Like Father: Forgiveness and Community is Far Better Than Division and Isolation

 

We have never been more "connected" as people than we are right now - digital communication has changed the entire landscape of the world.  Not too long ago, I read that more than 50% of the world is "connected" by way of cell phone/smart phone.  This means we have access to the internet and that serves as a gateway to the world - and people - and individuals...whether we want to be or not!  With that thought in mind, I stumbled across the movie Like Father starring Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammer.  The premise of the movie is very real - an estranged Father follows his daughter from afar by way of the internet and discovers she is getting married.  He shows up to the wedding, hiding among the faces of those gathered, only to see his daughter left at the altar by the groom because she is too engrossed in her work and cannot electronically detach from her job (the groom looses it when her cell phone falls out of her bridal bouquet).  And this is where our story begins:  An estranged father, a jilted bride, and two people who are divided and isolated from each other, and alas, any other meaningful community.

The real struggle for Rachel (played by Kristen Bell) and her father Harry (played by Kelsey Grammer) is reconciling the past.  How do you overcome decades of division and isolation from a person you know deep down in your heart, you love?  How do you overcome the layers of life that have gotten in the way.  In this sweet comedy, daughter and father go out to bar, drink themselves into a stupor, and end on a cruise ship with a hangover - the cruise ship that Rachel was supposed to be on for her honeymoon.  Along the way they encounter three couples who help this daughter and father discover that forgiveness and reconciliation far outweigh the bravado and pride that one finds in being "right."  

Being "right" doesn't always lead to happiness and peace.  In fact, sometimes you can get lost in your "rightness" that you loose any sense of peace, love, hope and joy.  In fact, you may discover that you are simply repeating over and over again the very things that lead you to be lonely, self-absorbed, and isolated.  Like Father does an amazing job of showing where this all leads from two different perspectives.  On one hand, we find Harry isolated from his father and lost in trying to figure out how to reconnect with a daughter he loves but wandered away from when she was a little girl.  On the other hand we have Rachel, who is "wired" like her father and loosing sight of what is most important - the people in her life - as she chooses success and career over those very people.  

With help of the three couples on the cruise ship Harry and Rachel find something way more important than being "right" or "successful" - they find each other.  They find the love that a Father and daughter are privileged to share.  They find forgiveness.  They find each other.  In a sweet and winsome movie such as Like Father we catch a glimpse of what should be.  Who do you need to be reconciled with?  Who, in your life, needs to know that you love them and that you want to be a part of their life?  To whom do you need to apologize to and find the comfort that comes in reconciliation?  And if you can't do this alone than who, in your community circle, can help you on this journey to find peace and restoration wit those people who are truly important in your life.  Remember, forgiveness and community is far better than division and isolation.