As a MercyMe fanatic, hearing about the release of the film “I Can Only Imagine” struck my interest immediately. MercyMe’s career-starting  song, “I Can Only Imagine,” is put into the spotlight with this movie, along with the story and deep emotion that formed the lyrics and chords.

The movie follows the life of Bart Millard, lead singer of MercyMe and writer of the chart-topper. His everyday struggles consist of everything from failing to get signed by a record-company to dealing with his abusive father. His dreams of having a career as a singer are constantly crushed by the hurtful words of his father and by the harsh realities of the music industry. Bart struggles to fulfill his potential as an artist due to undealt pain from his past, so he leaves the band to step back into his childhood home. While a majority of people can’t relate to the abusive elements of Bart and his father’s relationship, they can relate to the struggle to rebuild something after it has been so badly demolished. When Bart seeks to mend the pain left in the past by his father to hopefully restart his career, he finds himself as the only caretaker of his dying father and mends a bond that once was non-existent. He helps his father find his way into the church and recreates the idyllic father-son bond he missed out on as a child. When his father passes due to his cancerous tumor, Bart is struck with inspiration from past journals and signs from God to write a song in memory of his father. With the help of artist Amy Grant and band manager Scot Brickell, the band receives its true start with the release of the song “I Can Only Imagine.”

I was struck with tears of both joy and sadness throughout the entire film as I watched the failing relationship of an aspiring singer and his father, who Bart refers to as a ‘monster,’ turn into something that seems to happen only in the movies. Seeing Bart never give up on his dream is truly inspiring to anyone struggling with the capabilities of their own passion and even made me think about what my dream for life is. The movie gives insight to a side of music that the public usually doesn’t get to see by allowing people to see what actually goes into each word of a song. This true story is not only a message of hope, but of redemption and faith, that through Christ anything is possible.