Tuck Everlasting

So one of the books I loved in junior high days was a book called Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. The book is about a girl named Winnie Foster and how she encounters the Tuck family. However, the Tuck family has an unusual dark secret...they are immortal. Winnie discovers that many years ago they drank from a spring that gave them life forever where they can never die. Nothing can physically hurt them, no gunshot or wound, and they will live on forever. The Tuck family never wanted anyone to know, but once Winnie finds out they have no choice but to explain to her everything and how it happened. Winnie is awestruck by the family and (of course) falls in love with Jesse, one of the Tuck boys. They spend time together and love each other-but are faced to think about the future and how she will die but he will live on forever. She wants to be with him forever, even be immortal too. what is she to do? She is offered to drink from the spring but still knows that it will impact and change everything. She is all of the sudden facing a moment of truth. What should she do?

I was watching this movie on Lifetime, as I remember once again why I loved the movie and book. The story is very enchanting yet intense and mind boggling. A young girl is faced with the hardest decision of her life. Wouldn't it be cool to live forever? To never fear death? To never have to worry about dying or how you will die, or how your loved ones would die? Doesn't that sound cool? Well, I thought that it was interesting that the Tuck family told Winnie not to drink it. They were immortal but they liked the idea of dying. They said it was more miserable to live forever than to die and face death because there wasn't anything on earth worth living for. They talked to her about making the hard decision now and in the long run it would pay off later. She may want to drink it now, but she needed to think about years down the road. I was thinking about these choices that we have to make that affect our life forever. There are "defining moments" where we make a decision that impacts us for life. I thought about this decision that Winnie had to make and was thinking about the decision to live for Christ that you make.

I was thinking about commitment. If you had to do something that you couldn't turn back from, you would have to be committed to it 100%. If Winnie took a drink and changed her mind, it would be too late and she couldn't go back. I think that this is why many people fear commitment and then once they say they are "committed" they aren't really all in. When some people get saved or "commit" their life to Christ, they are half hearted. They want the gift but its a hard decision to make and requires change...so they choose to not go all the way just in case they don't like it and they can turn back later. The truth is that people lack commitment. No matter what it is, people don't want to commit. And that is the problem with Christians today....you can't be half in and half out with God. You can't be lukewarm for God cause He doesn't want that! He says hot or cold! So when you take a "drink" from the spring, you are all in because you chose the road and are not looking back. God wants His children to be in it for the long run. He wants you to take a drink and think about serving Him for the rest of your life. Eternity is in mind. It's not that you have to know everything he wants you to do, He just wants commitment and to give your word that no matter what happens, you will always serve Him. It's not that you won't struggle but that He wants to know that you aren't going to give up on it. He wants to hear that you don't want to turn back to the old sinful life and you are there to live a new committed life. It is commitment that is lacking in the church and causing hypocrisy. They feel like they can get away with the half-hearted apathetic life they call a relationship with Jesus.

By no means is this book written for a Christian perspective, but there are different things to learn from it. When you think about death, it doesn't have to be a scary thing if you know God. We are offered eternal life with God if we choose to follow Christ. I just think its interesting that many don't consider this a big deal or a big decision to make. They carelessly go through life without thinking about it. But then there are people who decide to follow Christ, but then only do it half-heartily out of their own selfishness. Immortality on earth isn't realistic, but your soul will live forever and it is our choice and decision where it will live...heaven or hell?


oh, and what did Winnie Foster do? Read the book....duh! It's a real good ending!