Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose
their life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 10:39 (NRSV)
Sometimes heartache becomes our newest “best
friend” as life turns and twists.
Mr. Holland's Opus is a movie about a frustrated
composer in Portland, Oregon, who takes a job as a high school band teacher in
the 1960s. Although diverted from his
lifelong goal of achieving critical fame as a classical musician, Glenn Holland
(played by Richard Dreyfuss) believes his school job is only temporary.
At first he maintains his determination to write
an opus or a concerto by composing at his piano after putting in a full day
with his students. But, as family
demands increase (including discovery that his infant son is deaf) and the
pressures of his job multiply, Mr. Holland recognizes that his dream of leaving
a lasting musical legacy is merely a dream.
At the end of the movie we find the aged Mr.
Holland fighting in vain to keep his job.
The board has decided to reduce the operating budget by cutting the
music and drama program. No longer a
reluctant band teacher, Mr. Holland believes in what he does and passionately
defends the role of the arts in public education. What began as a career detour became a
35-year mission, pouring his heart into the lives of young people. Mr. Holland returns to his classroom to retrieve
his belongings a few days after school has let out for summer vacation. He has taught his final class. With regret and sorrow, he fills a box with
artifacts that represent the tools of his trade and memories of many meaningful
classes. His wife and son arrive to give
him a hand.
As they leave the room and walk down the hall,
Mr. Holland hears some noise in the auditorium.
Because school is out, he opens the door to see what the commotion
is. To his amazement he sees a capacity
audience of former students and teaching colleagues and a banner that reads
"Goodbye, Mr. Holland." Those
in attendance greet Mr. Holland with a standing ovation while a band
(consisting of past and present members) plays songs they learned at his hand.
His wife, who was in on the surprise reception,
approaches the podium and makes small talk until the master of ceremonies, the
governor of Oregon, arrives. The
governor is none other than a student Mr. Holland helped to believe in herself during
his first year of teaching. As she
addresses the room of well-wishers, she speaks for the hundreds who fill the
auditorium:
"Mr. Holland had a profound influence in my
life (on a lot of lives, I know), and yet I get the feeling that he considers a
great part of his life misspent. Rumor
had it he was always working on this symphony of his, and this was going to
make him famous and rich (probably both).
But Mr. Holland isn't rich and he isn't famous; at least not outside our
little town. So it might be easy for him
to think himself a failure, but he'd be wrong.
Because I think he's achieved a success far beyond riches and
fame."
Looking at her former teacher the governor
gestures with a sweeping hand and continues, "Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you
have not touched, and each one of us is a better person because of you. We are your symphony, Mr. Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your
opus. And we are the music of your
life."[1]
Mr. Holland wasn’t the first to throw his life
into serving others. For him, it
happened accidentally, he was teaching while waiting for his dreams of
composing to arrive.
You can expect heartache brought on by
circumstances when you serve Jesus Christ – that’s a promise. The principle antidote for heartache is to
keep your heart turned towards serving, rather than towards the aching. Many people get overwhelmed with indecision
and paralyzing nostalgia as they look backward to better days and brighter
skies. Friend, they were never that good,
nor that bright.
Always living in the past will cause you to miss
the present. Besides, when you’re
looking back you’re much more likely to bump into things!
If you want to serve Christ, learn to love
others in the “here and now”, that’s the only way ministry takes place.
For You Today
Is your day pointed at finding ways to give your life
and love away?
[1]
Mr. Holland's Opus, (Hollywood Pictures, 1995), rated PG, written by Patrick Sheane Duncan,
directed by Stephen Herek; submitted by Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville , Illinois
2 Title image by Ford
Madox Brown [Public domain], via Wikimedia
Commons
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