As Good As It Gets
The movie with the title listed above is a favorite of mine. I can watch it every year or so. It's just plain good in every way.
There is a line in the film when Jack Nicholson is leaving the psychiatrist's office, and he looks at those sitting in the waiting room, and says, "What is this is as good as it gets?"
But, the movie slyly proves him wrong. The way it was for his character was not as good as it was going to get. It got better; it gets better. The movie is about hope.
In a bigger sense, beyond a movie, this is not as good as it gets. It gets better, in many respects; spiritually it truly will get better. My students were discussing suicide online (it's a half-online class). I pointed out what a psychologist friend told me once; suicide is about losing hope.
What drives us corporately and individually is the belief that this is not the end; there is not just a chance, but a likelihood, of it getting better not because of blind, dumb luck but because we have choice and act in this world. I don't believe in luck; I believe in the sovereignty of God and hard, smart work. I also believe that human relationships will make it better.
There is a line in the film when Jack Nicholson is leaving the psychiatrist's office, and he looks at those sitting in the waiting room, and says, "What is this is as good as it gets?"
But, the movie slyly proves him wrong. The way it was for his character was not as good as it was going to get. It got better; it gets better. The movie is about hope.
In a bigger sense, beyond a movie, this is not as good as it gets. It gets better, in many respects; spiritually it truly will get better. My students were discussing suicide online (it's a half-online class). I pointed out what a psychologist friend told me once; suicide is about losing hope.
What drives us corporately and individually is the belief that this is not the end; there is not just a chance, but a likelihood, of it getting better not because of blind, dumb luck but because we have choice and act in this world. I don't believe in luck; I believe in the sovereignty of God and hard, smart work. I also believe that human relationships will make it better.
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