I saw the artsy film, Lars and the Real Girl, the other night with a friend of mine, and I can't seem to get this one scene out of my mind. It's toward the end of the movie, when the sex doll (yeah, check out the trailer) is sick in the hospital, about to die--Lars comes downstairs and three of the prominent old ladies of the town are sitting in the living room, knitting. He's confused as to why they are there when one of them explains, "We're sitting. That's what you do when tragedy strikes." When there's really nothing else you can do in a situation, it's nice to just have people there with you.
As I've been struggling with this idea of family in the midst of the chaos that is life in LA, I can't help but wish that we did a little more sitting. Maybe that's what defines family--family are people that you sit with...someone to come home to at night...and even if all you do is sit there going about your own business, it's nice just to have someone there with you, going about theirs. It seems like everyone is so busy--too busy to get to know the people around them, too busy to pursue families. But if we would just take the time to make those connections, then we'd have someone to sit and be busy with. Busy together is not so bad, but busy alone is...well, I mean, at the end of the day, what do you have? A list of things you've accomplished and no one to share them with. Even if those are all good and godly things...it's still just you and a list. We weren't meant to be alone.
Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
--Ecclesiastes 2:11
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