I love all types of movies, and each one speaks to me differently. The Shawshank Redemption is one of those movies that I can watch a hundred times and get something new each time. That's my favorite kind of movie to watch. The kind where no matter how many times you watch it, each time you can relate it to whats going on in your own life at the time. Earlier I got to thinking about how the entire time Andy is in prison, he is away from his home. He is forced into a new place with no other option than to start over. Andy took his past life experience and used it to help find his identity in a new place. Even though he was in prison, Andy never abandoned his personal values and morals he had for himself. He never allowed himself to become lost in this new environment. In a way, Andy is a hero to me. I look at how Andy dealt with the situation he was put into, and I am encouraged. Encouraged to live life in the present and not focus on what could have been or what might be. Andy lived in prison with the awareness of something better outside those walls, but made the most of his situation until the time was right for him to move on. I want to live my life like that.
The situation Andy finds himself in at Shawshank is a situation every one of us finds ourself in at one point or another in life. He is outside his comfort zone against his will and forced to make the best of the situation. He could have just sat there and not tried to change a thing. He could have let the prison he was in get the best of him. I think it's interesting that Andy overcomes the situation he is in at prison. To me in a rather existential way of thinking, this relates to life. At one time or another, most of us go through that stage in life where we think that we are trapped in a prison. School is awful, your parents are telling you what you can and can't do, and nothing you say or do seems to be right. Your stuck. And like prison, there is no way out until your time is up.
Personally, I think the Christian experience is also similar to what Andy goes through in the movie. As a fairly new Christian, and surrounded by a brand new community of people, I find myself trying to make the new place I'm in home. I'm being forced outside my comfort zone in order to survive with Christ. The minute I accepted Christ as my savior, I became fully aware that I was no longer able to live how I once lived. If I really want to be at ease, I have to adapt to my surroundings and learn to live in a brand new way. At first this was really hard. Actually to be honest, this is still really hard. I have never really been the kind of person to seek out new friends. Like Andy actually, I tend to keep to myself. That's not to say that I don't love being with people, because I do...but I also enjoy time to myself to think. I prefer to take in my surroundings and evaluate them before making decisions. After a while though, I found that opening up to new people became easier. At first the conversation with my new Christian friends was short. I didn't know what to say to them because I felt like my life before Christ was way to different and they couldn't possibly relate to how I see things. But slowly I've been learning that they are no different than me. Even though our backgrounds are different, we are still seeking out the same goal: to love the Lord. When it became apparent that I was accepted even when I still felt lost, it became much easier to get along with people. I started to step out of my shell, and slowly I've been becoming the person I know Christ wants me to be. When Andy was in prison, a lot of people reached out to him. It took him awhile to let them in, but once he did he was able to start sharing experiences with them.
Sometimes being away from home is uncomfortable. We are unsure of ourselves because we are so used to things being consistent at home. Most times at home we are not being pushed outside of our comfort zone. We know what to expect and know how to handle situations. Not only that, the environment is very familiar. There isn't a lot of change. When we are forced outside of our homes, survival mode is turned on. We become much more sensitive to things because they are new to us. Eventually though, we calm down and our senses return to normal. What was scary before is all of a sudden fun. The new people around you don't seem as weird and you find that you have a lot more in common with them than you think once you open up to the situation. Dying to my old self and being born to Christ was exactly like that. Scary at first and then really exciting. Like Andy, the situations I found myself in were different, but I decided to take control of the situation instead of letting it take control of me. Sure, it took me awhile, and it was very difficult...but the end result has been beautiful. I wake up each morning knowing that I have the body of Christ behind me. I know that when I leave this Earth, this so called prison, that like Andy I will experience a paradise far more beautiful than I could ever imagine. But until then, I need to embrace this new home with everything I am, finding ways to make the most out of it, until I am ready to move again.
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