As the illusions of this worldview spin around me out of time and frame, the walls of my tower of Babel crumble and fall! One could almost hear the demonic laughter and cheers coming from the darkness of the abyss as each stone smashes to the ground like hardened drops of rain.

“We have to tell the kids,” she said. [About the divorce]

I stood at the front of our house, looking through the glass and watching a scene in slow motion. The school bus stopped, and I watched my children run up the driveway without a care in the world.

My heart sank, and I became numb, knowing that these words would completely shatter the only secure world they had ever known. The piercing message was delivered to our daughter, which was a devastating blow to this once joy-filled little girl as tears of sorrow streamed down her precious little cheeks; a scene that will be etched within my mind forever. The message was next delivered to our son, who was too young at the time to understand, but I know that something changed in him.

That day I saw the tears. I heard the tears…I felt the tears!

Our marriage was fractured, our kids were fractured, and my heart was fractured.

I didn’t want to live without them, and I didn’t want to say good-bye.

A moment in time had passed before my eyes!

Ok, so how does this connect to Tron? Great question and I’m getting to that…

I’m a huge fan of the Tron franchise. I was blown away when I saw the first Tron movie and was amp’ed up when Disney announced that the story continued in Tron: Legacy. I’ve seen the original and latest Tron movies many times, but recently while watching Tron: Legacy, the following scene really struck a chord.

Sam Flynn: You remember that night when you didn’t come home? You said…
Kevin Flynn: I said I’d show you the Grid. Should have seen this place back then. Couldn’t wait to show it to you.
Sam Flynn: Must have been something before Clu screwed it up.
Kevin Flynn: No, no, he’s… he’s me. I screwed it up, chasing after perfection, chasing after what was right in front of me.
[turns to look at Sam]
Kevin Flynn: Right in front of me.
Sam Flynn: Look what you’ve accomplished. It’s incredible.
Kevin Flynn: [puts his hand on Sam’s shoulder] Sam… I’d have given it all up for one more day with you.

Wow, did this hit home!

I would continue to perform on the world stage desperately trying to gain my identity. Overtime I became a slave to my own empire, running without a purpose, and I didn’t even know it. When we step into the false role of thinking we are the “creator” of our world, eventually everything we built comes crashing down like a house of cards.

My satisfaction was in what I had, how it was stored and my own capacity to take care of my life. I wanted to be a good husband and father as these roles were important to me, but I had blindly assumed that I could sustain a healthy family dynamic by giving them my leftovers from the pursuit of these things. I completely missed the joy of a relationship with the Lord, and the sad part is that I had it all in front of me and available to me in Jesus…I simply missed it! Like Pontius Pilate, I was arm’s length from the best opportunity of my life!

After that day when my kids heard the piercing words that their parents were getting a divorce, like Kevin Flynn, I’d have given it all up for one more day with them.

Kevin Flynn blindly pursued perfection by building his own world around him, like I did. Most of us are doing the same thing day after day. As Kevin Flynn shares, “the thing about perfection is that it’s unknowable. It’s impossible, but it’s also right in front of us all the time.”

Are you ready to stop building you’re own world in pursuit of perfection? Are you ready to hand over the reigns to God and step into the story He already has for you? Are you ready to see that your family, your kids and God Himself are right in front of you?

I’d have given it all up for one more day with them.