Are You a Passenger or and Inhabiter?
- Posted by: Lori Hommer
- Category: Authentic Life Blog Connection Life Coaching Life Strategies
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Are You a Passenger or and Inhabiter?
Recently my son and I went to see the movie “Passenger”. I enjoyed it very much, but decided to read what the critics had to say after the fact. The reviews were all over the place, however the professional reviewers were not kind, saying that the characters and plot weren’t developed etc. I was also looking for one particular quote from the movie that in my opinion was really the crux of the entire story. However none of the websites mentioned this quote and so I’m left to paraphrase it.
First a quick summary of the plot:
A spaceship is on a 120 year journey from earth to a colony planet. 5200 plus passengers are in hibernation pods that are set to open 4 months before the arrival to their new home. However a terrible meteor storm causes damages so that one of the pods opens prematurely and Jim emerges from his pod 90 years before the proper date. Jim tries everything to figure out how to go back into hibernation and then how to fix the ship’s problems. After a year of being completely alone except for the droid bartender (Arthur) who is programmed to serve his customers by spouting friendly platitudes and favorite libations; Jim finally decides to open one of the pods of a female passenger (Aurora) in order to not have to continue his 90 year journey alone.
The rest of the story is a cross between a love story and a sci-fi thriller with the couple trying to figure out how to survive, fix the problems with their ship and come to terms with their future.
The quote I am referring to came from Arthur, the bartender droid. In his year alone Jim is miserable and is asking Arthur how to deal with a future fate of 90 years of aloneness. This is not the direct quote but Arthur makes a profound statement something like: “Sometimes we need to stop worrying about trying to figure out how we will make it to the future and learn to live life right where we are”.
Jim and Aurora have to overcome many challenges in order to to repair the problems causing malfunctions of the ship, and the emotional problems they need to solve between the two of them. But eventually they have to deal with the true reality of being the only two living creatures surviving together for the next 90 years. As the movie ends, (spoiler alert!), the rest of the crew is waking up at the proper time to prepare for landing on Homestead II. As they enter the atrium area (kind of like the center of a cruise ship) we see that Jim an Aurora have used their 90 years well. Presumably dead, the couple has transformed the ship into a lush garden. The once clean, contemporary lines of the space ship are now a tropical paradise.
We can only come to assume that Jim and Aurora learned to make a life right where they were. They chose to stop fixating on their circumstances and a future that would be long and no doubt very lonely, and instead, build something fabulous and beautiful together.
I had to ask myself-have I learned how to live life and actually thrive right where I am or am I a passenger constantly looking to the future to be my final destination? Am I able to find joy and contentment in the day to day struggles of life or am I speeding through each moment hoping to one day reach that future destination where life will be what I always dreamed it would be?
I’m not suggesting we don’t have dreams and goals at all. But so many times we miss the beauty of the life God has given us because we’re regretting our past or worrying about our future.
What about you? Are you a passenger in a speeding ship hoping to someday reach the destination that gives your life meaning? Or are you putting down some roots to build your dreams wherever God has planted you right now?
They (the righteous) are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.
Jeremiah 17:8
