So last night I settled in with my two-year old and five-year old to watch a movie. I thought we were about to see Black Beauty, but my brain has been short-handing it lately, and so I had picked up the “other” black horse movie. A few minutes in, as the ship began to sink, and the chaotic sounds and images blew up on screen, my daughter shouted, “shut it off!” and my son buried his head in my lap (but left one eye still on the screen). I turned the volume way down, and said, “now that we’ve seen this scary part, we’ve got to hang in there until the horse is safe.”
Because with that movie title, I figured the key player had to make it. I’m not saying the “stay with it,” strategy is optimal, but would it have been better to end the story at the horrible part, when redemption was surely just around the corner? I’m thinking this may be like life: it is so tempting to shut down at the “bad” parts; yet if we hang in there, we’ll get the relief and growth of a wonderful turn. Maybe we just need to find a lap in which to bury our heads during the transition, and to cut the volume.