The scene is from the movie "On the Waterfront".

Marlon Brando, in an Academy Award-winning performance as a would-be boxing champion, and Lee J. Cobb as his crooked brother are in the backseat of a New York cab and the sadness is palpable.

It is the sorrow of a wasted life.

"I cudda been a contender," Brando cries. "I cudda been somebody."

It is one of the most haunting lines I have ever heard.

It is the sad statement all of us have made at one time or another. Even now, we hear it whisper from the back of our brains. Even now with our three cars, our home in the mountains, our tax-free money in the bank. Even now it comes to haunt us with its utter truthfulness.

"I cudda been somebody."

"Vanity of vanities. All is vanity."

Well, maybe not all.

There’s my home with its triple insulated windows and solar powered Jacuzzi. There’s the car, complete with turbocharger and power windows. There’s my community involvement, the activities with the kids, church, retirement planning.

Surely all of that isn’t vanity. It is industry, prosperity. It is accomplishment and power. It is what makes the world go round and powers the pistons of progress!

Vanity, hell. This is the real thing! Life doesn’t get any better than this.

So why, then, do we still hear it?

That whisper that comes in the middle of the night. In the silence between rushing this way and hustling that. Why does it still come?

"I cudda been somebody."

We go to church for comfort, for affirmation of our aggressiveness. We want God to smile on our success and, instead, Jesus says, "Fool!"

We’ve been worrying about the wrong things. We’ve been racing off in the wrong direction.

What went wrong?

What went wrong is we forgot the Gospel promise. We ignored the gift that God has given and tried to make it on our own.

The result is always the same. It may come in the backseat of a cab or in the middle of the night, but come it will and with it the horrifying realization that our lives are being wasted.

Stop for a moment and ask yourself what brings you joy...deep, meaningful, life-refreshing joy.

Is it working late at the office? Is it a big savings account?

My hunch is it is spending time with someone you love. Perhaps a walk in the woods, sharing in the gift of creation. Maybe giving a gift to another or listening to a friend or consoling someone who is hurting.

I suspect it is living out the Gospel, following the Christ.

The Gospel promise of a meaningful life is self-evident. When we follow Jesus and reach out to others in love, forgiveness and acceptance, we experience joy.

It is as simple as that.

When we don’t, we hear the cursed whisper.

"I cudda been somebody."