It Doesn't Work that Way!

In the film The Bucket List, Edward (Jack Nicholson) and Carter (Morgan Freeman) are both terminally ill. Doctors have given them about one year to live, so they make a list of things they always wanted to do before they "kicked the bucket"—and go about doing them, one by one. The list includes skydiving, racing vintage Mustangs, and seeing the wonders of the world. In this scene, Edward and Carter are on their way to Europe in a private jet.

"It's indescribably beautiful," Carter says as he looks out his window at a magnificent landscape.

"I love flying over the polar caps," replies Edward. "We're above the desolation."

Both men look out the window together. "The stars—it's really one of God's good ones," Carter says.

"So you think a being of some sort did all this?" Edward says.

"You don't?"

Referring to his illness, Edward replies, "You mean, do I believe if I look up in the sky and promise this or that, the 'Biggie' will make all this go away? No."

"Then 95 percent of the people on earth are wrong," Carter says.

Edward smugly fires back: "If life has taught me anything, it's that 95 percent of the people are always wrong."

"It's called faith," Carter says.

"I honestly envy people who have faith. I just can't get my head around it."

"Maybe your head is in the way."

"Carter, we've all had hundreds of these discussions, and every one of them always hits the same wall. Is there a sugarplum fairy or not? And nobody has ever gotten over that wall."

"So, what do you believe?" Carter asks.

"I resist all beliefs."

"No big bang? No random universe?"

"We live. We die," Edward says. "And the wheels on the bus go round and round."

"What if you're wrong?"

"I'd love to be wrong. If I'm wrong, I win."

Carter chuckles before he says, "I'm not sure it works that way."

Carter’s right! It doesn’t work that way! God has determined that the cross of Christ is the absolute fulcrum of history. If you trust the work of Christ on that Cross you win; if you reject it you lose. It’s so simple, yet so weak and foolish that many reject it out of hand. They refuse to let go of their own value system and buy into God’s.