Afterthought: The Bucket List

The Bucket List (2007) is a story about two complete strangers (featuring Morgan Freeman who is a wise (as usual) and knowledgeable car mechanic and Jack Nicholson who is a very rich but arrogant man who owns private hospitals) crossing one another's paths when they ended up in the same bedroom in Nicholson's hospital as both were suffering from terminal illness.

When they received news from the doctor that they had only six months to a year's time to live, rather than spending their last days in the hospital to receive an experimental treatment, they came up with a list called 'bucket list' which consisted of things they wanted to do before they die. From then on, they journeyed around the world to complete the bucket list, doing crazy things (especially as they were elderly people suffering from terminal illnesses) like riding a motorbike up the Great Wall of China and skydiving etc.

The central message of the movie became explicit in the middle of the movie when they were sitting on top of a pyramid in Egypt. Freeman told Nicholson a story:

“The ancient Egyptians had a beautiful belief about death. When their souls got to the entrance of heaven, the gods asked them two questions. Their answers determined whether they were admitted or not."

As Freeman was about to reveal the questions, he wanted Nicholson to answer them as well.

Freeman asked, "Have you found joy in your life?" To this, Nicholson did not take much trouble to say "Yes!"

But when it came to the second question, "Has your life brought joy to others?" Nicholson struggled to answer.

Both eventually died at the end part of the movie (sad ending), but both brought genuine joy and meaning to one another's lives as they spent their last moments together. Not only have they found joy in their lives, they have truly brought joy to others as well.

Have we found joy in our lives?

Have our lives brought joy to others?

Joy, a rare virtue in a seemingly bleak world, and that includes the Christian world, or perhaps even more in the Christian world. Christians seem to be so serious that you seldom hear any laughter coming from them (Oh, I mean us). It is true that we need to recognise the depravity of man and the implications of such depravity that are manifesting in this world; it is true that Christians need to count the cost and carry the cross of suffering; but that does not give us the license to remain sorrowful and sulk in despair. We need to stand strong and find hope and meaning amidst our adverse environments. We need to put our "trust-in-God" mentality into practice. We need to pursue joy, now.

Only when we have found joy, can we bring this joy to others. Or else, gloomy faces, sulky appearances, negative mentality, critical condemnations...can such lives bring joy to others?

Please, find joy. Then, bring it to others. Easier said than done, but do it anyway!