Your Treasure
Every year around the holidays there are a number of classic films which are rebroadcast before and during the Christmas season. Movies such as ‘A Christmas Story’, ‘Miracle on 34th Street’, even films like ‘Die Hard’; though whether or not this is a Christmas film is often argued and debated about.
One such film is ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, which I inevitably watch at some point each year around the holidays. The story follows a man named George Bailey from a young boy throughout his life; the adult George played by James ‘Jimmy’ Stewart. This movie is set in a small, fairly poor town named Bedford Falls. The primary antagonist is named Mr. Potter, an older, greedy man who tries throughout the movie to manipulate his way into greater property and wealth at the expense of others. George wants to leave this town, and his life is represented through a series of circumstances in which he has found an opportunity or saved his money in order to make his exit, but each time he encounters others in need and inevitably gives up his chances to escape in order to help them. In each of these circumstances, his reaction seems innate, as he appears to delight in the chance to see another person benefit from his help; and then ultimately in a later scene we find him struggling against a life he never wanted. At one point in this film we see George hit rock bottom, his Uncle had lost all of the money in their savings and loan business. George in desperation asks Mr. Potter for help. Mr. Potter, having accidentally taken this money during an argument with the Uncle, denies him. But once again we see George’s natural tendency to bear other’s burdens when he blames himself for losing the funds. In his desperation, George decides to take his own life by jumping to his death from a bridge into a raging river. An Angel comes to his aid, and as George laments his life and wishes he had never been born, this Angel grants his wish to show him a world without him in it. George begins to see that all of the things he had done to help others had shaped this community into a family, and without his influence everything was bleak and hopeless for everyone he had known.
Recently I’ve been watching a set of videos of Dr. Jordan Peterson examining the book of Exodus in a round table discussion. I’m very interested to hear the thoughts of these wise gentleman particularly since I’ve been writing a book about the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20. My approach to the text is very different from theirs, I’m interested in knowing and understanding the heart of God; for them, the objective seems to be a consideration of the text to discover what wisdom it has to offer. One of Dr. Peterson’s statements in the fifth installment of this Exodus series particularly struck me:
“The most stable treasure house is the consequence of generosity”
~ Jordan Peterson
I’m not certain if this is his own idea or even his own words, but regardless of that, there is a truth in this message that caused me to rewind and re-listen to it quite a few times. This is in fact the message of the film as well. When George completes his glimpse of a world without him in it — during which his wife has traveled throughout the town asking all of their friends for help — George returns home happy to see his family and prepared to be jailed for losing all of this money. Mr. Potter had told the authorities that George has swindled the town, taking all of their savings for himself. Yet suddenly crowds of people come to his home, each of them contributing their dollars to help him, and we see — as Dr. Peterson put it — the consequence of his life of generosity. George had given up every chance to leave this small town and seek his fortune, to invest himself in the fortunes of others. As a result of this sacrifice, everyone comes to his aid with the same heart of gladness he had shown, that they could finally return all of his generosity. In the last scene of this film, George’s wife makes a toast to him, calling him “The richest man in Bedford Falls.” George had stored his treasure in others, through selfless generosity, and that treasure was always around him in those he had helped.
While I seem to end up watching this same film over and over every year, it always strikes me. And the more I think about the lessons within, the more I realize that there is a truth underlying the story that is deeply important. It draws me into a better frame of mind, and shows me each time how a life lived in the service of others is truly a life lived well. When we store our treasure in others through generosity, true wealth abounds.
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