Fame can carry a steep price.
Some people know there’s a cartoon called VeggieTales. ‘Tales’ began nearly thirty years ago (in 1993). Over the years, generations of kids have learned important life-lessons through stories that ‘Tales’ has conveyed.
One example connects to the world of football. “It’s A Meaningful Life” (2010) is a football adaptation of the famous film, It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).
The movie begins with Bob The Tomato and Larry The Cucumber sitting on the counter. Bob tells Larry he expects him to interfere with the show (as he usually does). Feeling insulted, Larry keeps his mouth shut while Bob reads an email from a girl named Maggie Greenman. Maggie, you see, wasn’t picked for her cheer squad.
Larry takes on the role of a football player named Stewart. He wants to go to The Salad Bowl with his team, and that game could be his last chance to play and be a star. But Stewart gets injured and never gets to play football again, while Mr. Flint, or Morty, gets to go to The Salad Bowl and become a football legend.
To cheer up Stewart, his dad offers him a job at the toy factory.
Years pass since that faithful football game, and Stewart goes on to become the CEO of that toy factory. The goal is to make 10,000 trains by Christmas. But problems stack for Stewart when Morty returns home and wants to buy the toy factory. Things fall apart at that point and Stewart regrets missing his football shot.
But then a mysterious train appears. Stewart hops on and meets a conductor named Gabe. Gabe says that if Stewart had become that football star, he would have become a selfish and greedy person. Stewart is then given a choice to be either famous or an everyday person. He chooses the latter.
VeggieTales is full of stories (and messages) like that. As Bob and Larry remind us, “God made you special and he loves you very much.” Sports figures included….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6oxr_SYgtI
