This is a hugely powerful and seemingly unusual thing that Aslan does. What does it mean for the Creator to give Himself to the creation?
What Aslan does is similar to what we see God doing in Scripture. God literally gives Himself for the world in the form of Jesus on the Cross, but God shows this tendency to give Himself earlier in Scripture too. In Genesis, Abram, later renamed Abraham, enters into an agreement with God, who offers him all the land of Israel to be his. When Abram asks for assurance, he and God prepare to enter into a covenant traditional in those times. They take a two halves of an animal and walk through them. The idea was that the animal was a sign that if the covenant was broken, this would be what would happen to you. Except Abram never walks through the halves. A deep sleep comes upon him, and he has a vision of God alone passing through the halves. God has taken on the entire responsibility of the covenant. God has given Himself to Abram, even though he didn't have to. Both the stories of Jesus and Abram show God going above and beyond to build us up and maintain a relationship with us. That is what Aslan is doing too. By giving Himself to the talking animals, Aslan is forming a relationship with them. It may be more than we could ever ask or hope for, but in the end, God will always strive to give Himself to us in relationship.
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Please note, Black Panther is rated PG-13. Aside from Wakanda, Okoye has another great love in her life: her husband W'Kabi. Both Okoye and W'Kabi serve as military leaders of Wakanda, and both have a fierce loyalty to their country. When Killmonger becomes king, W'Kabi begins to choose Killmonger and his reign over that shared love for Wakanda. When T'Challa returns, Okoye realizes that by Wakandan Law, the challenge for the throne between T'Challa and Killmonger must continue. She points this out to W'Kabi, in hopes that his love and loyalty to Wakanda will outweigh his growing admiration for Killmonger. Unfortunately it does not, and thus a battle ensues between Okoye's Dora Milaje and W'Kabi's Border Tribe. This also puts Okoye and W'Kabi against each other, with Okoye defeating W'Kabi in the end. This is not before she makes it extremely clear to him that her loyalty will first and foremost always be to Wakanda. Okoye has to make a choice: her family or something greater. It is the same choice we sometimes have to make as well. In Jesus' commissioning of the Disciples in Matthew, He tells them to put God before all others. He continues by saying: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household." Sadly, sometimes our faith will put us in conflict with our loved ones, although like Okoye we hope that will not be the case, and like Okoye we do everything in our power to help our loved ones serve God with us. But sometimes those we love may force us to choose between them and loving God. Okoye made the right decision in fighting for what is right, even when it puts her into conflict with her husband. Would that we might have the same courage as her.
0) Aslan first calls them to be awake. This is a call on one hand to be, or to exist, and on the other to be aware. These animals are called to have consciousness, just as we as humans are conscious and aware of ourselves and the world around us.
1) Aslan's first command is to Love. This is very fitting as Love is what Jesus primarily showed to us in the world, and it what we are called to show others as well. The majesty of Love is extolled in Paul's famous passage in 1 Corinthians 13. Paul's passage also speaks of having love before we speak or even try to gain understanding. 2) Thinking can mean many things. It is how we ponder and try to comprehend the world in us and outside us. It is also what we do before we perform any other action. In other words, to act, we first have to prepare. The old adage states: "think before you act." Galatians 5:22-23 lays out a similar line of thought with the fruits of the Spirit, starting with "love, joy, peace" followed immediately by "patience". 3) Finally, we have the command to speak. Speaking is the principal act of those of us who can think. It is the action by which we convey our thoughts and by which we say what we are thinking. Speaking is also a key tool for evangelism, that is spreading the Gospel. It is what Jesus asks His Disciples to do at the end of His ministry and at the end of His time with them on Earth. 4) All of this leads to the animals response that they also know. In Scripture, to follow in God's commands is "the beginning of knowledge." Following God's Will is not only the beginning of knowledge, but it is also a knowledge that "surpasses knowledge", as we also hear in the Bible. Following God's Path means greater knowledge, and a greater knowledge of the Lord. Aslan's words to these newly created beings maps out the path Scripture lays out for us. His words are not only a command for Narnia, they lay out a road for us to follow as well. With Narnia, let us, who are awake, "Love. Think. Speak." Through these actions, let us come to know as well, especially when that knowledge leads us to become closer to the Lord. Please note, Black Panther is rated PG-13. One of the most interesting characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Okoye. She is funny and quick-witted as well as extremely moral. No matter where you fall in the conversation between her and Nakia, it is clear Okoye has a code of conduct that she sticks to no matter what. Even though she loves T'Challa and his family, she won't go with them in exile because her duty, she believes, is first and foremost serving Wakanda and her laws. She continues to stay as General of the Dora Milaje, even though she doesn't always like or agree with Killmonger in his role as the new King of Wakanda. She does so even though she does not believe Wakanda should go to war with the rest of the world, as Killmonger commands Wakanda to do. All that changes when T'Challa comes back and tells Killmonger, and all of Wakanda, that the Challenge between them has not, in fact, been completed. Killmonger, instead of honoring Wakandan law, chooses to go ahead with his plans. Okoye realizes that Killmonger will never honor the law he has sworn to protect. This, and T'Challa's return, are all her code requires for her to stand up against Killmonger. Killmonger acts, as Scripture puts it, in the role of a "false prophet". He tries to lead Wakanda down a path that will be destructive for them and the world at large. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, says we can recognize false prophets by their fruit, or rather the fruit of their labors. That is precisely what Okoye is doing. She can see from Killmonger's actions that he not only doesn't have Wakanda's best interests at heart, but he also refuses to uphold their law. He will lead them astray, and Okoye steps up to prevent that from happening. Fortunately, as 2 Peter tells us, false prophets and teachers bring about their own destruction. That is certainly what we see with the final fate of Killmonger. Tune in next Thursday for another lesson from Okoye and Scripture!
