‘Run Forest . . . Run’

My 11 year old son has recently gotten very interested in ‘Forest Gump’. If you know anything about that movie, you know that it is VERY long. My son seems to turn the channel at precisely the right moment when the re-run is showing. Oddly enough, though, he seems to catch it right at the same spot in the movie and never gets to see the beginning when the line, “Run Forest . . .’ is actually shared. Guess I’ll be caving to rent it if his luck doesn’t change here soon.

I am forever amazed at what can be revealed from things that we FEEL we are so familiar with. I could probably have rattled things off from that movie thinking I know a thing or two, but sitting there with my son for a while I saw something I had never seen before. Coming out of the part where Forest had been running for three years straight and wiped his face on that yellow tee-shirt, my son began to ask me if this was a true story, “did this guy really do all these things mom?” I kind of chuckled, and said, ‘No, I see it as just a sweet movie about a simple man who is blessed because he is so simple and loving.’ Many have commentaries on what the movie is mainly about and most hit upon the negative that while he accomplishes all these great things with his simple mind, his true love always eludes him. But there is actually something quite inspiring that many may not see.

Forest, was blessed by so much because he walked in PEACE. Aside from the moments he was sad for Jenny, he was generally happy – and let’s not forget he ended up getting her in the end. While he appeared to have only a small time with Jenny, he actually had a life time with her in his heart and he had a piece of her that lived on in their son. Forest Gump was CONTENT with his life. Something you don’t see much in our society.

Realizing all this, it made me wonder even more . . . do most people ever stop their lives long enough to consider HOW they are living their life?

Now, I’m not suggesting that we all become simple-minded in the manner he was, but I AM suggesting we become more , well . . . ‘simple-minded’. We are taught to THINK too much. We WORRY ourselves with many of the things we were never meant to worry about and we ultimately end up grumbling through life (been there, done that).

It finally makes sense to me . . . ‘Refinement’, that is. We are so often tossed into a life that brings about trials and what often feels like unbearable heart-ache at times . . . only to find ourselves on the other side walking in a little more peace or perhaps patience. Over the years of maturity, we are lucky to fall into several of these attributes . . . which is the main goal of the refinement process, you see.

Galatians 5 spells it out pretty clearly – esp. 5:22-23(a) ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control . . . ‘

Forest Gump – displayed ALL of these. Nine simple attributes that, BECAUSE of his simple-mind, he never had to TRAIN for or be put through the refining fires that many of us find our self’s in . . . he just DID. And because of this, he walked in peace and he was continually blessed. And the greatest of these is LOVE . . . above all else . . . he loved . . . unconditionally.

Hmmmmmmm . . . one might still bulk that this is ONLY a movie, based on a book . . . but think again. There’s one book with this same story that’s been around longer.

Before you turn another calendar page, you might want to consider pushing that STOP BUTTON and really think about this: “Is WHAT you are striving for and HOW you are going about it bearing any fruit?” Please do not misinterpret this as meaning a measure of financial success – for it has nothing to do with money and EVERYTHING to do with what is becoming successful IN YOU.

So, just as Jenny says to Forest and just as Paul suggests to us in Hebrews 12:1 – “Run, Forest . . . Run . . .”