Pondering Ulee's Gold

Ulee’s Gold is a 1997 movie, one easily overlooked. Peter Fonda portrays Ulee. The movie is deceptively old-fashioned. The film is about family. In a time when many people forsake the family so easily, this film stands up and declares that salvation of the family lies in our ability to support and love each other, through the good times and the bad. The film does not pretend that the bad times do not wear you down. Nevertheless, it shows that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and if there is even one spark of hope in the darkness, not all is lost. This is a realistic look at a family in need of a second chance on life.

            Since Ulee is a beekeeper, we find out something about bees and beekeepers. Ulee’s gold is, after all, the honey from the bees. The relationship between bee and beekeeper is simple: You take care of them, and they will take care of you. In one scene (1:06:48 to 1:07:52), Penny, his granddaughter, has drawn a picture of Ulee going to the swamp to get the bees. With Ulee listening in, she tells her mother, who has had problems with addiction to drugs,  

“See, sometimes the bees get confused, and run away — that’s them there on the tree. But they don’t really want to be gone, and they’re happy when someone helps them back into their home. But you got to keep calm and don’t panic when they sting, ’cause they don’t mean nothing by it.” 

I have a question for you. Have some people in your family lost their way? Have some people in your neighborhood or at work lost their way? They might even lash out at you. I confess I have not always responded well in that situation. I keep trying to respond as a disciple, by which I mean, with forgiveness and love.