The Forgotten

Dear Lenten Trekkers,

I recently saw the award-winning film, Hugo, that addresses what it means to feel invisible, lost and forgotten as they are experienced in a young boy, Hugo and his young friend, Isabelle; along with Papa Georges Méliès & Mama Jeanne. Hugo, recently became an orphan as a 10 year old, but not before his father taught him about clockwork & tinkering with machines; Isabelle’s parents were killed in an accident when she was a baby and was adopted by her godparents, Georges & Jeanne.

Georges was an early filmmaker and an inventor of special effects in the 1930s; his wife, Jeanne, starred in many of his early movies. Georges & Jeanne became discouraged with these early attempts of filmmaking at the onset of WWI and he was forced to sell his films in order to get money in order to survive. Georges had also created an automaton (robot) that he believed was lost in a museum fire; leaving him to think that there is nothing left of his life’s work.

Regardless of the varied circumstances that unite these characters, so much of their lives left them feeling lost and forgotten. But there’s a conversation between Hugo & Isabelle that speaks of how having a real purpose in life can help overcome one’s sense of being lost &
forgotten:

Hugo: “It’s important to have a real purpose in life…”

Isabelle: “What does real purpose mean?”

Hugo: “Doing what you’re meant to do…”

Isabelle: “Everything has a purpose—clocks tell time; trains take you places.”

Hugo: “That’s why broken machines make me sad. They can’t do what they’re meant to do. It’s the same with people…If you lose your purpose, it’s like you’re broken…like Papa Georges Maybe we can do something to fix him…

Isabelle: “I wonder what my purpose is…”

(Hugo takes Isabelle to the top of the clock tower high above the streets of Paris and looking out into the dark night, Hugo speaks):

“I come up here a lot. And when I look out in the night, I see the whole world before me; as if it were one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need…So I figured if the entire world were one big machine, I couldn’t be any extra part either. I had to be here for a reason…and you are too…”

We continue to make our way with Jesus and his companions as we travel to Jerusalem during this second week of Lent…
Ponder this:
· Do you believe that everyone is here for a reason?
· Who are the people in your life, near and far, who
feel alone and forgotten; who don’t believe they are here for a reason?
· Do you believe that discovering or re-discovering
one’s purpose in life helps one not feel forgotten/like an extra part?
· If so, what can you do to help someone regain a
sense of purpose and wholeness, who has fallen or about to fall, among the forgotten:

maybe an older person who lives alone or is homebound;
maybe a street person; a neighbor; someone whose health has been
compromised;
someone who’s lost his/her job; a recently retired person;
or a young purpose examining the meaning & purpose for his/her life;
someone whose loved-one has died;
or maybe it’s you?

Will you reach out to someone who feels forgotten? Will you help someone discover or re-discover how much God loves them and how God can help them figure out his/her purpose? Will you allow God into your own life and help you figure out your purpose? God is our constant guide and companion along this journey and stands ready to give us all we need to be whole once again…Thanks be to God…

Blessings, Rev. Joanne