The Truman Show: Good Morning and Good Night (1 John 2:15-17)

Imagine yourself in the quaint town of Seahaven, where the sun always seems to shine just right, casting a warm golden glow over perfectly manicured lawns and white picket fences. It’s a place where everyone knows your name, or at least they think they do. This is the world of Truman Burbank, a man who has lived his entire life under the watchful eye of an unseen audience, a captive in a bubble of comfort and illusion. Each day, he greets the world with a cheerful, “Good morning!” and bids farewell with a familiar, “Good night!” Yet, deep within him, a stirring begins—a whisper that tells him this life isn’t all there is.

As he stands at the edge of his manufactured reality, Truman's heart races. He is faced with a choice: to stay within the safety of his crafted existence or to step into the unknown, pursuing a truth that might shatter everything he knows. It’s a moment filled with tension, where the air feels thick and electric, as if the very fabric of his world is begging him to stay. But in that pivotal scene, he looks straight into the camera—the audience that has watched him, manipulated him, and kept him captive—and he says, “In case I do not see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.”

John warns us in 1 John 2:15-17 not to love the world or the things in it. This world can feel so alluring, so comforting, much like Truman’s Seahaven. But just as he had to confront the painful truth of his illusion, so too must we recognize the ways we are confined by our own comforts, our own distractions. Stepping through the door into reality requires us to name those things that hold us back, to embrace the discomfort of awakening. It’s an invitation to every disciple: choose a life of truth over a life of illusion, for only then can we truly live. What would it take for us to say our own goodbyes to the familiar and step boldly into the truth? It’s a journey that requires courage, but it’s one that leads to true freedom.