Bedford Falls: The Post-Clarence Years

December 26, 2010 by Joseph Susanka

Continued from Page 1

But George Bailey is also a Christ-figure; he suffers and struggles for those he loves most, undergoes a death of sorts—and even a resurrection—and through him we can see and understand that our sufferings, our perseverance, and our faithfulness have a value we cannot assess on our own. And perhaps that is for the best; omniscience is not a human trait, for reasons that are clear to us all.

Yet seeing Bailey as both a sacrificial victim and a clay-footed human being serves to remind us that there was, in fact, a man who found himself in George Bailey's shoes: a man who was able to accept the crushing weight of knowing fully one's own vital importance in the lives and happiness of all around you—only He was not the savior of a single town; He was the savior of all mankind. Like George Bailey, he is the cause of our joy, the source of all happiness for those around Him. He came into the world on a similarly dark, unwelcoming night to save us all from our own pride and fear.

And we know He'll never let it go to his head.

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About Joseph Susanka

Joseph Susanka has been doing development work for institutions of Catholic higher education since his graduation from Thomas Aquinas College in 1999. He blogs at Crisis Magazine, where he also contributes feature articles on a variety of topics.

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