I have been amused lately by the success of several “prequel” films coming out of Hollywood. In case you are wondering, a “prequel” is a movie that actually comes out after the original, but refers to a time before the original even took place. A good example of this would be the three Star Wars films that recently hit the big screen. The latest, “Revenge of the Sith” was actually the final film leading up to the original Star Wars that came out in the 70’s. The new Batman Begins will follow the same pattern. It is going to lay the ground work for what created Batman and what made him into who he would eventually become. Now that we know what a prequel is, you will understand what was going through my mind the past few days.
The question is this. If you could have Hollywood create a “prequel” for your life, what would it be? In other words, would you re-write the script completely or would you keep it pretty much true to actual events. The catch is that the ending has to bring you back to where you are right now. Remember, this is a PREQUEL, so it has to lead into the original, or today. My guess is that most of us would do some small changes here or there (like get that base hit we needed a week ago), but the overall feel of the movie would be the same. Or would it? Would you totally scrap the history and start all over with a new city, new job, new home, new life altogether? It is fascinating if you think about it. The key is to remember that it is only Hollywood and prequels don’t exist in real life. Here in the real world, we are destined to a memory that defines who we are today and the events that created the situations that we find ourselves in. There are really two ways to look at it. There is the “I wish I would haves” and the “Praise the Lord I did nots”.
See it’s nice to think about what could have happened, but it’s better to appreciate what actually did. It’s better to think about those moments when we could have turned right, but by turning left, we got to see so much more scenery. We got to go through the rough road to get to the paved one. By missing that flight, we got to witness to someone that had never heard the gospel on the next flight. When we shared that cab with the stranger, rather than waiting for another one, we met the person that would eventually help us land the largest account we have ever sold. You get the idea. So as nice as it is to think about a prequel. I think I will leave that where it belongs…Only in Hollywood…
