One of the lessons I’ve been learning recently has been quite hard to learn (which isn’t too surprising, as lessons go).  This lesson, as near as I can describe it in one phrase, is that “memories can weigh you down.”  That’s a rather odd statement, so let me explain it.

We (as humans) have a tendency to hold on to our past.  That is a God-given tendency insofar as it makes us praise God for who He was (and who He is, and who He always will be).  But it becomes a flawed tendency if our past makes us regard God as either less just or less relevant.

The simpler half of this lesson is that “bad memories can weigh you down.”  When we dwell on “bad memories”–past events that irritate, horrify, or mortify us–it’s easy to become bitter.  Whether or not we think we’re “angry at God” for these events is irrelevant, because whether we wish we had done something different or God had done something different, we’re still focusing on ourselves.  By dwelling too deeply on bad memories, we willingly feed our self-centeredness and pride (qualities that are among the worst of our fallen nature), and our pride chains us to the ground.

The more complicated half of the lesson, however, is that “good memories can weigh you down.”  That’s really a hard concept to grasp, so I’ll provide some elaboration.  All of us have (hopefully) had times when we felt incredibly happy; these could’ve been stretches of time, special occasions, or just special moments.  To remember those is to remember some of God’s most obvious blessings on our lives.  But the nature of those times–and in fact, the nature of the past itself–is that it’s already happened.  It’s ended.  Thus, to dwell on even the good memories of the past is to cogitate something that WAS, and [in most cases] is no more.  Because the memory is so good, it’s very easy to wish it were still happening, or that we were still in that wonderfully happy period of time.  What’s wrong with this?  Well, remember that, since God created the universe to exist in time, His perfect plan for us also exists in time–and is, therefore, linear (until, of course, the end of time).  God has a reason for everything that has happened, is happening, and ever will happen.  Thus, not only does He have a reason for how your life is right now, He also has a reason why your life isn’t how it used to be.  In other words, the past is past for a perfect, divine reason.  To dwell too deeply on the happiness of the past is to not dwell enough on the joy of the future–encased in God’s perfect plan.

I’ll provide an example of how this concept plays out.  Pixar’s latest film, appropriately titled “Up,” focuses on Carl Fredricksen, a man who has had a very memorable past.  He married the woman he loved and shared a wonderfully happy life with her…until she died.  Now he lives alone, and holds the past as his most prized possession.  He loves it and hates it at the same time.  Later in the film, he has traveled to South America in a house full of balloons, but the balloons have lost much of their former helium.  Carl’s newfound friend, Russell, has been taken captive aboard an airship, and Carl is unable to help because his house is stuck on the ground.  Finally, Carl decides to do the unthinkable:  he throws everything out of his house–everything that reminds him of the past, even his pictures of his wife.  Only when everything is gone can his house rise from the ground, and only then can Carl soar above the clouds to take hold of the new adventure that awaits him.

While our choice may not feel as clear-cut as Carl’s, we do find ourselves at a similar turning point–even right here and now.  We can consider the future an afterthought to the wonders of the past, or we can consider the past a precursor to the wonders of the future.

I do not say, “forget the past”–on the contrary, remember the past!  There is much to learn from it.  But do not let its memories become a stumbling block.  They are intended to propel your faith upward, not to pull it down.

Truthfully, it’s only natural to treasure the past.  It’s all our lives have ever been.  But it is not all that our lives ever will be.  Take heart.  Christ has a beautifully crafted future for you, so make Him your greatest treasure.  “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” -Matthew 6:21

I’ve decided to use a site called Vimeo.  While not as popular as Youtube, it is better in almost every way.  From my profile page on Vimeo, you will be able to:

- Watch all of my best and recent videos in high quality, right online

- Download any of those videos right to your computer, if you wish

- Subscribe to, post comments on, and “like” any of my videos

All this is over at vimeo.com/natemancini

Note:  the ‘movies’ link in the sidebar now also takes you to my vimeo profile.

