Today, I saw my first Woody Allen movie in a theatre. The movie was Midnight in Paris, about a guy who through some odd loop in time gets to go back to the ’20s and hang out with Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, and Cole Porter, among others.

He almost gets to where he prefers the past to the present. If he could only live in that golden age, he would be happier. But this is where Woody Allen the theologian kicks in.

The main character finds out that some living in that ideal time wish they could go back to an earlier time they feel to be a golden age. He learns that given enough time, a so-called golden age loses its luster and has its own set of problems.

I have found myself wishing I could have lived in a earlier era, thinking how much easier it would be. I’m learning that even if I got my wish, I ultimately wouldn’t be satisfied. The grass really isn’t all that greener on the other side. That place or that person or that position you so desperately want won’t be a panacea fix-all to all your problems.

The best cure is to embrace where you are and live there. Love the people you’re with and pray for open eyes to all that God is doing around you.

Ferris Bueller was right. Life is short. If you don’t stop and take time to look around, you could miss it. You could miss the beautiful sunsets and sunrises, rainbows, flowers blooming, changing leaves, and so many small wonders.

Learn to be thankful that you are where you are. If you can name ten things each day that you’re thankful for, pretty soon you’ll have a different outlook.

Thanks, Woody Allen, for that life lesson. Thank you, God, for blessing me and loving me right where I am in the middle of my mess and my confusion. Wherever You are is where I want to be from now on.