Truths Learned from Les Miserables

This weekend I watched Les Mis for the first time in over two years. I was reminded of how much I just absolutely LOVE this musical. I grew up knowing the music, and when there were holes to the plot that the songs didn't cover, my mom would clarify plot points. So, when I watched the movie in theaters, I knew exactly what I was in for. I knew I would be watching a story riddled with darkness, misery, hopelessness. I mean it's called The Miserables! It's a story of woe! But that's why I love the music: there was beauty found in the woe, and even a little bit of light. When I watched the movie, I realized that despite the darkness, there is MUCH more light to be found than I realized. There are great truths to be learned from this beautiful story.

• At the end of the day, there is always hope. You can ALWAYS have hope for tomorrow. In that depressing song "At the End of the Day" there are just a couple lines that break out of that darkness - if you pay attention to the chord progression, you will notice it easier. The words say, "At the end of day there's another day dawning..." No matter what your situation is, you can have that attitude. There will always be a bother day. Today might have been a failure. But there is always going to be a new day, a new moment, a new opportunity. Don't get bogged down.

• Age and size doesn't matter. Gavroche, this incredible little boy, at one point says, "It only goes to show what little people can do!" He discovers secrets, shows courage and bravery, doesn't back down from a fight, is brilliant, and faces the enemy head on. Look at the scriptures; how many heroes are there that started young? David; Samuel; Nephi; Mormon; Moroni. Age doesn't mean a thing. Anyone an everyone can do great things, even the youth. Don't hold back!!

• You are not your past. Marius was this pretty little rich boy. Yet, he believed int he people's rights. He forsook what he had and fought for what he believed in. Jean Valjean changed into a great man, full of love, and kindness. He left poverty and petty theft, a life often hard to escape, and didn't let his past define him. Cosette had lived in misery for the first years of her life, yet she found joy in her new life. I'm sure those years before were vivid in her mind - how traumatic they  must have been! - yet, she didn't let the misery of her past bog her down. You don't have to be defined by who you WERE, by your past circumstances, by your past deeds. After all...there's another day dawning!

• We should live like there is one day more. The powerful song "One Day More" is all about the live changing events that were to happen the next day.  As it turns out...many of those expectations were shattered...but the principle is to be found in their attitude of "One day more"! Granted, there really was just one day before the life changing moment...but what if we held that attitude always? The attitude that tomorrow was going to change your life. Wouldn't it cause you to live your life to the fullest? To set high goals, with the hope that you could reach it?  To give yourself any and all opportunity to HAVE life changing moments Truly, each day can be life changing. Even the smallest decisions determine our destiny. How much more would we be aware of that if we lived as if it was just one day more?

• Love redeems This is one of my favorites, and I feel is the point of the entire story. And, the principle is taught in its entirety at the very end, though there is shades of it throughout the entire story. It's summed up in Jean Valjean's line, "To love another person is to see the face of God."
• Fantine. She loved Cosette more than anything. She ended up selling herself, her body, for the sake of providing for Cosette. She only did it because she had absolutely no idea what else to turn to. Yet, at the end, you see her return to bring Valjean hom with God. How was she there? Her love for Cosette redeemed her.
• Eponine. She was raised by the vilest of people. She did vile things with them. But, then, she falls in love with Marius. She risks her life for him, and in the end, loses her life because of her love for him. Yet, in that finale song, as they all sing, essentially about being in heaven with God, she is there. How, with all of those horrible things she had done? Because, in the end, she learned to love someone more than herself more than the greed and guile that had filled her life before. Her love for Marius redeemed her.
• And then...of course, Jean Valjean. Now, he was never a BAD man. He was imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread. But those 19 years enslaved turned him angry and bitter. He turned to thievery. He was given a chance to change his life, and he took it and began to change. The change took full effect when he met Cosette and raised her as his own. His love for Cosette completed the change on his hardened, embittered heart, and redeemed his soul. He, in the end, was taken to God, to see the face of God, because he loved another person. As we love others, we change and we are able to be redeemed. What more do you need to know if life, that as we love those around us, we make it possible to return to love with God? I mean, charity was the defining characteristic of the Savior. IT was the root of everything that He did. To love another person is to see the face of God.

So...pretty much...I just super love Les Miserables. It's on my bucket list to read the unabridged book when I have time...and the attention span. It reminds me to find the light in the darkest of times. Because there is ALWAYS light to be found. There is always hope. And, there is always, always love to be found.