It’s interesting the things you can learn from popular fiction. Or the things that you are reminded of – things you knew already or perhaps, which have been buried in the recesses of your mind.
I watched the second season of Fargo a few weeks ago. I watched the first season last year and enjoyed it very much. It was funny, the frequent acts of violence were extremely jarring, so I had to take a break before starting the second season. When I saw that the entire show would be removed from Netflix on October 8, I started a binge-fest to watch the remaining 2 seasons that were on Netflix.
The second season was oustnding. Stellar cast, acting and what initially seemed like an implausible, comedy-of-errors plot. It evolved into a highly engaging storyline with brilliant performances and I flew though the episodes.
One of the characters (a girl with her nose constantly in a book) quoted the philosopher Camus who said something like “We are all going to die anyway, so life is meaningless.” And to this, Betsy – the sheriff’s wife (who was receiving treatment for cancer at the time) said “Whoever said that must not have had a six year old girl. We all have a job to do here on earth and God gives you just about enough time to do it.”
Of course I completely understood. I have never feared my own mortality as much I have since I became a parent. Having two very young children, who look up to you for everything is humbling. And, as a good parent, you want to be there for them; to provide their needs, to guide them, to see them grow-up and see who and what they will turn into. If or when you know that you won’t be there to do all this must be the most heartbreaking and helpless position to be in.
But the point was made, lest I had forgotten it: Our lives are meant to be used to achieve something greater than ourselves; beyond just coming here and marking the register of life. Having our 2.4 children, getting a “good” job that pays a “good” salary and living a “good” life.
No, we are called to more than that. But perhaps not in the way we think. We often think of an impactful life as one where we touch hundreds or thousands or millions of people. But maybe the act of raising well-behaved and productive children who become valuable members of society is enough. So there is a difference between thinking of ourselves as just having children to considering how we want to raise them and shape them to grow into considerate and hard-working adults.
Life is never what it looks like on the surface. We can always choose to dig a little deeper and extract the gold from the dirt.
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