mamma mia & the good life

If you watched Mamma Mia 2

(and you should because ABBA, Meryl Streep, and Cher all in one movie)

you probably were swept away by the familiar tunes and smiling faces.

You might have left with a strong urge to hop on a plane to an island in Greece and find some friends who can harmonize really well with you.

Cher’s debut made the film even more beloved by fans.

There was a lot of hype about Cher last year after she performed at the Billboard Music Awards.

The then 71-year-old was said to have turned back time with her wrinkle free skin, fit body, and endurance.

Watching Mamma Mia 2 the same sentiment could be made.

I couldn’t help watching and thinking what pressure Cher must be under to keep up.

Youth and beauty are so heavily intertwined in our culture and it must be terrifying to feel the threat of time take away the fans and fame you've acquired.

While I am sure celebrities do feel a distinct drive to remain beautiful because so much of their career depends upon their looks,

I don’t think non-celebrities are exempt from this same motivation.

Already, at 24-years-old, I am being told what wrinkle prevention creams to use.

I’ve watched women a bit further down the road from me bemoan their own wrinkles.

We equate beauty with “the good life,” and so we seek after beauty in whatever standard the world sets for us.

The unsettling thing is that the standard is always changing.

I remember in high school thin eyebrows and no curves were in.

Now, thick eyebrows are chic

(if only that had happened to me when I was 12 and had a tweezer in my hand)

and curves are the standard.

The standard for beauty is dependent upon time and culture,

and almost always we see people in the masses desperate to make the mark.

I am no exception.

You are likely no exception.

We so deeply long for “the good life” and if the good life can be obtained through beauty then we must make ourselves beautiful.

That’s why it is so shocking to hear David’s reply after he asks who desires life and wants a full life and wants good.

David answers those who seek after this good life to “keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.

Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”

I know that I am so entrenched in the world’s prescription for a good life when this verse sounds simplistic to me.

This is the way of life, the way of Jesus, and my flesh questions it.

Doubts arise as I wrestle with control, wanting to curate for myself a good life.

This good life remedy from David falls short in my mind.

Surely you also need good looks and a variety of experiences and a partner and lots of friends.

But the Lord lays out a path that does not include any of those things.

The good life comes first and foremost through the death and resurrection of Jesus from the dead

which gives us a living hope, an inheritance that is imperishable, unfading, and undefiled.

And this salvation and new life gives us friendship and intimacy with our Maker and it opens our eyes to the way we are made to live.

Do you really believe that the commandments the Lord gives us are for your good?

Do you really believe that seeking peace and doing good will give you life?

Do you really believe that life comes in the way of the Lord?

A beautiful face does not lead to life. Obedience leads to life.