The Highway that is Life

Among the many movies I consider my favorites, my one favorite animated movie is Cars, which I viewed for the first time 10 years ago this month.

There's part of me that yearns to live at a different pace, and that's a major part of the plot of Cars.  Lightning McQueen is going at lightning speed through life--and sure, that pun can be intended.

But then his circumstances catch up with him, and he then has to really slow down upon getting stuck paving the street in Radiator Springs.  While going at a different pace, he learns about what really matters in life, and slowly but surely experiences a shift in attitude.  At the time I watched it, the movie really spoke to me, and reminded me of how important it is to live life not self-focused, but other-focused.

I feel that the Brad Paisley song, "Find Yourself", has lyrics that really speak to what Lightning undergoes in the movie, not to mention in my own life: I watched this movie for the first time in the summer after my first year at ValpU.  I had a rough transition from high school to college, and in the painful separation from home, I was able to discover a lot about myself, which is part of why this movie resonates with me.

I also like how Route 66 figures prominently into the movie's setting.  Somehow, a few years before, I got fascinated with Route 66 culture, which resonates with my desire to go at life through a different pace that's more conducive to reflection on what's around me.

I have shared scenes from this movie in my RE classes, as I often find connections in movies to the spiritual life.  A few years ago, the curriculum in use had a lesson that gives the students a chance to reflect on what really matters in life.  I showed the scene where Sally shares with Lightning about her previous career that seemed like it was great, but brought her little satisfaction.

I have also regularly shared the court scene toward the beginning of the movie, when Sally urges Doc to sentence Lightning to fix the road.  At the end of her monologue, she exclaims, "...we are a town worth fixing!"  I think about how sin has wrecked us, but God looks at us and declares us to be worth fixing.  He sent His Son to reconcile us back to the Father.

When I got asked by at least one student in class about my favorite (non-Church-related) song, since I had the movie on hand in class, I decided to play for them "Life is a Highway", which resonates with the sense of journey that I see that life is.  I recognize how travels can be life-changing by bringing us new perspectives.

And in abnormal times like these, "Behind the Clouds" has so much to say to us.

In addition to owning the movie, I also bought its soundtrack on a CD album.  Every so often, especially when I go on a trip, I enjoy listening to the music.  It helps put me in the mindset of being open to new adventures that await me, and embracing what really makes life worth living.