THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTOPHER ROBIN: COME AWAY WITH ME

I went to see this movie with no real expectations, as I did not grow up watching much of the kids cartoon show, or reading the books.  For some reason however, I felt drawn to the theaters to see this film. That morning I awoke with some real life questions, and even had a conversation with God about them... questions about life that I found direct responses to in Christopher Robin.

With that piece of background information, I will skip ahead to sitting in the theater before the trailers rolled, where I said a prayer, asking “God to show me something through this film.” He more than answered that prayer, that’s for sure.

The film opens to reveal to us a day specific day in the Hundred Acre Wood, it is the day that Pooh and his friends have a farewell party for Christopher Robin. 

I was immediately lost in the Hundred Acre Wood as I watched this first scene of fuzzy creatures, Winnie the Pooh, Tiger, Piglet, Owl etc sitting around a party table, discussing how this was the day that Christopher Robin was leaving, and for where they knew not. You may recall this from the books, or the cartoon, but having no real Winnie the Pooh history, I was more oblivious than his friends as to “Where he was going” and “why he had to leave”. Through the conversation we discover that this is the day that C.R. is leaving childhood and all of his fantastical stuffed animal friends behind.

This movie is so nostalgic, even if you never were a big Winnie the Pooh fan, the feelings it evokes are those that any person who has taken the journey from Childhood to a becoming an Adult, can relate to. It makes us think about our own personal childhoods, and makes us ask the questions “When did we leave childhood behind? And why did we have to leave?”

The first conversation between Pooh and Christopher Robin touched my heart and made me think. Pooh goes on a private walk with Christopher after the cake is eaten, knowing that this is their last day together in the wood. They stop at a bridge overlooking the serene stream that flows under it. 

Here is where the boy and his stuffed bear friend talk about what their favorite things to do are, and Christopher says that his favorite thing to do is "Nothing"...to which Pooh responds something like, “Ahh yes, because I often find that when I am doing nothing I find myself doing the very best of something.”

It made me think about what God has personally been showing me, and that is that I don’t have to constantly be creating, or doing something “productive” to be happy. Sometimes God is just looking for us to get to that place of emptiness, where we no longer feel like life is “living us” but we are “living it”. What is one of the things about being a child that we miss when we are adults? Their freedom... I believe that deep inside we envy it. 

Kids aren’t so tied down to responsibilities, pressured to meet deadlines, and they are less concerned about what other people think. They seem to skip through their days, taking everything as it comes.  I believe that as we grow, and have to take on new responsibilities, we find ourselves walking a tight rope of fear and becoming more performance driven. This is a part of life that seems inevitable, considering the weight of life. But there is something deep inside that desires that relationship of trust, like we once had in the garden, when life was less complicated, and we didn’t have to work so hard to get by.
Children represent this innocence. It is an innocence that the world is trying to steal, and this movie portrays beautifully.

From this moment onward, I saw Winnie the Pooh in the light of being a Savior Character, and honestly some of the emotions I was feeling made it hard to breathe. I felt overwhelmed by the presence of God in the movie theater.  I’m not a big crier, and I tried to hold the tears inside, but a few found a way to break through my barricade and stream down my face. I wiped them away quickly, as I didn’t want to be embarrassed, as my Mom and her friend were sitting in the seats beside me. But I’ve never felt so touched by a movie before. 
It seemed like every word that came out of Pooh’s mouth was deep revelation for me. 

Something that God has been walking me through these last few months is “disconnecting” and “living in the moment”, “awareness”, and “doing less” to “experience more”. In this season I have had my moments of feeling less productive and purposeless. But this film spoke to me as if God was saying “When you allow yourself just to BE, when you lay down your life for me, you will find it"…Sometimes it is in the most unlikely season that the most wonderful things happen…When we empty out our buckets, feeling, like there’s nothing left, when everything seems still...then the very best shows up and the most awesome adventures take place.

Something amazing about seeing Winnie the Pooh as a Christ/Holy Spirit character: Where the road ends and another begins…God is calling us to “be” to “come away” with Him. When we simply enjoy His presence, let the world fade away and not let work consume us…we find that what might seem like “doing nothing” can be the door to the best of something.

The Power of Simple Love

Much like Christopher we can lose our way, get caught up in the distractions of life, and get pulled away from our truest source of happiness,and that is communion with God. 

I like this movie so much, because it is a movie that reminds us of the power of simple love. We grow up, put down childish things, and yet we shouldn't lose our childlike faith. 

