When I was attending graduate school in Chicago, I marveled at the electric blue beauty of Lake Michigan. My dorm sat on Lake Shore Drive, right across from this marvelous body of water. I thought about lounging by the lake for a series of days, writing about my impressions of the waterway daily, thinking that I could capture a different element each day. I wanted to be like a painter who revisits a scene again and again, drawing new inspiration each time.
In that spirit, I am returning this Christmas season to the topic of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The movie, which became a hit only in retrospect, after years of being re-run on television, poses the existential question: What if the main character had never been born?
We see a sweet town turn into sin city…the cantankerous Mr. Potter without a protagonist to stem the tide of his greed… a maiden named Mary who never has an opportunity for marriage and motherhood. And we learn of the tombstone of a 9-year-old boy whose brother was not around to save him. Remember this discussion between the angel Clarence and good old George Bailey?
Clarence: Your brother, Harry Bailey, broke through the ice and was drowned at the age of nine.
George Bailey: That’s a lie! Harry Bailey went to war! He got the Congressional Medal of Honor! He saved the lives of every man on that transport!
Clarence: Every man on that transport died. Harry wasn’t there to save them, because you weren’t there to save Harry.
I think of desperate women walking into abortion facilities, and I wish they could hear an angel, talking about their babies, telling them that their lives can be wonderful, too. And I reflect on people on the verge of assisted suicide, and I think, if only they could remember this line from the film:
Clarence: You see, George, you’ve really had a wonderful life. Don’t you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?
It is a wonderful life…despite dreams that can crumble like Zuzu’s petals…despite sickness and sacrifice…pain and poverty. For where there is life, there is hope — and joy that can come from knowing you’re on the right path, the path of helping people, as George Bailey did.
So, this Christmas, I am looking at “It’s a Wonderful Life,” not only with nostalgia, but with fresh eyes. Because this year, and every year, we need to remember Clarence’s message. It is always a mistake to throw a life away.
By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director, Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation via NRL News Today
