This is the Real Faith Podcast where we talk about a movie clip, a scripture, and make
an application.
We hope these provide encouragement to you.
I'm your host Chuck Bower.
I hold my undergraduate degree from Johnson University and my master's in historical
theology Christian literature from Wake Forest University.
After a successful church ministry of 28 years I became a public school teacher currently
teaching high school English.
We hope you are blessed by these episodes.
Have you guys ever been to Sunday School?
Puny God.
I love you.
I know.
As you wish.
Welcome back to Real Faith.
Thank you so much for tuning in and thank you for those who have shared the podcast on
social media as we tried to build our audience.
Thank you to Daniel Allen for being the producer of this podcast.
I really appreciate his time.
Our movie for this week comes from one of Robin Williams's classic films, is what
I consider.
I think he had a string of great movies from Hook to Mrs. Doubtfire and today's clip
comes from the Dead Poets Society. It was released in 1989 and if you've seen it then
maybe you remember that Robin Williams' character is a high school English teacher at a private
boarding school for all boys. His character's name is John Keating and he has unorthodox
methods for trying to teach the boys. He wants them to try to really understand the text
that they're reading, whether it be a poem or a literature piece. Instead of just memorizing
some formula, he wants them to really get it. So in this clip he takes them down to
the lobby to the hallway area and has them look at the trophy case for the school. The
trophies are all there along with the photos of the groups and teams that won those trophies.
And here we get our clip of the week.
Gather ye rose buds while ye may, old time is still a-flying, and this same flower that
smiles today tomorrow will be dying. Thank you Mr. Pitts. Gather ye rose buds while ye
may. The Latin term for that sentiment is carpe diem. Now who knows what that means?
Carpe diem, that's seize the day. Very good Mr. Meeks. Meeks, another unusual name. Seize
the day. Gather ye rose buds while ye may. Why does the writer use these lines? Because
he's in a hurry. No. Ding. Thank you for playing anyway. Because we are food for worms lads.
Because believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to
stop breathing, turn cold and die. I'd like you to step forward over here and peruse some
of the faces from the past. You've walked past them many times. I don't think you've
really looked at them. They're not that different from you are they? Same haircuts, full of
hormones just like you. Invincible just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They
believe they're destined for great things just like many of you. Their eyes are full
of hope just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even
one iota of what they were capable? Because you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing
daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you.
Go on, lean in. Listen. You hear it? Carpe. Carpe. Carpe diem.
Man, what a great clip. I remember the first time I saw this. Johnson University actually
took all the English classes, freshman English classes, to the theater to see this movie
when it came out in the fall of 89. So in our clip, Mr. Keating, Robin Williams' character,
he gets Mr. Pitts to read the opening stanza of To the Virgins to Make Much of Time by
Robert Herrick. And they snicker just like my students snicker when I announce that we're
going to read this poem in my English classes. And Keating connects this opening line of
gathering your rose buds while you still can with the Latin phrase carpe diem. Now, of
course, I don't believe we're just going to be worms food after we die. Obviously, I believe
that this is not our home, but we're on our way there. I still like the carpe diem mindset
though. Are we seizing the day? First Peter 1, 3 and 4 from the New Living Translation
says, All praise to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy
that we have been born again because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Get this. Now
we live with great expectation and we have a priceless inheritance that is kept in heaven
for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. So Peter reminds Christians
that we live with great expectations because we've been born again because of the mercy
of God and we have an inheritance in heaven. Now that's the attitude that we should have.
It's not dependent on circumstances, but it's based on what Christ has done, is doing and
will do. We've been born again and we have an inheritance in heaven. So we live with
great expectations. We should seize the day every day. Are we taking advantage of those
opportunities that the Lord puts in our path during the day? To speak an encouraging word,
to offer a prayer, to share the news about that great mercy. John 10 10 says that Jesus
came to give us abundant life and it is now. Yes, we look forward to heaven one day, but
are we living in that abundant life through Christ? Are we seizing the day? There's a
short story by Leo Tolstoy that I read with my sophomores called The Three Questions.
I'll link it to the show notes and you can read it when you have a chance. It's maybe
a five to 10 minute read, but it's a parable about a king who wants to know the answers
to the three most important questions according to the king. They are what is the best time
to begin something? Who are the most important people? And thirdly, what is the most important
thing to do? Now through this parable, the king learns the answers to these three questions.
The most important time is now. Just start. Don't worry about what has already happened.
Start now. There's no time like the present. Secondly, the most important person is whoever
you are with at that time. Give that person your attention. And third, the most important
thing help the person that you are with. I like these questions because they help us
frame how we can carpe diem. Will you seize the day? Will you live with great expectations
because of what the Lord has done and is doing in your life? And what does that look like
with those that you spend time with? Are you giving them your attention? Are you listening
to them? Are you treating them like they are the most important person right now in your
life? I challenge you this week to live with great expectation, but to every day have in
your mindset carpe diem. Seize the day. Live with that great expectation and know that
there is a purpose when God puts people in your life. Thanks and I'll see you next week.
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