“Purpose is what gives life meaning.” –Charles H. Perkhurst
-Watch Unbreakable. Pay attention to the emotional state of David. Early in the movie he says that he wakes up in the morning feeling sad. Watch for the reason for David’s sadness and how he changes during the movie.
1. What do you think is the reason for David’s sadness?
2. What changes for David during the film? Ultimately, what makes the sadness go away?
-I’m sure your answers to these questions are the same as mine (and probably better), but let me state my opinion for the sake of us all being on the same page. I think David experiences this sadness because of a profound lack of meaning in his life. Watch the deleted scene where David speaks to the priest. It’s no wonder that M. Night Shyamalan says this was the first scene he got right. It completely encapsulates David’s defining characteristic in the film, his search for meaning. David’s journey in the film is one of discovering and embracing his purpose. It is this journey that ultimately chases away the sadness.
3. Can you relate to David on any level? Do you have an unmet longing for meaning in your life, or have you discovered and embraced the unique purpose God created you for?
-If you have an understanding of the purpose God created you for, spend some time right now thanking God for that purpose. Thank God that you have been created for a purpose and he has revealed that that to you.
-If you identify with David’s and his sadness, take a moment right now and read Psalm 139. You might be very familiar with it. But try to read it with new eyes, with a fresh perspective.
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
-God knit you together; he formed you with a purpose and intention. As my Dad likes to say, “God don’t make no junk.” Spend some time praying now. Ask God to tell you or show you the purpose for which he created you. Ask him to point out the unique gifts he’s given you, the passions that bring you to life. Listen and watch for his response. Listen for his voice. Watch with expectation for his answer to your prayer.