Searching for Stein Eriksen III from Nathan Mancini on Vimeo.
Vimeo Page

Gone (Puppet Music Video) from Nathan Mancini on Vimeo.
Vimeo page

Every day for the past month, I’ve posted a piece of Winter Wisdom on Facebook. Now the wisdom is complete, so you can read the entire list below:

1. Studies show that you can boost the happiness of you and the people around you by at least 75%, simply by wearing a Santa hat.
2. When Christmas break rolls around, go home by a different route. Especially if you’ve met with any evil kings recently.
3. Keeping snowballs in your freezer for snowball fights is a good way to win, but a bad way to retain friends.
4. Recent reports indicate that the North Pole has gone paperless; Santa now uses an Amazon Kindle to check his list twice. The head elf, Bernard, said it was because otherwise they’d have to start cutting down Christmas trees to make enough paper for the list, which would be counterproductive to the Christmas spirit. Santa himself declined to comment.
5. This Christmas, do your part for charity–don’t eat your carrots! Give a needy snowman a nose.
6. Don’t eat venison this Christmas. If you do, there will be one less relative at the reindeer family reunion.
7. Grace is the gift that keeps on giving.
8. If you want the memory of a gift to stick with someone, wrap their present in duct tape.
9. A white elephant is the perfect gift for the zookeeper in your life who has everything else.
10. Studies show that walkways and driveways that seemed pretty thin in the summer
instantly widen by 50% after the first snowfall–so you have more area to shovel.
11. In former life, Rudolph was a clown. He wore a red nose, and he got laughed at. When he left the circus to become a reindeer, he thought things would change. They didn’t.
12. “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). Yet another reason to buy from Skymall.
13. You can give your roommate unceasing Christmas cheer by turning your speakers to maximum volume and playing Relient K’s “12 Days of Christmas” on repeat for the next 12 days.
14. Never challenge an elf to an eggnog chugging competition. You will lose.
15. If you’re depressed that Christmas shopping is over, just remember that it’s only four months before you get to spend money on federal income taxes.
16. After he turned 18, Santa left home to become an independent Claus.
17. Late last night, a top hat and three black buttons went missing from a fine clothing store. The only visible clue was a trail of water leading to the door. Police suspect that the intruder was none other than the infamous burglar known only as “Frosty.” Witnesses of previous crimes say that he sent chills through their veins.
18. Santa is like your cat. He sees you when you’re sleeping, knows when you’re awake, and loves it when you leave milk out for him.
19. I met a snow angel yesterday. I think he made a really good impression.
20. Saying “happy holidays” at Christmastime is like being completely silent at parties because you don’t want to offend any deaf people.
21. Historically, “trimming the tree” referred to cutting off the lower branches so as to leave more room for presents underneath.
22. If you have motion detectors in your living room, you might not want to set your alarm on Christmas Eve night.
23. You’ve always had to worry about deer jumping in front of your car. But tomorrow night you’ll have to worry about deer flying in front of your plane.
24. Santa cares more about your heart than the type of cookies you leave out for him. But he does like chocolate chip. With butterscotch bits. Baked at 350° until golden brown. And don’t forget the milk. 2%, not skim.
25. You didn’t save Christmas. Christmas saved you.

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Each part is 14-19 minutes long.  Unfortunately, I cannot upload them to Youtube or Vimeo, since those sites have a 10 minute limit.

The summer before that, in 2007, we got Pirates of the Caribbean 3, which was too long and also quite weird.  Spider-Man 3 was pretty good, except for Peter Parker going emo.

The summer before that, in 2006, we got Pirates of the Caribbean 2, which was, like its successor, too long and too weird, especially as the follow-up to a great film like PotC 1.

There have been some great films thrown in, of course, like Ratatouille and Iron Man, but the films everyone expected to be great ended up being only mediocre, and it was the less publicized films that were great (for instance, Iron Man just popped out from nowhere as a summer blockbuster.  No one saw it coming).

So, it was with some apprehension that I approached the batch of films for summer 2009.  Nothing jumped out as having a lot of potential.  But now, just one month into the summer movie season, I’ve seen 3 films, and all of them have been great.  Like, actually great.

The first was Disney’s Earth, a breathtaking overview of our planet with hundreds of fantastic visuals.  You get to see so many amazing moments in God’s creation (and it’s without the usual evolution-centric narration).  It’s the best documentary I’ve seen in a long time.

The second was J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, an incredible space adventure film that tells the story of how the Star Trek crew came together.  It’s full of action, emotion, and laughs, and it ends leaving you wanting a sequel right away.

The third was Pixar’s Up, which tells the story of Carl Frederickson, a happy husband turned widower who flies his house to South America in search of the adventure he always dreamed of.  Up also tells the story of Russell, an eager 8-year-old wilderness explorer, and Charles Muntz, a famous adventurer.  Words cannot describe how well these three character arcs are woven together, or how touching, and hilarious, this film becomes.  Pixar’s Up is a must see.  You will not be disappointed.

In fact, you won’t be disappointed by any of these 3 films.  They are that good.  It looks like this summer turned out to be one of the best movie seasons in years.

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