Love's Moment

I don't think I've ever watched a more moving advert than a Portugese ad by LG - Momentos. 

The sidewalk offered little comfort against the chilly night, his blankets made a poor bed. At least the store with a For Lease sign in front of the brown paper covering its windows had no owner or activity to drive him away. This night however was different, two men pulled up in a white van, carried three LG TV's and put them in the window. He cracked an eye to watch but didn't really care. They turned on the TV's, pulled down the paper and left. The light caught his attention and he sat up to watch. Two other homeless men joined him, they laughed at the scenes but the two were annoying and he drove them away. Sad and alone again he continued to watch.

Observing his attention, a controller in a parked car made a call, TV's flicker and suddenly he was watching himself. Surprised, at being on TV and by his appearance, he touched his beard, surprised at how long it had grown. After a moment someone drops in a DVD, once again the TV's flickered but this time it was his life. His wife, his daughter, Christmas, opening gifts, they were much younger, he was clean shaven and they were all laughing. The images began a subtle work as they softly shone love's pure light into his hardened heart. At first a faint smile, then tears, his daughter holds out a flower to the camera and he instinctively reached toward the TV for it.

At that moment, the van rolls up again, a man walks out of the store and into the van, the homeless man turns to look. Two people got out on the far side of the van, it pulls away to reveal his wife and daughter. A much older daughter, in her early twenties, carrying a teddy seen in the Christmas scene. Electric emotions filled the air. The daughter's love is tangible as she longingly looked at her father, the wife hesitated, motionless between hope and rejection.

These are the moments all of us face, we all make mistakes, we hurt people and people hurt us. We drift off course and like the homeless man, we find ourselves away from home and not sure if we're welcome back.

His daughter's love was tangible, it reached out, his heart was kindled but self doubt was present and he faced the greatest struggle of his life. His feet shuffled backwards, love drew his heart but failure resisted. He was unsure what to do.

Love does the same to us. It confronts our condition, it reveals our reasons and that's the problem with love. It's confrontational, it's active, it doesn't turn a blind eye or look away, it stares straight into the depth of our heart, removes all the excuses and calls us to action. It's more powerful than all of our failings but on its own it's not enough, one more ingredient is necessary. It requires hope. Without hope love is short circuited into a temporary fix. Hope gives honor to the giver and breaks the cycle of selfishness. Unless hope is kindled the giver will be betrayed and the cycle of hurt deepened.

Hebrews highlights the same concept with "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hope is the hanger upon which faith is hung. Without hope, faith doesn't work. A man without hope cannot respond correctly to love. Hope then is the very fabric of change and what moves a man from stagnation to success.

On a cold sidewalk, love met hope, the daughter ran to her father, his hesitant arms slowly embraced his daughter, his wife drew in as she embraced them both and smiled as he started his journey home.