“Please stop talking,” I begged under my breath.

“It’ll be fine,” Bill assured me.

“But he won’t stop talking,” I said through gritted teeth.

The location manager was more patient than I was as he acknowledged the man’s latest remark before directing our attention to the spot where Bill Murray stepped in a puddle while trying to get away from Ned Ryerson.

My youngest was in no mood to look at the ground as she blurted out: “I’m cold.”

“We’re all cold,” I replied.

“I want to go back to the van.”

“I do, too,” I sympathized. “It should be over soon.”

Hollie and I were about to learn that we still had a lot of walking to do.

“Now we will be leaving the downtown centre to see where the movie theatre, bowling alley, moose lodge, and train track scenes were filmed,” the location manager announced.

To avoid a mutiny (and take advantage of another photo opportunity), I waited for our group to head north along Main Street and then offered this suggestion: “Let’s hang back to get a picture next to the place where Bill Murray stepped in the puddle.”

Bill liked my idea and turned on the camera as I did my best to pose the girls.

“Can you at least smile?” I pleaded.

One of the other tourists who stayed behind to take pictures saw us struggling with our less-than-enthusiastic subjects and volunteered to lend a hand.

“Would you like me to take one of all of you?”

“That would be great,” Bill replied.

The guy took our picture as we knelt on the ground near the curb. Thinking that would be it, Bill stood up to retrieve the camera only to learn that our photo shoot had just begun.

“Now put your foot out like you’re stepping in the puddle,” the man instructed.

Bill returned to the Albin line up and positioned his right foot next to mine.

“Smile girls,” our tourist-turned-photographer coaxed.

While posing for the photo, my gaze shifted to the person taking it and I was shocked by what the Spirit opened my eyes to see: the guy who was such a blessing behind the camera, was the same one who had been annoying me on the tour. Instantly, I felt guilty for wanting nothing to do with a person, who only wanted to help.

The man I dismissed as insignificant, was important to the big picture. This thought led to another one as I wondered about the people who've decided that they don't need Jesus. Will they reach the same conclusion when they stand at the gates of heaven and learn that God's son is not just a greeter, but the one who holds the key?

I didn't have an answer as I thanked the man for his service and rejoined our tour. What I did have was an understanding that Jesus is not just a part of our salvation, he's the cornerstone upon which it rests.[ii] While it's frustrating to hear people discount what Jesus did on the cross, it's also understandable. His actions were often misunderstood, even by members of his own family. We know this from Luke 2 where we find Mary and Joseph traveling to Jerusalem with family and friends.  Like the man on our tour of Woodstock, Jesus asked a lot of questions after they arrived in the holy city—so many that he ended up getting left behind.

Who can blame Mary for having her own set of questions when, after searching for their twelve-year-old boy for three days, she and Joseph finally found him in the temple courts.

“Son, why have you treated us like this?” Mary asked in Luke 2:48, “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

Jesus surprised her with two questions of his own: "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?”[i]

Like me when the man was taking our picture, Mary learned that Jesus wasn’t trying to be inconsiderate … he was just being himself. Sometimes I think we spend so much time trying to change people that we forget: the characteristic that makes someone frustrating in one situation, can make him effective in another. It was a lesson I learned the hard way as I kicked myself for praising the man’s interest and meticulous attention to detail behind the camera, while criticizing him for exhibiting the same traits just minutes before on the tour.

The bible calls my double standard, not just unfair, but unlawful. We know this from Matthew 7:12 where Jesus said: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

What I would like people to do whenever my actions lead to undesirable outcomes is to assume that I didn’t mean to cause any harm. I believe so strongly that this is what Jesus would do in similar circumstances that I created a rhyme to help me remember: When intentions are good and your heart’s in the right place; don’t worry about the outcome, it’s covered by grace.

Experience has taught me that grace is easier to ask for than it is to extend; and as much as I wanted to cover my ears and pretend I’d never heard about the golden rule, I knew that expecting others to assume the best and forgive the rest requires a willingness to do the same. James 2:13 makes this clear to everyone who reads that “judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.”

