There’s a poignant movie called The Green Mile that came out in 1999. It played on TV last weekend; I had a chance to watch it again. I tried to find out why it was called the Green Mile to no avail. It was written by Stephen King, believe it or not!
For those of you who haven’t yet seen it, Tom Hanks plays Paul Edgecomb, senior man of a group of prison guards whose jobs are to keep peace on what they call, “The Green Mile”. The Green Mile is actually the cell block of a prison that houses inmates sentenced to death row.
Michael Clarke Duncan plays simple-minded inmate, John Coffey, living out the end of his sentence on the Mile. He was wrongfully convicted but I really don’t believe anyone actually becomes aware of this fact until the end of the movie. John possesses miraculous healing powers.
Throughout the movie, all of the guards, except “Percy”, protect the prisoners and treat them with respect and dignity regardless of what they were convicted for.
The warden’s wife, who is terminally ill, becomes sicker throughout the movie. Upon realizing that John Coffey has healing powers, the guards get together and plan a “night out” for big John. Coffey heals Mrs. Moores by placing his mouth over hers and inhaling her illness. Once he had been released to his cell, rather than exhaling the “spirit” as he normally did, he kept it inside his body in order to release it on nasty Percy and a Mile mate who actually committed the crime for which he was accused. After having done this he grabs “Boss” by the hand. “Boss” is a nickname for Tom Hanks. Hanks begins to get a glimpse of the vile iniquity that had been inside one of the other prisoners he unleashed this evil into. Hanks is horrified as he witnesses, in his spirit, what heinous crimes had been committed. He tried to break free from Coffey because it was just too horrendous to bear but Coffey says, “Please Boss, ya gots to lemmee give ya’ll some of the gift so you can see why I needs to do what I done.”
Once I saw what Coffey had hidden inside his mind, I began to wonder could I experience this degree of evil and treat the offenders with dignity and respect. As a Christian, I am called to do exactly that – forgive and not judge. It’s one thing to forgive someone who says they’ll call and doesn’t, or forgive someone who’s betrayed a confidence or lied to you. But forgive someone who murdered your child? Forgive someone who raped you? Forgive a parent who abandoned you as a child? This kind of forgiveness is more than an overnight type of thing. This type of forgiveness requires prayer first – prayer for a desire to forgive, and a lot of it.
Coffey brought something to the lives of each of these men. He opened their eyes to the fact that miracles happen and the God they worship does exist. He reaffirmed the faith of those who already believed and gave hope to those who didn’t. He served from his circumstance and used his gift even though he had been wrongly convicted. He never challenged his conviction. He could have easily taken the attitude “I don’t belong here. I’m innocent. Until I’m freed, I’m not going to use this gift to help others.” He didn’t do that. He served as a vessel and did so in a selfless manner.
The final scene is Coffey walking the Green Mile. I think it was called the MILE because the Boss walked with him. He walked in his shoes when he received the vision that Coffey carried inside him. He knew what it was like to be John Coffey. I think it was the GREEN Mile because they all knew that the grass would be greener on the other side of life.
Coffey is strapped into the electric chair and asked if he has any last words. He says he’s sorry for what he’s done, but only the guards really understand what he meant. The onlookers are shouting truly hateful things at him. One of the guards takes the black hood to cover his head but Coffey says, “Boss, please don’t cover my eyes, I’z afraid of the dark.” Boss nods to the guard and they take the hood off. Boss didn’t want Coffey to live his last breath alone in the dark.
If you had to walk The Green Mile tomorrow, would your slate be clean? Would there be any judgement or unforgiveness toward others in your heart? Would you be alone in the dark, or would you be in the company of people who love, in the light?
