Happy Groundhog Day!
Released in 1993, Groundhog Day is one of the most fascinating movies I've ever seen. It's not my favorite movie, but it always makes me think. (And this fake trailer for an upcoming sequel totally fooled me!)
The movie is about a grumpy weatherman named Phil Connors, played by my uncle, Bill Murray. (Just kidding about the uncle part. But my dad did meet Bill Murray twice, once in New York and once in Orlando. The cool thing about it is when he met him the second time, Bill remembered him!) Phil begrudgingly travels to the small town of Punxsutawney to cover Groundhog Day. He can't wait to get the day over with so he can get back to the big city. But the next day, Phil wakes up to discover it's... Groundhog Day again!
Phil finds himself trapped in a time loop. Every day he wakes up, and it's Groundhog Day. Nothing he did the previous day mattered.
Here's why I find this premise so interesting: Phil lived in a world without time, and he essentially became a god. Not the God, of course, but a small "g" god. (He even tells other people he's a god!) In a sense, Phil became all-knowing. He lived the same day over and over, so he learned everything that would happen in those 24 hours. He amazes the people of Punxsutawney by revealing intimate details about their lives. He is able to "predict" the future and even knows every answer to that evening's Jeopardy! episode.
How does Phil use this new power of his? At first, he uses it for his own benefit, much like the small "g" gods of Greek mythology do. He lives recklessly, knowing nothing he does will have lasting consequences. He manipulates and uses women to his advantage. Whatever Phil desires—whatever appetite he wants to feed at the moment—he can find a way to get it.
This might sound like heaven to some people. (So often, heaven is portrayed as a place where we get to indulge in whatever we want. This is such a small view of heaven.) But for Phil, this reality dissolves into a kind of hell. Even though he fulfills all his desires, Phil's life is devoid of purpose. He becomes deeply depressed and tries to kill himself. But he can't even do that. Each time he does something to end his life, he wakes up in bed, and it is February 2 all over again.
Eventually, Phil takes a different approach. Rather than focusing on himself, he uses his knowledge of the day's events to serve others. He helps people. He saves them from accidents. He develops and uses his talents in ways that benefit the community. And this is when Phil truly begins to live.
It's tempting to conclude that Phil's good deeds are a way for him to atone for his past sins. (I.e., he cannot escape the time loop until he does enough good deeds.) Many people view the afterlife through this same lens. We need to tip the scales in our favor to earn our spot in heaven. But I don't think this is the message we should take from the movie.
Yes, Phil does transform from a selfish person into a selfless one. But Phil's transformation isn't just about doing good deeds. It's about discovering the joy of living as God intended, with love, purpose, and connection to others.
What moves me the most about Phil's change is how it breathes life into him. At first, he thinks that living for himself is the path to true happiness. But it leaves him feeling empty and dead inside. Paradoxically, it's only when Phil turns outward that he experiences inner peace. He becomes fully human. And even though he is trapped, he somehow finally feels free.
To me, this beautifully illustrates the upside-down nature of God's Kingdom. We find life by losing it. By cultivating attributes such as peace, patience, and kindness—through the strength of the Holy Spirit, not our own—we experience a small slice of Eden. This is life as God intended it to be. No, we will never get it completely right until the day Jesus returns. But God's Kingdom is breaking through in the here and now, and we can choose to be part of it.
Being a small "g" god may sound like fun. And it may be! For a while, anyway. But, as Phil discovered, living like a small god leads to a small life. It destroys you from the inside out. You become a hollow shell of who you were created to be.
This Groundhog Day, I hope none of us gets trapped in a time loop. (If you wake up tomorrow and find this same email in your inbox, you may be in trouble!) But I do hope we will stop to consider each small choice we make throughout the day. Do my words and actions reflect a little bit of God's Kingdom into the world? Or are they building a wall around me, trapping me in my own small kingdom?
And, of course, we will mess up. I will mess up. In those moments, we may wish to get a Groundhog Day do-over! But God's mercies are new every morning—not because we earned them, but because of Jesus. We have something more powerful than a time loop. We have grace!
Because of grace, we can apologize for the unkind words we said to our spouse and ask Jesus to help us love better next time.
Because of grace, we can apologize for rushing a conversation with a hurting friend and ask Jesus to help us listen with more patience next time.
And because of grace, we can wake up each day knowing Jesus will give us new opportunities to live out God's Kingdom in this world.
Questions to Ponder:
Have you ever chased after selfish desires, only to feel empty? Why do you think living like a small "g" god never fully satisfies?
Phil Connors found true life when he stopped living for himself and started serving others. How have you experienced joy and purpose when you've chosen to love and serve?
So often, we beat ourselves up over past mistakes and wish we could get a do-over. How can we learn from our mistakes and move forward in Jesus' grace and mercy instead of staying trapped in shame?
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