As Long As You Have Breath, Do Not Give Up

On Saturday evening, my four sons and I went to the theatre to watch a Japanese Hayao Miyazaki film called, "The Secret World of Arrietty." I have seen almost all of Hayao Miyazaki's films. I love his creative and eccentric writing, plus the artistry of his films. He is brilliant!

"The Secret World of Arrietty" was about a sickly, twelve-year-old boy named Shawn, who is waiting to have heart surgery. Unfortunately, the young boy has already given up and lost hope in surviving. The fight in him is long gone.

But when Shawn is sent to a country-garden home to rest for a few weeks before his operation, he discovers a fourteen-year-old girl named Arrietty, who lives with her parents inside the recesses of the large house. She befriends the boy and gives him back his fighting spirit and desire to live.

However, Arrietty and her family have a struggle of their own. They are little people, small enough to live in a doll house. Upon being discovered by a human who selfishly wants to capture them, they too must fight to survive as they are forced to leave their home and move elsewhere.

Several verses in the Bible came to mind as I recalled this film:

"So be strong and courageous,

all you who put your hope in the Lord!"

Psalm 31:24 (NLT)

"But as for you,

be strong and do not give up,

for your work will be rewarded."

2 Chronicles 15:7 (NIV)

The Bible tells us that as long as we have breath, we are never to give up, but fight to live, no matter whether we are crippled, diseased, handicapped, or old. It is God who decides when it is time for us to leave earth, not us.