Thoughts from "Garden State"

Garden State is one of those indie dramedies (examples include Lars and the Real Girl, 500 Days of Summer, United States of Leland, or Wristcutters) many, or at least some of us have come to know and love these days.

After seeing Garden State for a second time, I am reminded of the difficulty of interacting with this genre of film. These movies are very dialog heavy, and since I do not take notes, it is easy to lose key lines from the movie as you watch it, and they slip away even faster once the movie is over.  Second, I do not so much watch these films as much as I enter into these films.  Movies like Avatar and Daybreakers are movies you watch but do not necessarily enter into, or you merely enter in for a scene here or a scene there.

This film deals with the themes of emotion, home, love, significance; and all of these are addressed within a world that is finite.  This life is the only shot you get, and when it's over, it's over.  That's it.  So, where's the hope?  Well, hopefully you'll find something worth living for and people worth living with...hopefully.  After all, according to Garden State, life is an "infinite abyss."  So, what do you do?  You live in the present, for the now, because who knows what's on the way and how long it is going to last anyway.

As I watched Garden State I realized that I shared similar emotions and feelings with the varying characters at different points in the film, but I could not enter into these feelings without knowledge of how my faith addressed these emotions.  True, sometimes you do not feel like you have a home, a place of community to go back to ("The affectionate child pines in a mansion for the home of his parents, though that is a scene of comparative poverty," which is clearly revealed by the statements of Jesse in the film.), but for the Christian, it does not end there.

For the Christian, we know that whatever idea and community of "home" we experience here, it is only a taste of what our real home will be - Heaven, eternally in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  "This is the expression and summation of all the believer hopes for beyond the gave...ETERNAL LIFE: It is life, intellectual, physical, spiritual, social—in absolute perfection—and all this forever...through eternity there shall never be a moment when there shall not be a fullness of joy; when the happy immortal shall not be able to say, "THIS IS LIFE!"  'He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain! For the old world and its evils are gone forever!' (Rev. 21:4)."[1]

For Garden State, this life is a road to nowhere:

Andrew Largeman: You remember that idea I had about working stuff out on my own and then finding you once I figured stuff out?
Sam: The ellipsis? 

Andrew Largeman: Yeah, the ellipsis, it's dumb. It's dumb. It's an awful idea. I'm not gonna do it, okay? Cause like you said, this is it. This is life. And I'm in love with you... I think that's the only thing I've ever really been sure of in my entire life. And I'm really messed up right now, and I got a whole lot of stuff I have to work out, but I don't want to waste any more of my life without you in it. And I think I can do this. I mean, I want to. I have to, right?
Sam: Yeah. Yes!
Andrew Largeman: So what do we do? What do we do?

So, what do you do in a life that's on a road to nowhere?  Where do you go?  Find love that will hopefully last until you die?  Find a home that's permanent enough to last so you can leave it instead of it leaving you?  What?

"There is a source that can tell us what life is really about. Found in the pages of Scripture...are directions not just to “live and learn” but to “learn and live.” The promise of skillful living is made to all those who will “listen to advice and accept instruction” (Proverbs 19:20). God has revealed truths about life; the Bible is a guidebook of sorts, a blueprint to living, the foundation of a well-built life and a roadmap through the maze of confusion that our days often resemble. There is purpose and meaning, clarity and fulfillment in this life. But it is only found as we navigate by the wisdom contained in the word of God."[2]

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:7-9).

On a road to nowhere with no absolute destination except the non-existence of death and no absolute purpose, all that is left is desire.  Purpose becomes fulfilling your desires, and you cannot fulfill your desires; no one can ultimately fulfill their desires, which makes every life without Christ a failed life.

"For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee" (Augustine).  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."  He is the road; He is the destination; He is the purpose, and it is through Him that we finally reach our true home, where we've been meant to be since the day we were born - eternal life with Him in Heaven.