If you haven’t seen Pay it Forward, you need to rent it, or take it out from your nearest library. I am so enamored with the idea, the filmmaking, the entire shabang, that I went and bought it (and I am not a film-buyer — I tire of them usually after one viewing).

If you haven’t seen the film, go see it.

If you have already seen it, keep reading.

If you don’t want to do either — just go to www.payitforwardfoundation.com — you’ll dig the concept.

I have been consistently surprised, lately, by the creative depth of young folk, and wasn’t surprised when the main character in Pay it Forward came up with a plan to save the world. I guess in very biblical manner, the answer comes from ‘the least of these’ — and the kid ends up dying a ‘martyr’ of sorts…

The concept isn’t new: do something for someone else that is really big, and they’ll pass it on. That is the fundamental tenet of my Christian belief, as well as the lesson that I learned off of the wall of first grade, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you…”

But this movie is new. Throughout the movie, the kid’s character almost loses its integrity… but when he breaks out into a big smile while being interviewed on television near the end, the actor, Haley Osmont and the character retreat back into the frame of a little boy — and then his death takes on an entirely different character.

Please check out the website for the film — just google ‘pay it forward’ and you’ll find lots of stuff about it — and go to the links page — and you can find tons of organizations to do something like what Haley Osmont’s little character did in the movie — you can take charity into your own hands. And also check out www.payitforwardfoundation.com — especially if you are an educator — they have interesting programs and links.