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Recently there has been a lot of talk concerning “the world to come,” also known as the Kingdom of God. Much of this talk has been about who is wrong, right, and not even in the ballpark. When talking about the Gospel though we know that the Kingdom of God was at least introduced into the world through Jesus, if not, ushered into the world, in the world still, and yet to be consummated. Either way, to follow Jesus is to enact this Kingdom of God…which, much of the time, seems like a completely different world. As a matter of fact, it is almost like communicating Christmas to Halloween Town.
If you have not yet, you need to get a hold of a copy of Nightmare Before Christmas; and it’s not to be “hip” with the goth/emo crowd, nor for the amazing musical numbers, but for the purpose of witnessing a great story. A quick synopsis of the film would tell you this, Jack, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, is disillusioned with Halloween and with his role. Searching to fill the emptiness inside, Jack stumbles upon a completely different world, Christmas Town, where he experiences the mystery, magic, and good feeling of Christmas. No matter how hard he tries once he returns to Halloween Town, Jack struggles to communicate this experience so that others can understand. In his attempts to recreate Christmas Town in Halloween Town, Jack will find himself the antagonist of everything he’s trying to achieve. From having Santa Claus kidnapped, to toys that attack, Jack’s Christmas is doomed from the start.
With the words, “Oh well, might as well give them what they want,” Jack’s testimony becomes more about entertainment that recounting his experience. It is difficult to communicate Christmas to Halloween town…probably as difficult to communicate a world defined by love, hope, and Resurrection, to a world defined by fear, power, and death. Unlike Jack, we are not left to our own devices to communicate this coming world. We are free to use and rely on our own devices, though nothing will be as effective in communicating the Gospel as an uncompromising testimony (not “convincing,” nor “logical,” but “uncompromising” in saying, “this I do know, I was blind and now I see”) even in the face of death. Would Jack have insisted on such a place as the Christmas town he experienced, he may have been thought too crazy to remain the Pumpkin King; instead, he twists Christmas Town out of frustration at their misunderstanding. Granted, they realize “something’s up with Jack,” but even as Halloween Town is “making Christmas” they don’t get it. In the end, Christmas must be saved from Jack’s catastrophic misunderstanding, from Halloween Town’s idea of presents…Christmas must be saved by Santa. But, even as he saves Christmas, Santa brings a bit of Christmas to Halloween Town, for all to take part. I imagine, and the soundtrack CD suggests, that little by little, the holiday towns became aware of one another, understanding better their part in the year, as well as everyone else’s parts.
You must realize also, that Jack felt the need to hide when he stumbled into Christmas Town. Can you imagine what happens when the literal embodiment of one holiday descends into a different town defined by a different holiday? Chaos, misunderstanding…violence? Death? This is what almost happened to Santa, but the Oogie Boogie character is just a mean guy…Surely, in Christmas Town a walking skeleton would be welcomed right? What would happen if someone who embodied the world to come descended into this world? Chaos, misunderstanding, violence, and death? You see, the beauty of the Nightmare Before Christmas lies in the simple way it communicates what it means to testify to a different reality in this one. In the event that Jack did make himself known to Santa in Christmas Town, and Santa coached Jack in how to enact Christmas, and Jack returned to Halloween Town to try to enact Christmas, do you think Halloween Town would accept Jack Skelington as their Pumpkin King any longer? No way!
Finally, I love to recall that scene where Jack tries to tell everyone about his experience. You can tell they’ve heard his stories before…they think they know where he’s going with it all. But this story is different. To understand they’ll have to accept that they don’t know about this other town, they’ll probably have to hear “no, it doesn’t work like that” a lot, and for years, until they are able to experience Christmas themselves, they’ll have to figure out how best to practice Christmas. Do not tire in your testimony about this coming world, instead persevere and you will be fulfilled when your faith has been consummated. How difficult it will be for those who assume too much about their own understanding. They will sound like broken records, saying, “this isn’t how ‘Christmas’ is supposed to be,’” denying what is right in front of them.
A good story does not pull you in, nor must it be believable, but a good story must participate with you.
This is proven by one of my favorite films titled, “The Fall.” It’s not about Genesis 3, instead the story includes two characters who have been hospitalized from their own falls. A broken and love-sick young man begins telling a story to a little girl as a tool of manipulation to get her to bring him pills (for suicidal reasons). As the story begins, she is involved in the shaping of the characters. It is not that she tells the story, but that she imagines the story. She has the power to change the characters; at one point, the main hero is imagined less as her father and more as Roy, the storyteller. Sometimes subtly and sometimes drastically, she changes the story, even entering it herself when there is no means of escape for the others. In the girl’s attempt to get Roy the pills he wants, she falls and seriously injures herself. We find that Roy is spiraling out of control in despair when he comes to visit the girl. She pleads with him to finish the story, so he does. One by one he begins telling of the characters’ demise, until there is no one left but the hero and the girl. As it becomes clear that this is not simply a story, Roy has the hero moments from death and the girl argues with him. Roy says, “It’s my story.” To which she replies, “It’s my story too.” In the end, it is simply the unrequited love of the girl that saves the hero and Roy’s life; that, and the intermingling of two people’s stories.
This is one of the movies that strikes me differently every time I see it. Lately, this scene that I have described moves me beyond words. Could it be that we have refused one another access to our stories? Who is it that could lay claim to your story? Why do they get that privilege? Who’s life have you saved merely through the love of one involved in another person’s story? If there is no one who can lay claim to your story, no one who can save you from self-destruction within your story, why?
Speaking in the terms of the Gospel, could it be that in coming as a man and living out love Jesus was able to break into other people’s stories, even saving their hero who was dying in despair? Could it be that we as Christ-followers have so refused to be part of others’ stories we no longer have the power to save their story-heroes? Is the unrequited love of Christ through us really repugnant enough that others will not allow us into their stories?
You’ve probably heard reviews on Avatar, this first filmed 3D movie, if you’ve been at all interested. I will not then waste your time reviewing the movie, because it really was the first 3D movie I had seen that was not at all obnoxious about the fact that it was 3D. Instead, let me throw a few questions out there to see if there are any thoughts.
Violence: The Na’vi, natives of Pandora, are respecters of life, to the point of saying a form of prayer over their game when hunting. They perform the hunt, while respecting life…however, their is little said as they battle against the ‘skypeople’ about this respect of life. Is their a way to respect life and take part in war?
Sociology: The Na’vi consider their home sacred ground, and the ‘skypeople’ want them to move, so that they would mine expensive rock from Pandora. The ‘skypeople’ make enemies because the Na’vi will not give them what they want. There are a few levels of implied questions…is this an analogy for what happened with the natives in the Americas? Do we, in our society, make enemies of people who are unwilling to compromise, especially for our gain?
Spirituality: The Na’vi are mystical in every way. All things are connected and respond to Eywa, their deity. The ‘skypeople’ are strictly logical, even the scientists who work closely with the Na’vi only begin to believe that there’s something to Na’vi’s belief when they realize all botanical life is connected on Pandora (they liken it to a humongous brain). As the ‘skypeople’ prepare for the final battle, they mock the Na’vi’s belief. What should the relationship between the logical and faith be?
Religion: Though closely related to spirituality, it is my contention that what endears the audience to the Na’vi is that they live out their belief. Ironically, we still think them somehow naive to believe in Eywa. Do we consider belief in something beyond reason naive? What about in the way we live or reason?
