Groundhog Day Living

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. Isaiah 40:8

One of the most profound questions asked yesterday wasn’t spoken from the pulpits of our churches, nor the echelons of Washington power brokers but from a crowd gathered in Punxsutawney, Penn. The monumental question, “Did Phil see his shadow?” has high expectations around the world on Groundhog Day as people wait for one of the most famous weather “persons” to give his forecast, Punxsutawney Phil. Living in his luxurious home at Gobbler’s Knob outside of Punxsutawney, this little groundhog has one job, to forecast spring or continue winter.

If Phil sees his shadow, we have six more weeks of winter but if he does not, then it is a forecast of an early spring. This tradition of forecasting dates back hundreds of years, but Punxsutawney Phil has been doing this job since 1887. You would think after that many years of predicting he should be pretty good at his job but Phil only gets it right about 39% of the time!

Punxsutawney Phil found his stardom when he met the cynical television weatherman Phil Connors in the 1993 fantasy comedy, “Groundhog Day”. Weatherman Phil played by Bill Murray is sent on his annual trek to Punxsutawney to do his weather show. The problem, though, is that Phil hates the assignment, and shows only contempt for the locals and his co-workers. As fate would have it, a blizzard forces everyone to stay overnight after the Groundhog Day festivities. He awakes to Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” playing on the radio which will be Phil’s story as he has to relive Groundhog Day over and over in a continuous time loop. The loop forces him to relive his daily life as he goes from an angry, resentful, and frustrated person to a compassionate, caring individual who finally breaks the loop as a changed man.

Groundhog Day may not be listed among the great movies such as Casablanca, Titanic, the Star Wars movie sagas, It’s A Wonderful Life or the Rocky series but it did have an impact on the cultural definition of language. Groundhog Day isn’t just about weather forecasting but now expresses a life that is monotonous, unpleasant, repetitive, unwelcome, tedious, or recurring.

Doc is a new TV series where the lead character, a doctor, is involved in a car wreck resulting in the loss of her last eight years of memory. What she lost in those eight years was the knowledge of her son’s death, the estrangement with her daughter, and her divorce. Following the death of her son, she had become cold, harsh, and critical of her fellow doctors, staff, and patients. The new version of her life resembles her old self. No longer carrying the baggage of the last eight years she has become again a caring and compassionate doctor. I’m not sure where the show is going but it has been interesting to watch as she begins a new life.

Phil Connors got to replay his life over and over again. I can think of times when I wish I could have had a Groundhog Day; mistakes I have made, words not spoken well, redoing a decision made, or simply doing something different. However, like everyone else, I didn’t have that opportunity.

What I did get, and what is available to everyone is grace. God has opened the pathway for us to move forward with forgiveness and redemption. God doesn’t let us get caught in a Groundhog Day but beautifully reassures us “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12) Unlike the TV doctor who loses her memory, God chooses to extend grace and forgiveness to us. He no longer holds our past against us but restores and makes us whole again. He gives us a totally new story that we can tell.

Whether Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow or not, it really doesn’t matter. Spring will come whether it is tomorrow or six weeks from now. Ultimately Phil is simply a cute little groundhog but in God, we have a God who loves us giving us life, hope, and a new beginning.

The families of those who died in the horrendous plane crash last week in Washington D.C. would give anything for a Groundhog Day. The tragic loss of husbands, wives, children, and friends leaves us without words to adequately express the sorrow all of us feel at this time. Dr. Thomas White, president of Cedarville University speaking to the students following the news of one of their own, 20-year-old Grace Maxwell, who died in the crash said,

“Death seems wrong. It seems wrong because God didn’t create this world to be this way. Death came into this world because sin came into this world. And so, for us to see this death and think this is not right, it’s normal. Friends, it’s moments like these where your worldview matters most. When we recognize this is not the way it should be. So, we grieve and we’re sad, and we don’t know why a young, bright, shining star was taken from us way too soon, but we know there’s a God that will make all things new.”

Dr. White closed with the words, “This is not the end, and one day, the Jesus that we bear in common will wipe away every tear, and he’ll create a new creation where there will be no more death and no more sadness and no more sorrow, and that’s the way it was meant to be.” (Jesse T. Jackson, ChurchLeaders)

There will be days when you feel you are trapped in a Groundhog Day and equally there will be special days when you would like for the day to be a Groundhog Day. However, either way, it will still fall short of being caught up in a God-shaped day.

God-shaped days are new every morning, directed by God who loves us. We listen silently as he sings over us, trusting him when we cry out for help, resting in the strength of Jesus interceding for us and knowing God is ever-present.

“Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him.” Psalm 34:8 The Message

God is great!