Truth from an interesting source

Now get ready for something highly unusual – truth out of Hollywood. Imagine that. It comes in an interview with the star of the latest Transformers movie, Shia LaBeouf.

“Sometimes I feel I’m leading a meaningless life.” I heard that same statement from a student at Palomar College who became a Christian as a result of this honest assessment of his own life. Look at all the things people do to avoid dealing with a lack of meaning in their life – spend money, climb the corporate ladder, engage in dangerous activities, use drugs, seek more and more entertainment.

“Most actors on most days don’t think they’re worthy. I have no idea where this insecurity comes from; it’s a God-sized hole. If I knew, I’d fill it, and I’d be on my way.” Greg Koukl says he knows one thing to be true about every audience he speaks to – all the people there suffer from low self-image. We know we can be better than we are, yet we continually fail. Paul talks about that in the book of Romans.

“To my mind, talent doesn’t really exist. Talent is like a card players luck. It is motivation, ambition, and luck.” I don’t know if I really buy this statement, but in a way I hope it’s true. It seems to suggest most of our successes in life are due to what we can control. Not all of us can be blessed with “talent,” but we can work hard and still achieve great things.

“The good actors are all screwed up. They are all in pain. It’s a profession of bottom-feeders and heart- broken people.” So much for listening with rapt attention when some Hollywood star tells us how to live our lives, how to vote, how to think about issues.

“I have no answers to anything. None. What is life about? I don’t know.” At least he has a different starting point than most of the human race, which either pretends to have all the answers or pretends that it’s no big deal to live in a meaningless universe. But we are not meant to live with no answers. We all have a God-shaped vacuum in our lives that must be filled.