The reactions are interesting because they fit each person who is there. Polly, aside from her brief rudeness to Digory at the start of the book, has been nothing but honest and practical in her approach to everything. On the other side are Andrew and Jadis, with Jadis clearly being the more wicked of the two.
In the middle is Digory who has both committed the wrong that landed them all here and worked to take responsibility for that wrong. He has both done what he should and what he should not have, which presumably is why he is both drawn to and afraid of the Lion. We don't know much about the Cabby at this point, but can assume he, like Digory, has done both right and wrong in his life. The characters' reactions to the Lion also tell us about our own reactions to God. At times we find ourselves afraid of God because of our past misdeeds. In other moments, we are drawn to God and want to become nearer to God as we develop our relationship with the Lord. Neither of these reactions, in it of themselves, is wrong. It is good for us to have reverence to God and to realize our own unworthiness as we enter the presence of the Lord, but it is also important for us to feel that pull to be closer to God. It was God's purpose in coming into this world as our Lord Jesus Christ to draw us closer to Him, and we should desire this closeness too. Our feelings towards God are so similar to Digory's for the Lion because we too are on a journey of repentance and forgiveness. We may be skittish in the presence of God at first, but if we allow God to draw us in, we will be all the better for it. Please note, Black Panther is rated PG-13. After T'Challa loses to Killmonger in a battle for the throne, Nakia, a Wakandan spy and T'Challa's love interest, makes sure his mother and sister are safe from any possible harm Killmonger might try to inflict on them. After she does so, Nakia lets Wakandan General Okoye know the status of the Wakandan Royal Family. She then asks Okoye to join them. Okoye tells Nakia that her loyalty is to Wakanda no matter who sits on the throne, and she chastises Nakia for not doing the same. She tells Nakia if she loves her country, she should serve her country. Nakia replies: No. I save my country. Nakia is similar to the prophets of ancient Israel. These prophets were often called upon to speak to kings, as well as their fellow country people, and help lead them back to God and serving the Lord. The prophets' goal, in doing so, was to save Israel from harm. Their goal was to make the Israelites better servants of the Lord and, thus, better people. Nakia has shown her desire to lead her people to be better stewards to the world before in her conversations with T'Challa, specifically in calling T'Challa to lead Wakanda in providing foreign aid to countries that need it. In this way, she is trying to help Wakanda "love their neighbor as themselves." This is not only a command that Jesus gives, it is also at the heart of the Law given in Torah. In order for a prophet to save, her or his words must be listened to. We should take time to stop and think about how we can return to the Lord and better serve God's will in this world. Part of that means loving our neighbor, whoever that neighbor might be. Helpful Prophets to Look at:
Tune in Next Thursday when we see this conversation from Okoye's point of view.
The First Voice in the void of nothingness (compare with the Genesis account) brings out all the other voices of the stars, planets, and earth. The First Voice remains as the bass of the harmony, and it is what "made them appear and made them sing."
This sounds remarkably like chords, which are foundational for turning notes into music. Chords also help guide the melody as well. By being the bass, the First Voice remains a part of the music of Creation always, even if it is not the note we immediately listen for. The First Voices continues to ground the music and guide it. It is a beautiful reminder of God's continued presence in Creation, even if we don't always recognize the Lord's presence with us. It is also a reminder that without God, "not one thing came into being", as we hear about in the Gospel according to John. It is also worth noting that Uncle Andrew and Jadis don't care for this music. Jadis even fears it. Music is a gift from God, and thus good. In The Magician's Nephew, music is not only a tool for creation, but the creation itself. In the Genesis account, we hear every time God makes something that "it was good." Evil doesn't like music. That's clear from Jadis' reaction here. Music is a gift from God. We would do well to remember that always, especially in our praise of the Lord. Please note, Frozen II is rated PG. At the beginning of Frozen II, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf have all settled into normal and happy lives within Arendelle. But not too far into the movie, that all, of course, starts to change.
Elsa begins to hear a mysterious voice which seems to be calling out to her. She is concerned and troubled by this voice, going as far as to say she's already "had [her] adventure" and does not "need something new". This voice, as she sings, is trying to lead her "into the unknown." What Elsa is experiencing is similar to what we sometimes experience with the Spirit. Like so many before us, the Spirit sometimes calls out to us, drawing us in to something new and unexpected. We see this in Scripture with people like Abraham, Moses, the Prophets, and the Apostles. Sometimes the call is answered willingly, other times with a bit of hesitation. When we hear the call of the Spirit, we do need to take time to discern and make sure it is God calling us, just as Elsa wonders whether this voice is for real or "just a ringing in my ear." Like Elsa, we might not be ready to follow the voice of the Spirit into the next adventure for us. But like Elsa, we also need to be ready to have our comfortable worlds and lives shaken up so that we can follow the voice of Spirit, wherever it may lead, even "into the unknown."
One of the most admirable things about the action Digory takes is that he realizes he must have patience. Whenever we have done wrong and missed the mark, our inclination is often to immediately rush in and try to fix it. Penance is not something that can be rushed. Rather, it often takes time for us to fix the mistakes we have made in the past.
Like Digory, we all face times where we have to do penance for our actions. We must first understand that because of our actions, something wrong has occurred. Particularly if that wrong thing will lead to the continual harm of others, we must make sure to do what we can to help others and right our mistake. But to do that well, we must be willing to take a step back, be patient, and wait for the right moment to come forward with a solution, or rather with our penance. |
Please note, there maybe Spoilers in the Posts below!
The Rev. Trey KennedyHere is my take on how Superheroes and other characters can help us know God better. Categories
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