To Live A Mortal

Here's the tagline: The path is unsafe. The place is unknown. The journey is unbelievable.

Plot: A discovery made by a kung-fu obsessed American teen in a Chinatown pawnshop sends him on an adventure to ancient China, where he joins up with a band of martial arts warriors on a dangerous quest in order to free the imprisoned Monkey King.

The Forbidden Kingdom - quite an incredible movie. Highly entertaining, and very unique in its concept. Don't think I can recall any other movie with similar plot and setting. And I thought the Jet Li-Jackie Chan combination was unforgettably awesome.

There were many lil' lessons I grabbed from the movie, but there was this ONE moment when Jackie Chan's character drunken master Lu Yan had been shot by a deadly arrow and he laid in a monastery giving some dying-man's advice to Jason the American boy. You see, many of the Chinese legends centers around the theme of immortality, and Lu Yan gave the impression that he was one of the famous 8 Immortals. But this arrow incident brought Jason to realize Lu Yan was not immortal. "If a man does not attach himself to people and desires, his heart shall not be broken. But then does he truly live? I would rather die having cared for someone, than to live forever and be free from my own death."

Give a thought to that. I was moved by these words. In many ways, though we may not pursue immortality as these Chinese folklores center on, we find different ways to realize ourselves and awaken our spirituality. Some say greatness exists within you if you would choose to seek it, what some call 'spiritual enlightenment'. And some live only to make their mark in this world by erecting monuments or buildings that bear their name. Their way of immortalizing their lives. Some speak of how to see meaning out of life, and turn to knowledge of cosmic forces and astrology. You'd be surprised! Not often spoken but often contained within the heart, a desire to be 'remembered forever' as a legend, to 'live forever' in people's hearts.

To truly live is:
a) When you have got everything to live for on earth
b) When you are the kindest and sacrificial person every time
c) When you eat healthy, sleep healthy, and work healthy - live 'til 100
d) When you are the most likeable human ever known, with the hugest fan base
e) When you can spin unending strings of philosophy about life and have great wisdom to impart
f) When you cast caution to the wind, do extreme sports and live like there's no tomorrow
g) When you fall in and out of love in search of your soulmate, your happy ending one day
h) When you have led a quiet life building a stable family and good home
i) When you got enough money to buy you a PR for a better life on greener pastures
j) None of the above?

What does it mean to truly live? Is there eternal life?

The path is unsafe. The place is unknown. The journey is unbelievable.
The glory of a man is a heart fully come alive. I came alive when I came to know Jesus. My life is greatest lived when lived in the power of His death and resurrection. My death is best finalized when I die for His glory, for His Kingdom.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. - 1 John 5:11-12