Have you ever wanted to leave all the obligations of life behind and just dash off Into the Wild? This movie certainly made me want to do so!
I have to admit, this movie was very appealing to me. After a semester filled with obligations to my school work, responsibilities and countless last minute requests for my time... this idea was intriguing. I wanted nothing more than to leave everything behind and get back to something that made me feel more alive and less run-down.
Although Chris McCandless has all the material possessions he could desire and a future at Harvard waiting for him... he leaves it all behind in pursuit of something greater. He meets and inspires many people along the way, however, they all seem concerned about one thing: his determination for a solitary existence.
During one of my favorite conversations in the movie, Chris rails about our, "sick society, man!" I know how you feel, brother...
People can be very disheartening sometimes... "Judgment, control, the whole spectrum..."
I'm often discouraged by the effects people have on me - anything from misplaced obligations, negativity, and criticism to the sticky trap of people pleasing. These are things I'd rather not have present in my life. Like Chris, I can sometimes feel the frustration building to the point where I'd rather cut people out of my life entirely. However, this solution is not the solution. There's one major thing that Chris didn't factor in... and that was the power of God in reconciliation.
Chris's solution was to depart into the wild. The movie begins with a quote:
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more…
~ Lord Byron
I like what it says about the "pleasure in the pathless woods" and "society, where none intrudes." There is a definite magic that nature works on the soul. But why is that? Why is there a feeling of "society, where none intrudes"?
Let's go back to the missing piece of Chris's equation...
The heavens declare the glory of God
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
~Psalm 19:1-5
During one of the last conversations Chris has in the movie, he runs into an old man named Ron Franz. Ron drives him to a deserted area outside of town. He soon discovers that Chris's nearest neighbors live in the nudist colony, up over the hill. He watches as Chris settles his things near a simple tent, making himself at home.
Ron, who has already grown attached to and concerned for this young man, begins asking questions about his life. "You strike me as a bright young man, am I wrong about that?" he begins. Chris confirms that he's got his head on his shoulders pretty straight. Ron continues, "Son, don't you think you ought to be getting an education? And a job? And making something of this life?"
Chris settles himself onto the trunk of Ron's truck and says, "Look, Mr. Franz, I think careers are a 20th century invention, and I don't want one." He explains that he's living this way by choice.
Ron was disappointed that Chris, with all his firm beliefs and thirst for adventure, was choosing to live a life on his own, separated from any person. I admire Chris for his all out pursuit of his ideals. He refused to live the sort of life this world had set out for him. He got this idea that life was more than materialism and having a steady job. And once he had this idea, he went for it. He lived it. But... there was so much more for him. Ideas that could have been taken further, more discoveries to be made... Especially when it came to the realm of reconciliation.
Towards the end of the film, Chris comes to the conclusion that "Happiness is only real when shared."
Chris lived an inspiring lifestyle. He influenced people on his journey in search of something greater, while also receiving life lessons and help from others . We can see him working through some of these ideas as he goes along.
I agree with him that "you're wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from human relationships." Humans are all broken and imperfect. This society is often times very sick. However, human life, in this broken status, is not the final goal. It is not the end. God has given us, through Jesus, the "ministry of reconciliation." God, who is Love, wants to unite all things in him and is our hope beyond this broken world. We need not escape this world but, joined with Christ, we can be a part of the solution in this broken world.
"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:16-20
More on that later :)
I have to admit, this movie was very appealing to me. After a semester filled with obligations to my school work, responsibilities and countless last minute requests for my time... this idea was intriguing. I wanted nothing more than to leave everything behind and get back to something that made me feel more alive and less run-down.
Although Chris McCandless has all the material possessions he could desire and a future at Harvard waiting for him... he leaves it all behind in pursuit of something greater. He meets and inspires many people along the way, however, they all seem concerned about one thing: his determination for a solitary existence.
During one of my favorite conversations in the movie, Chris rails about our, "sick society, man!" I know how you feel, brother...
People can be very disheartening sometimes... "Judgment, control, the whole spectrum..."
I'm often discouraged by the effects people have on me - anything from misplaced obligations, negativity, and criticism to the sticky trap of people pleasing. These are things I'd rather not have present in my life. Like Chris, I can sometimes feel the frustration building to the point where I'd rather cut people out of my life entirely. However, this solution is not the solution. There's one major thing that Chris didn't factor in... and that was the power of God in reconciliation.
Chris's solution was to depart into the wild. The movie begins with a quote:
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more…
~ Lord Byron
I like what it says about the "pleasure in the pathless woods" and "society, where none intrudes." There is a definite magic that nature works on the soul. But why is that? Why is there a feeling of "society, where none intrudes"?
Let's go back to the missing piece of Chris's equation...
The heavens declare the glory of God
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
~Psalm 19:1-5
During one of the last conversations Chris has in the movie, he runs into an old man named Ron Franz. Ron drives him to a deserted area outside of town. He soon discovers that Chris's nearest neighbors live in the nudist colony, up over the hill. He watches as Chris settles his things near a simple tent, making himself at home.
Ron, who has already grown attached to and concerned for this young man, begins asking questions about his life. "You strike me as a bright young man, am I wrong about that?" he begins. Chris confirms that he's got his head on his shoulders pretty straight. Ron continues, "Son, don't you think you ought to be getting an education? And a job? And making something of this life?"
Chris settles himself onto the trunk of Ron's truck and says, "Look, Mr. Franz, I think careers are a 20th century invention, and I don't want one." He explains that he's living this way by choice.
Ron was disappointed that Chris, with all his firm beliefs and thirst for adventure, was choosing to live a life on his own, separated from any person. I admire Chris for his all out pursuit of his ideals. He refused to live the sort of life this world had set out for him. He got this idea that life was more than materialism and having a steady job. And once he had this idea, he went for it. He lived it. But... there was so much more for him. Ideas that could have been taken further, more discoveries to be made... Especially when it came to the realm of reconciliation.
Towards the end of the film, Chris comes to the conclusion that "Happiness is only real when shared."
Chris lived an inspiring lifestyle. He influenced people on his journey in search of something greater, while also receiving life lessons and help from others . We can see him working through some of these ideas as he goes along.
I agree with him that "you're wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from human relationships." Humans are all broken and imperfect. This society is often times very sick. However, human life, in this broken status, is not the final goal. It is not the end. God has given us, through Jesus, the "ministry of reconciliation." God, who is Love, wants to unite all things in him and is our hope beyond this broken world. We need not escape this world but, joined with Christ, we can be a part of the solution in this broken world.
"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:16-20
Some final thoughts about this beautiful story:
- Chris was onto something when he saw that this world was taking him on a path that was empty. The atmosphere of materialism was not something he wished to conform to. Romans 12:2 says - "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
- While Chris's solution was, at first, to leave this world behind and escape from this sickly society, God offers a different solution; one in which we are a part of the solution. Before Jesus died, he prayed for us saying, "Father... I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world." ~ John 17:15-18.
- "When you forgive... you love. And when you love, God's light shines on you." ~Ron Franz
- "The core of man's spirit comes from new experiences." ~Chris McCandless
- "You're wrong if you think the joy of life comes principally from human relationships. God's placed it all around us. It's in anything we can experience." ~Chris McCandless
More on that later :)
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