A recent Facebook post takes a new look at an old classic:
I realized something while watching "It's a Wonderful Life" recently. It was something I missed the first 3,317 or so times I watched it. That is, I think the hero of the story isn't George, it's Mary.
The movie starts off with Mary praying for God to be with George. Her prayer (and others) is the catalyst for the angel, Clarence, being sent to George. Mary is the one who sees the beauty of the old broken down house. "It's full of romance, that old place." George sees empty space; Mary sees a space that can be filled with a family's love.
That's why George kisses the broken banister knob in the end; he finally sees what Mary always saw in that house. Mary saw it on the day of their wedding. She was the one who transformed the house into "honeymoon suite." Of course, that happened after she had the idea to offer her $2000 honeymoon money to the people of the town during the bank run. When George is depressed by his friends moving onward and upward in the world and think he's a disappointment to his wife because of it, Mary makes it clear that she "didn't want to marry anybody else in town." Never complaining, she worked "day after day remaking the old Granville house into a home." This while having 4 children and running the USO.
Finally, Mary is the one who goes all over town to ask for help for her husband. Uncle Billy remarks, "Mary did it, George! Mary did it!" I had never noticed her expression before when Uncle Billy says this. She's in the background as he says it, and she mouths "No..." while she shakes her head and moves further into the background. It's an incredibly subtle but important feature of her character: do good for others, but let others receive the credit. She moves fully into the background so that everyone giving money to George can come front and center. This was all orchestrated by Mary but she fades into the background.
Now look at the picture below where Mary is again in the background. Note where she's positioned: over George's shoulder. The one watching over George all these years was Mary. She was as much a guardian angel to George as Clarence was.
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In the end, George was a good man; even a great one. He was after all, "The richest man in town." But would he have accomplished all he did, and been the man he was without Mary? I think the answer is definitely not. And there are many such Marys in this world who quietly go about, offering their prayers, works, and sufferings; raising their children; praying for their husbands and making them 10x the men they would have been without them.
Most of their deeds won't be known this side of heaven. Until they're known, we, the Georges of this world, offer to you Marys our profound thank you. And we promise to keep trying to lasso the moon for you. You deserve nothing less.
"An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life" (Proverbs 31:10-12, ESV).
Dust and airborne particles circulate throughout the rooms and ventilation systems of our homes unimpeded until they get to the air filter strategically located in the air handler of your a/c unit. That's where the junk is caught and hopefully dealt with, lest the system becomes clogged and fails.
Like airborne debris, your spiritual junk floats unimpeded through most of the airspace in your life, barely noticed at work, or in your community, or even among your friends and other family members. But there is no way it's getting past the most intimate of human relationships.
You can't hide your junk from your spouse! Your marriage is an air filter. It is a mechanism, strategically designed by God, intended to both serve and protect your spiritual life.
If there are issues in your spiritual life, they are sure to be "caught" in your marriage relationship.
Unresolved anger, selfishness, spiritual or emotional immaturity all "come home to roost." If you aren't who you should be at home, the filter is soon clogged and everything comes to a halt until the junk is dealt with. This is why, when there is real trouble, it is almost always felt in your marriage before it is detected anywhere else. Thus, your marriage is where you will most often be challenged to work on your junk.
Those who fail to understand this principle are inclined to see trouble in their marriage as proof that the marriage itself is the problem. This erroneous thinking leads some to conclude that the solution is to end the marriage — which is like blaming the filter itself for the clog.
Rather, you must learn to see the conflict in your marriage as a divine alarm, sounding off to warn you that your junk needs to be dealt with before you will be able to move forward toward becoming the person God has called you to be.
"In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself" (Ephesians 5:28, NIV).
"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17, NIV).
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas chapels of love that use Elvis Presley’s likeness could find themselves becoming Heartbreak Hotels.
The licensing company that controls the name and image of “The King” is ordering Sin City chapel operators to stop using Elvis in themed ceremonies, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on Monday. Authentic Brands Group sent cease-and-desist letters in early May to multiple chapels, which are expected to be compliant by now.
With Elvis themed weddings generating a hunka-hunka big chunk of the nearly $2 billion Las Vegas annual wedding industry, such a move could really end up being detrimental to the industry at large. Mom and Pop small businesses, which have only just begun to recover from the COVID shutdowns and financial crisis are in danger of going under.
Well, those desiring to enter into a genuine marriage covenant need not despair. There is indeed a King who will be present at every ceremony to which He’s invited.
But don’t stop there — invite Him into the marriage, not just the wedding. Unlike the fragile wedding industry, a Christ centered marriage will be able to withstand the many kinds of crises which will inevitably come.
“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12, NIV).
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!” (Matthew 6:24-27, NIV).