I loved the 2010 movie “True Grit.” For one thing, I liked the music, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” But the main reason was the acting of then fourteen-year-old Hailee Steinfeld who played the part of Mattie Ross. When they started filming, Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon used a lot of curse words. So, little Hailee started a “bad boy jar” and charged them $5 every time they used the “f” word and $1 when they used other bad language. She matched the $350 she collected from them and gave the money to Alzheimer’s.
I am amazed at the “true grit” of this young lady playing her first major role with acclaimed actors. She could easily have thrown in a few slang words and they would have thought she was “one of the boys.” But she refused to go along and so changed atmosphere of the movie set.
That’s the challenge to every one of us. We are to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Little Hailee demonstrated one way we can do that for a dark world—if we have the grit ... and the grace.