Lost Marbles: “See ya in another life Brotha”

You don’t have to be a fan of ‘Lost’ to appreciate someone trying to save the world one life at a time.  That’s Desmond Hume-  the 1 person in Lost continually seeing strength in people they do not see in themselves. 

Desmond’s faith in others and his destiny doesnt come from his strength, it flows from his weakness.  A defining moment of Desmond’s life happened when someone said to him, “you will never be a great man.”

“What you’re not is worthy of drinking my whiskey…how could you ever be worthy of my daughter?”

Widmore’s voice is that voice in my head that tells me I’m no one and will amount to nothing.  Regardless of achievement, this voice will always find something I havent accomplished.  Regardless of success, it will whisper to me somewhere I have failed.  No matter who I become, it will point at someone “who’s become more” to show me I don’t measure up. 

This voice is a lie.  There is another life Brotha.

We can go through our mundane monotony, believing the lies about who we really are.  Desmond leaves this moment, and out in the street realizes he’s not that weak man Widmore saw.  He spends the next years reminding people of their true identity-that they have a part to play so much larger than the lies they’ve believed. 

It’s people like Des who have kept me alive.  People who see in me what I don’t have the strength to believe myself.  You want to talk about leadership?   A leader is one who who cares enough to wake us from the nightmare of living suffocated by the lies we’ve believed about ourselves.   People who change our world see something in us maybe no one else sees…. and they help us see it and believe it ourselves.  

Don’t just settle for listening to the right voices…. BE the right voice for others.  If you and I have been lied to this much…imagine what others have believed.  They need a new lease on life–life lived under the truth.

Being the right voice gives a person a whole new life.  This is how we can say as Des does so simply…

“See you in another life, brotha”

Lost Marbles: “We have to go back”

Watching this fan video definitely took me back.  2 of the top lingering moments in 6 seasons for me were definitely Charlie’s “Not Pennys Boat” and Jack saying, “We have to go back”.

Jack tried to go on with his everyday life after leaving the Island.  For a time, it worked, but the pea under the mattress grew into a watermelon.  His ability to love, trust, forgive, and avoid addiction and depression were all tied to unfinished business. 

He wasn’t alone.  Kate was haunted by needing to find Claire.  Sun was desperate to get back to Jin.  Hurley tried to find solitude in going crazy.  Sayid killed people.  and more people.  Desmond just couldn’t stay on Pennys boat. 

Is there any place, person, or dream you have to go back to?  No matter how comfortable life gets, no matter what success you achieve….you can’t help but wonder?  My brother in law says I’m always writing about redemption.  Well maybe today I am…or maybe I’m even writing about healing.  The place, person, or dream you go back to may not be pleasant at all…but it can give you closure, or maybe a whole new open door.

Lost Marbles: Whispers are voices stuck in a moment

The phenomenon of ‘the Whispers’ capture the imagination from the very early and more eery moments of Lost Season 1.  Alone in the jungle, just as danger is approaching, whispers begin to emerge, sometimes soloesque growing into a chorus of quiet loudness, but eery all the same.

Season 6 reveals what and whose the whispers are.  (Spoiler alert!)

I’m reminded of something Shane Claiborne said in “Irresistable Revolution”  … he talked about Mother Teresa, and how she was Eulogized as “a voice for the voiceless”.  He said it bothered him to hear that…because she never considered anyone voiceless, she just took the time to stop the noise of the world to hear them and love them with dignity. 

Lost Marbles: “If I can kick drugs, I can deliver a baby”

“If I can kick drugs, I can deliver a baby.”- Charlie

When Claire’s boyfriend bolted about halfway through her pregnancy, she decided she’d never  be able to raise a child alone. A fatherless child herself, she flew Oceanic 815 to LA to give birth to Aaron and give him to his new adoptive parents. 

On the island, Claire finds identity and redemption thanks to the tribe of characters she fell out of the sky with.  The survivors of Oceanic 815 help her deliver her baby, raise it in infancy, and believe in herself to be the best option for Aaron’s life…all while those characters face major hurdles themselves (like the most significant character to Claire and Aaron- Charlie who’s kicking heroine). 

Life drops all of us ‘Out of the Sky’ onto the dirt we live on now and then.  So often we wonder why we got marooned halfway to a dream or why that rescue ship hasn’t come in yet.  Life doesn’t happen when our dreams are achieved.  It happens on the way there.   

Are there Claires and Aarons on the dirt around where you are right now?  Build that raft, make that signal fire, find that radio signal that will get you to your dream….. but along the way, look for the characters God’s put in your story today…and what role you can play in their rescue and redemption.

Lost Marbles: Hurley’s Skywalker Solution- save your hand& spare us the Ewoks!

Hurley is my favorite character in Lost.  Not only is he trying to help everyone he encounters to live better stories and choose the right path, in Season 5′s Episode, “Some Like it Hoth”, he even decides he needs to help George Lucas write a better story for Luke-and ultimately the cosmos- in ‘Empire Strikes Back’.   Since they’re time shifted back to 1977,  Hurley (who’s had major dad issues but forgiven him) sees the opportunity to help both Lucas and his friend Miles rewrite their stories.  

In 1977, Lucas had just released Episode 4, a New Hope,  and  Miles- estranged from his father since birth-  is now facing his 1977 version Dad Dr. Chang.  Just look at this exchange (thanks to the Official Star Wars Blog for transcript )!

HURLEY: I’m writing Empire Strikes Back.

MILES: Uh… I’m sorry. What?

HURLEY: It’s 1977, right? So Star Wars just came out. And pretty soon, George Lucas is gonna be looking for a sequel. I’ve seen Empire, like, 200 times, so I figured I’d make life easier and send him the script… with a couple improvements.

MILES: That has gotta be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.

HURLEY: Oh, yeah? Well, at least I’m not scared to talk to my own dad.

And later, Empire comes up again, with Hurley describing the film’s father-son relationship to Miles:

MILES: My dad didn’t leave when I was 10. I–I was a baby. I never knew him. And I don’t want to. It’s not happening.

HURLEY: That was Luke’s attitude, too.

MILES: What?

HURLEY: In Empire, Luke found out Vader was his father, but instead of putting away his lightsaber and talking about it, he overreacted and got his hand cut off.

HURLEY: I mean, they worked it out eventually, but at what cost? Another Death Star was destroyed, Boba Fett got eaten by the Sarlacc, and we got the Ewoks. It all could’ve been avoided if they’d just, you know, communicated. And let’s face it. The Ewoks sucked, dude.

Noting the Star Wars marathons on Spike this past weekend, it just struck me once again….how much pain could we save ourselves (and the cosmos surrounding us), if we could only put away our lightsabers and talk about it.  I mean, isn’t that what Luke did in Episode 6?