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Sunday
March 21, 2010 Since 1922 |
How to change the world, make it better
By Wanda Orton
Contributor Published September 26, 2009 One of my favorite films from a year or so ago flopped at the box office and failed to win critical acclaim, but I don’t care. I loved it.
“Evan Almighty,” starring Steve Carell as a modern-day Noah, has a message that will endure long after the trashy, superficial movies are good-riddance-gone.
As they say in the news and advertising biz, “Evan Almighty” has “legs” and, as time goes by, is bound to become more popular and meaningful.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” was like that. No one paid much attention to that one when it was released in 1946, but through the years the film picked up momentum.
Today, with the joyful lesson, “No one is a failure who has friends,” it’s a wonderful classic.
The message of “Evan Almighty” is based on the acronym ARK – Acts of Random Kindness. Keeping that in mind, we learn (from God, no less) that we can change the world and make it a better place. Anyway, that’s what Morgan Freeman told Steve Carell, and I believe it.
Many churches are using ARK as the basis for sermons and Bible studies, and countless individuals, after seeing “Evan Almighty,” have been inspired to lead kinder, gentler lives. There’s even a clothing business in North Ireland with an ARK label to remind customers to think of others.
“Pay It Forward,” starring Haley Joel Osment as a soul-searching middle-schooler, is another film of the do-good genre, although not as effective as “Evan Almighty.” It could have been, had it not been for the mawkish ending.
Nevertheless, the movie presents a message to remember and that is to pass forward every favor we receive to three other people. The young boy in the movie believed that such a chain reaction could soften hearts and change the world.
And it could, if only we would.
Thinking about these movies brings to mind real-life people who carry out acts of random kindness and pay forward favors over and over.
Technically, ARK isn’t always the case. How about A-OK for “acts of overt kindness,” rather than random. I’ve known people who, always thinking ahead, plan their daily schedules around helping others. They volunteer in churches, schools and organizations, they visit the sick and elderly, they help the poor, help people learn to read…
I’ll never forget Bob Chase, who led a worship service every Sunday morning for prisoners in the Baytown jail; retired teacher W.F. Muller, who rode his bicycle daily to visit residents in nursing homes; Mac McMorrow, who regularly cooked up pans of jalapeno cornbread for his friends; and Lodie Edwards, who baked pineapple cakes not only for the newsroom but for every department at The Sun.
And I’ll never forget the friends of Jesse, the disabled man who sold pencils in front of the old post office on West Defee. Retired school superintendent George Gentry took turns with his son Tom and with Preston Pendergrass and James “Slick” Ellis in driving Jesse to and from his sidewalk workplace every day, and when he was ill, they visited him in the hospital.
In little or big ways, random or planned, such acts of kindness really can make a difference.
Believe it.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor of The Baytown Sun.
Contributor Published September 26, 2009 One of my favorite films from a year or so ago flopped at the box office and failed to win critical acclaim, but I don’t care. I loved it.
“Evan Almighty,” starring Steve Carell as a modern-day Noah, has a message that will endure long after the trashy, superficial movies are good-riddance-gone.
As they say in the news and advertising biz, “Evan Almighty” has “legs” and, as time goes by, is bound to become more popular and meaningful.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” was like that. No one paid much attention to that one when it was released in 1946, but through the years the film picked up momentum.
Today, with the joyful lesson, “No one is a failure who has friends,” it’s a wonderful classic.
The message of “Evan Almighty” is based on the acronym ARK – Acts of Random Kindness. Keeping that in mind, we learn (from God, no less) that we can change the world and make it a better place. Anyway, that’s what Morgan Freeman told Steve Carell, and I believe it.
Many churches are using ARK as the basis for sermons and Bible studies, and countless individuals, after seeing “Evan Almighty,” have been inspired to lead kinder, gentler lives. There’s even a clothing business in North Ireland with an ARK label to remind customers to think of others.
“Pay It Forward,” starring Haley Joel Osment as a soul-searching middle-schooler, is another film of the do-good genre, although not as effective as “Evan Almighty.” It could have been, had it not been for the mawkish ending.
Nevertheless, the movie presents a message to remember and that is to pass forward every favor we receive to three other people. The young boy in the movie believed that such a chain reaction could soften hearts and change the world.
And it could, if only we would.
Thinking about these movies brings to mind real-life people who carry out acts of random kindness and pay forward favors over and over.
Technically, ARK isn’t always the case. How about A-OK for “acts of overt kindness,” rather than random. I’ve known people who, always thinking ahead, plan their daily schedules around helping others. They volunteer in churches, schools and organizations, they visit the sick and elderly, they help the poor, help people learn to read…
I’ll never forget Bob Chase, who led a worship service every Sunday morning for prisoners in the Baytown jail; retired teacher W.F. Muller, who rode his bicycle daily to visit residents in nursing homes; Mac McMorrow, who regularly cooked up pans of jalapeno cornbread for his friends; and Lodie Edwards, who baked pineapple cakes not only for the newsroom but for every department at The Sun.
And I’ll never forget the friends of Jesse, the disabled man who sold pencils in front of the old post office on West Defee. Retired school superintendent George Gentry took turns with his son Tom and with Preston Pendergrass and James “Slick” Ellis in driving Jesse to and from his sidewalk workplace every day, and when he was ill, they visited him in the hospital.
In little or big ways, random or planned, such acts of kindness really can make a difference.
Believe it.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor of The Baytown Sun.