The love of Winnie the Pooh for Christopher is so moving; It would seem that he has supernatural powers.No matter the distance, Pooh able to reach C.R. when he needs Him most. It reminds me of God, who is never late, but always on time, to reach us when we need Him most. 

A few of my favorite lines from the movie, is when Pooh and Christopher meet for the first time since his childhood, and Mr. Robin asks Winnie "How did you recognize me?!" Pooh responds, "You look the same". "I look nothing like I used to."
"It is still you, looking out." I love how Pooh hasn't changed, and yet though C.R. has changed so much, Pooh still sees the child inside. It makes me think that God is this way, just like a parent, He sees who we are inside and remembers who we were meant to be, even when life gets cloudy, His plans for us remain the same, and no matter how far we stray, His compassion and forgiveness is constant.

It is through hanging out with his old friends, that Christopher Robin is changed. Pooh never corrects him, but Christopher becomes more and more like the child he once was, and the Christopher Robin that Pooh always cherished. 
And when I say this, I don't mean that he throws responsibility to the wind, nor leaves his adult life and family behind....but rather that his perspective and attitude towards everything changes.

This is the same way it is when we spend time in God's presence, we are changed, remade, refreshed, and our fears flee as we let Him rub off on us. We become innocent once again.
This is why I think that this movie in many ways is a Redemption Tale.

God Never Forgets

In the beginning of the film when C.R. is leaving the Hundred Acre Wood, Pooh tells Christopher that He hopes he will not forget him. Christopher promises that he will not. In that scene I was reminded of Peter's interaction with Jesus before He went to die. Peter insists that he will not deny Christ, and yet when things get tough...he does.

This theme is the same with Christopher and Pooh. When Pooh visits him as an adult in London, he informs Robin that his friends have gone missing and asks him for his help to find them. Christopher says that he hasn't thought of Pooh nor his friends in many years, to which W.P. responds "I thought of you every day".

This touched me, because it made me think of how much God loves us and remembers all of our adventures with him...How he thinks of us every day, and longs for us to interact with him...and yet we forget about Him. The love of Christ is so deep, so wide, so soft, so innocent, so pure...Pooh's uncomplicated, and un-demanding love for Christopher was a reflection to me of God's own love for us. Let us not deny God's love, or ignore it, when it awaits our daily response.

We Let Go of God

In this movie there is a scene where Christopher Robin gets very frustrated at Pooh. The two of them are trudging through a foggy Hundred Acre Wood, trying to find Pooh's friends. C.R. has given Winnie the Pooh a compass to guide them North, but Pooh never looks down at the compass to check if they've gone off track, so the two of them walk around in circles for hours. Christopher Robin really takes it out on Pooh, while our bear stands there very contained and still. In his harsh comments he says something about having to let go of the things that hold you back, in other words he is saying that time and his work is important than hundred acre wood relationships.To Which Pooh responds, "Did you let me go?"
This is also something that I feel like we have to ask ourselves...When things get tough, do we blame God, or do we get closer to Him? God's love for us is pure, and sometimes it is in the the most  frustrating moments of our lives, the seasons where we feel like God is leading us in circles, that we find that what matters most is not a physical destination, our own timing, but of course character grown and learning to trust Him.
God is all powerful, and He nothing is impossible for Him. We sometimes imagine that His thoughts are our thoughts, and His ways our ways...but his thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways more perfect than our ways.

Becoming Like A Child
Christopher Robin has allowed the cares of this world to detour Him from simple faith. I feel like that is something that we can relate to.
He has to humble himself in order to grow. He has to bend low, stick his head in a tiny door in a tree, get stuck, fall down, and in some ways act carefree as a child to get back on track.
Often times we follow after the world's way and try to climb the man man ladder to success, only to discover that there isn't any true joy in this. The way to the Kingdom of God is truly through becoming as a little child and following His heart.

"Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of God." - Jesus, Matthew 18:3

And again He says, "Forbid not the little children to come unto me, for of such, is the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:14

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Matthew 23:12 NIV

Thanks for reading my thoughts on the message of Christopher Robin.
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Ghost in a Shell: Movie Lessons

This is quite a disturbing film, at least for my personality. It is pretty heavy. It's definitely not a refreshing weekend watch. But although my stomach felt like hurling I decided it would be worth my time to suffer through. After all, it had pretty good acting, an interesting story line, and I'm all into underlining messages you can find in unique Sci Fi. 
Honestly, the reason I couldn't pull myself away was that it seemed to me that this movie is more than meets the eye. I would go so far as to say it is probably prophetic.

