Lessons from Hugo…if it aint working, fix it.
There is a scene in the movie Hugo where the plot comes together and bigger meaning is revealed. Hugo, a boy who has lost his parents, a boy who loved his dad, a dad who shared his love of watch-making and love of fixing complicated machines with his son, searches for years to discover the deeper meaning of his connection with his father and his compulsion to fix things himself. Lonely, and obsessed with fixing the automaton left behind by his father, Hugo fends for himself amidst the busy life of a massive train station.
Reduced, it appears, to the life of an orphan, taking what he needs to survive, Hugo is thrown into the life of a miserable and mean toy shop owner who has it out for him. Over time, and through a series of seemingly providential events, it becomes clear to Hugo that this mean shop owner, who has stolen Hugo’s cherished book, was somehow connected to his father in time past. Befriending the shop owner’s grand-daughter, Hugo comes to discover that this broken-spirited and cruel man was once a great film-maker, a pioneer of film in fact, in France, a country enamored with the art. What is revealed in time, is that this once iconic artist lost his passion, his art, and his purpose, and in the end, he lost his heart. The result was not a pretty thing to behold. In losing his purpose he lost his compassion, his touch with beauty and creativity, and his zest for life. His heart shrank, and no one benefited.
Hugo, himself full of pain and questions, finds his purpose in bringing joy back into the life of this miserable man, and his wife. Hugo begins to heal, himself, even as he seeks to bind the wounds of another, another who, in fact, sought to wound Hugo.
What the movie most profoundly and creatively reminds viewers of is the deep and abiding truth which resonates with all human beings; we were intended to live with purpose. Purpose, embraced and pursued, gives us something to live for, and when we have something to live for, we are better mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.
What the story of Hugo conveys, splendidly, is that when we fail to find our purpose, we are like the watch that does not work, we are broken, something is missing. We can set, re-set, and set the hands again and again, yet, the “fix” is always temporary. Not until we have purpose does the thing work as it ought. Like the watch, whose gears are missing, rusted, and uncooperative, so go our hearts, minds, and emotions, when we don’t know what we were created for and for whom we were created.
Augustine said it well, “Oh, Lord, our hearts shall know no rest, until we find ourselves in thee.” Our “fix” is in a relationship with the One who placed us here and has a purpose for us. There is no way around it. Until we own this truth we shall be ruined by pettiness, crude interests, meanness, selfish pursuits, and banal trivialities.
Just look around you. Look what is on our television screens, movie screens, radios, and in our schools. Does this look like a culture that knows its purpose? We shoot each other up, rage on each other, cheat on each other, beat on each other, abuse each other, deceive each other, and believe the lie that some pleasure quest or experience will suffice to make us whole amidst all the dysfunction. We are broke. The gears are locked up. It will never work. And, mind you, time is short. Further, we don’t even know what time it is personally, culturally, spiritually.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a lovely reminder that we can be fixed, that life can be renewed, that beauty does exist, and that redemption can be found. Dreams can be recaptured, and healing can take place. Do we dare leave the land of fantasy and walk into the greater adventure of purpose and passion? Do we dare to live the dream of God again? Dare we take God up on the majestic journey of truth, and abandon the small life of common pursuits? Do we dare? We had better, if we want to really live.
God loves us. He, unlike the angry masses around us, longs to offer us a place of rest and tenderness. His aim is to sweeten our souls and lift our hearts. His hope for us is that we might know Him, walk with Him, and enjoy Him forever. This is the fix which sets our internal clocks right. This is the fundamental purpose of our being here on this planet. From this reality all good things and virtue does flow.
Do you feel as though something is missing? Is there a gear inside you that feels stuck? Are your ongoing attempts to set the hands on the dial leaving you weary? Do you feel as though time is running out? Are you missing a purpose? Is there anything you love to live for? Do you spend your days passionately pursuing something bigger than yourself?
The Father of Time, the Keeper of time, the One who set time in place from the beginning, longs to make us new. In His hands the moments of our lives have purpose, and our hearts beat with a rhythm formerly unknown to us. Like the cruel, miserable, and broken shop owner in the story of Hugo, no matter how lost we may be, no matter how hardened our heart, no matter how long ago the dream died, we can be resurrected. Our life can be made new. Our hearts can beat again. Our dreams can be rekindled. We can have a purpose. Who among us, deep down, does not want this above all?
Find your purpose. Embrace the adventure.
Bruce Smith
www.bruceleesmith.co