 The
house -- the life -- that he has dreamed of. He gets rid of the old
to bring in something new and alive -- even if it is only to be passed
on to another. And through the building of this new house and new
life, others share in the renewal -- especially his son and ex-wife.
We
often come to understand in films with an eschatological element
that knowing the end is close and sure helps us to focus on what
is important in life. In scripture, when the First Testament prophets
spoke of the coming Day of the Lord, they wanted it to seem immediate.
In apocalyptic books, the message is that this is happening soon.
In Paul's writings the coming of Christ is always something to be
expected soon.
The
basis of Jesus' preaching was that the Reign of God was at hand.
In
Life as a House, we see that the end is always close at hand. Sometimes
we may be warned that it is coming. Or maybe it will be suddenly.
But the end is always at hand, and that end makes clear just how
important life is.
In
Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, Kathleen Norris tells of an
acquaintance who had struggled with cancer and its treatment before
a remission allowed her to return to teaching and writing.
"When
[her department head] said to her, 'We've been through so much in
the last few years,' the younger woman nodded, and smiled. 'Yes,'
she said, emphatically. 'Yes! And hasn't it been a blessing!'
That's
eschatology.
In
Life as a House, George and his family are blessed by their living
in an eschatological time.
Eschatology
-- believing in a future that is life giving -- is not only about
death. It is also about play. For in reality, none of us knows what
the future holds. So we can choose to imagine it either in nihilistic
term.
Jesus
concludes the Sermon on the Mount by telling of a wise man and a
foolish man. The wise man built a house on a rock, while the foolish
man built a house on sand. When storms arose, the house built on
the firm foundation stood, while the house on sand was destroyed.
Life
as a House combines the two men in George Monroe. The house of his
life is falling apart. His marriage is gone. His son is in trouble.
His job is gone. And the house he lives in is a trashy hovel in
the midst of a tony subdivision.
But
this man who has been foolish enough to build his house on the sand
tears it down to rebuild something new -- something he can be proud
of. And we watch it happen in his life and the life of his family
as the old house is torn down and replaced by the house he has always
dreamed of building.
Continued
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