achieve a certain kind of life and career but ended up, through a series of circumstances largely outside of his control, working at the one job he had most hoped to avoid. It was by being in this position, however, that he was able to provide for and save from ruin many of the people in his town. They then did the same for him at his time of need. Watch it again for that vocational twist. What might have become of Bedford Falls—and of George—had George insisted that the only way his life would have meaning would be by following his dreams?
“Thou takest the pen – and the lines dance. Thou takest the flute – and the notes shimmer.
Thou takest the brush – and the colors sing. So all things have meaning and beauty in that space beyond where Thou art.
How, then, can I hold anything back from Thee.”
— Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings
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