Photo by striatic

By Chloe Sun

This summer, I watched an old movie called “Scent of a Woman,” played by Al Pacino (named Frank in the movie).  In the movie, he played a middle-aged blind veteran, single, and estranged from his family of origin. His last wish in life was to live in a five-star hotel in New York, eat at a high-end restaurant, have a relationship with a woman, and then kill himself. His opportunity came when a college student (played by Chris O’Donnell) was hired to be his caretaker for a weekend. During the process of achieving his last desires in life, Frank not only did all he wished for, he also had the opportunities to dance with a woman and to drive a Ferrari. At the point when Frank was about to kill himself after completing all the adventures in New York, the college student tried to stop him. Frank asked him, “What hope do I have! I live in the dark! Give me one reason, one reason for me to live!” The college student replied, “I will give you two reasons. I have never seen a man dance like you did and drive like you did.” On that, Frank decided not to die.

As I reflect on the movie, I thought about reasons to live. Dancing with a woman and driving a Ferrari give Frank reasons to live. They are not big reasons. They are “small” reasons that kept Frank alive. It is true that as Christians, we have big reasons to live such as living for Jesus, living to glorify God, living to make a difference, and living for our loved ones. Yet, we may tend to overlook many “small” reasons to live: to smell the scent of flowers, to see the beauty of the sunset, to play with a family pet, to watch a good movie, to read an inspiring book, to talk to a close friend, to meet new people, to visit a new place, to listen to a piece of music, to sip a cup of coffee, to taste a mouth-watering sundae, to enjoy the spring breeze, to wear a “bomb” dress. These “small” things in life are gifts from God as well. Life is a gift from God. This is not to say that we should not live for altruistic reasons, but we cannot discredit those “small” reasons to live. Together, the big reasons and the small reasons make life beautiful and meaningful.

Chloe Sun, PhD., has been teaching Hebrew Scriptures at Logos Evangelical Seminary since 2004.  Her research interests include culture, gender, and identity issues in the Old Testament, Asian American Interpretations of the Bible, and Wisdom Literature. She lives with her husband and son in Southern California.