7 up

Just finished watching The Up Series on DVD. This British Documentary is fascinating. The premise is: "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man." They started filming the series in 1964. It began when they interviewed 14 adorable seven year olds. They ask the children what they might want to do when they are older and what they think about marriage, children and money. Then every seven years they had a follow up interview with the original children to catch up on what has transpired. Be warned it is a series that will make you laugh and cry. If you love sitting in a crowded place watching people, this series is for you. You get to observe the same people for 35 years. You watch their weight change and their hairstyles. You see them live out the choices they have made. I have watched them grow from age 7 to 14, 14 to 21, 21 to 28, 28 to 35 and 35 to 42. I hear age 49 is now available too, but I haven't seen it.

Because Alex is seven I probably enjoyed The Up Series even more. What will he look like at 14 and 21? What will he be doing? When will he marry? Will he marry? Will he be much like he is now, just more mature? Will he have a quiver of children? Will he like his job? Will he be confident and caring? Will he be an overcomer or a victim? And a thousand other questions? I guess the series reiterates how important these founding years are in the life of my children. If I only have till age seven, how crucial it is that I am a wholehearted parent that deliberately and habitually instructs my children in the way they should go. How I must be a truth speaker and a lover of their souls. Time is so short. So even though most of the interviewees' lives were mapped out by age seven, as a secular production, the series does not take into account the ability of the Holy Spirit to change a person. Even the most unregenerate.