Maybe that’s why God gives us so many opportunities to extend mercy, I decided while snapping a picture of the movie theatre where Phil Connors took his date to what she thought was a costume party. He does it to give us as many chances as possible to realize the error of our ways.

I find it ironic that I would realize the error of mine while retracing the steps of a character who was forced to relive the same day over and over until he learned to get it right. Phil Connors was a merciless egotist who saw people as nuisances to avoid or, worse, as resources to use in an attempt to better his own situation. It took a time warp to help him see the citizens of Punxsutawney as, not burdens to bear, but gifts to get-to-know.

In his book, The Magic of Groundhog Day, Paul Hannam analyzed the effect that Phil Connors’ inner world had on his outer one and shared this finding with his readers:

When Phil arrives in Punxsutawney, he thinks of the town as dull and full of “hicks,” while Rita sees it as charming and fun. The town is the same; only their perceptions are different. Like many of us, Phil has developed a perspective of the world that denies him happiness and fulfillment. … It is not being stuck in Punxsutawney that makes him unhappy—it is being stuck in his habitual thinking.[iii]

“In the end,” the author added, “the day does not change, the location does not change, and the townspeople do not change. It is Phil who changes.”[iv]

Like Phil Connors, we can turn a trying day into a triumphant one by thinking and acting differently. That’s what I decided to do as we continued on the tour. For the next thirty minutes, I didn’t care how many questions the man asked. I was no longer trying to change the situation, and was instead controlling myself.

“This concludes the main part of our tour,” Bob said after we returned to the corner where Phil first encountered Ned Ryerson in the movie. “For those who would like to go with me, it’s a three-block walk to the house where Phil’s piano teacher lived. From there, we’ll proceed to the private residence that doubled as the bed and breakfast where Phil stayed.”

Katie and Hollie had a look of panic on their faces until I reassured them: “We’ll drive by those places on our way out of town.”

As we headed back to the van, Hollie saw a toy groundhog in one of the store windows and asked if she could buy it.

“I didn’t know Webkinz made a groundhog.”

“They just came out with it this month,” Hollie explained. “I’ve been saving up to get it.”

I was surprised that the girl who refused to pose next to a fake groundhog, was now asking to take one home. Still, if Hollie was planning to buy the toy anyway, it made sense to get it here.

“Why don’t you and Katie walk to the van while I take Hollie in the store?” I suggested to Bill.

My nine-year-old was thrilled as she picked out the perfect groundhog and placed it on the counter next to the register. A few minutes later, we were waiting outside for Bill to drive up when I felt compelled to ask her a question.

“What saying applies to this situation?”

“I don’t know,” Hollie replied.

“When things don’t turn out the way you wished they should ...”

“Trust God to use bad for good,” she finished.

It was a great way to end our afternoon in Woodstock. Hollie bought the groundhog she’d been wanting and I had the perfect picture to remind me that expecting others to assume the best and forgive the rest requires a willingness to do the same. People are not a means to an end, they are a way to add meaning as we stop seeing them as obstacles and start believing that we all have a part to play in our divine screenwriter’s plan.

“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

(Romans 12:4-5)

Quotes To Grow On:

“It is not so much outer repetition but inner repetition—repetitive thought patterns—that create the Groundhog Day Effect.”

Paul Hannam, The Magic of Groundhog Day, p. 8

“Personal reality is a reflection of reality, not reality itself. So, in effect, there are two realities. The reality of what is, the real world, and the world as we see it, our personal reality. We might not repeat the exact day over and over again in our outer lives, yet our personal reality can effectively create the same day again and again in our inner lives.”

Paul Hannam, The Magic Of Groundhog Day, p. xxii

“You pay attention when you stop living in the trance of your personal reality and come back to the world as it is. Above all, paying attention is the first step toward transforming your life.”

Paul Hannam, The Magic of Groundhog Day, pp. 34-35

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