The film The Road stars Viggo Mortensen in an epic post-apocalyptic tale of the survival of a father and his young son as they journey across a barren America that was destroyed by a mysterious cataclysm. Reckoned to be a masterpiece, the film imagines a future in which people are pushed to the worst and the best that they are capable of and a future in which a father and his son are sustained by love.
It is a film in which an older person supports and encourages someone younger, as in the story of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, where Simeon and Anna recognised and encouraged the potential in the baby Jesus. For teenagers it can often be difficult to accept that older people have something positive to contribute to their lives. They are often at the stage in life where they are testing things out for themselves and wanting to blaze their own trail through life. But those around them who are older in their family or church and at school can all be a positive influence as they recognise and encourage what they may have to offer.
This was certainly the case for me, as I look back on my teenage years. Like the boy in the film I was inspired and encouraged by my Dad, who has remained a big influence on my life, but I was also encouraged in creative writing by a teacher at my school and brought back to faith by a youth leader at my youth club. So, be on the look out for adults who see your potential and encourage it, as Simeon and Anna did for the young Jesus.
Then, be aware that it may take time for that potential to be fully realised. Simeon and Anna recognised Jesus’ potential when he was only a baby and Mary, his mother, remembered the things they said and treasured them in her heart. But it was thirty years later that Jesus began the ministry which was to fulfil the potential they had seen in him. And for those first thirty years of his life, he lived a very ordinary life. Over those years, his parents might well have wondered when are the things that Simeon and Anna spoke about going to happen? When is the potential that they saw in Jesus going to be realised?
TV talent shows suggest that our hopes and dreams can be achieved overnight but life doesn’t always develop in the way that we expect and it is important not to get frustrated when our hopes and dreams may not be realised instantly. Many people need significant life experience before their potential can be fully realised and we therefore need to persevere in order to get to a place in our lives where that occurs. The time it took for Jesus' potential to be realised in the way predicted by Simeon and Anna can therefore be an encouragement to patience in our lives as we wait for our potential to come to fruition.
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The Bluebells - Young At Heart.
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