The story takes places in a futuristic Japan where technology has become more integrated with humanity than ever before. There are a few concept similarities to Robo Cop and the movie Source Code, and I can say this without giving away any Spoilers. 
The main character is a robot with a human brain, created by a corporation that is all about human/robot advancement. The idea was to create a robot with a soul, hence the movie title "Ghost in a Shell". The film is about this character who is more or less commissioned as an advanced law enforcer and body hunter for this prestigious company.

The problem is, "Major" as she is called, doesn't have any memory of her old life, only the new, empty one, that she leads. And she hates it. The questions of her purpose, true identity, and mission unfold as the story progresses before our eyes.
This may seem like a pretty simple plot, and of course there is a Villain....or two...But to be honest, I believe this movie is not so much an action flick as advertised, it felt more like a psychological experiment to me. It was a real trip-pity trip.

There's nothing so weird as seeing a brain enter a robotic body, it makes me cringe every time. It's super disgusting. To me this movie raises all sorts of questions, and I felt like the screenwriter/filmmakers were curious about what sort of reactions they would get because they knew that they were creating a glimpse into the future we will one day experience.
In this movie, we are the souls weaving in and out of the scenes that flash before our eyes, and asking the deep questions that this being evokes. This movie speaks to our moral conscience more than anything else.

Thoughts from my Ghost: 

In Ghost in a Shell, the scientists that work with Major are always reminding her that she is more than a robot, she is still a human, because she has a brain, which they believe houses her soul/ghost. 
I think this film is super spiritual, as are most SC FI stories. It's not since I watched a holocaust story, that I felt these kind of emotions that this flick brought to the surface. 
But why? I was reminded that we are God's creation, made to represent His glory, and the works of the enemy are to destroy our view of ourselves and our Creator. Because when you think about it, the holocaust was pure evil, and the forms of torture that went on were intentional disrespect against God's people, down to the tattoo markings they received. 
What this character experiences is pure torture, to separate a brain from it's body, is horrific. Beyond obvious reasons and disrespect to God's perfect creation; a person's spirit/ghost is not just housed in the brain, it is housed in the entire body, and looks exactly like the outward shell. 

The main character feels soulless, despite these reminders of her mental humanity. She rushes into things, like a rebel, which constantly results in her destruction and being pieced back together. 
She lives in a world where body modification is all the hype and fashion. People are getting robotic limbs, not because they lost their human ones, but because they want to be more efficient in their jobs, or more interesting to the opposite sex. In this fallen futuristic world, the body remains the focus, more than the soul. Most of the modifications are not pretty, nor natural in appearance. 

* We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are unique beings, both natural and supernatural. Psalm 139: 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I will praise you, because I am fearfull and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth, there your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book, even before one of them came to be.

* Man can only imitate what God has already mastered. And playing God leads to destruction, as we have seen over and over again in history. The problem is that the business owners, politicians, artists and college graduates of our society view success as coming away from the simple beauty and creating something more fantastical. What if happiness came from embracing and becoming more aware of the beauty that already exists, instead of draining nature's resources only to create something that feeds their pockets or egos? The earth is dying, people's souls are going into hiding, and yet we think that we have a more advanced world? I do not see an entirely positive evolution.

* We all long for a state of immortality/incorruptibility,  to "evolve" beyond our "fallen man". This is a desire for our "glorified bodies" which we will receive in the next life. These "shells"/bodies are beautiful, but our spirits won't always be confined to them.
1 Corinthians 15: 53-55 says: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal body will put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall the saying be brought to pass that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O grace, where is your victory?.

* Without belief in our true value and purpose we are "useless", but through love we grow and find our vision. Love means sometimes getting our hands dirty, or putting our heart on the line. The world has lost the true meaning of love, and are ignorant as how to receive and give love; they are afraid of it. Love is patient, love is kind, love is long suffering, love thinks the best, love respects, love hopes, love forgives, love covers a multitude of sins, love means more than acceptance, it sometimes means embracing the unknown. 
It is so important that we love ourselves, and this can only be done when we understand what it means to love God, who first loved us. We can only properly love ourselves, when we understand our value, and that value comes from our identity in God. 

* It is important for us to be healthy in mind, body, and spirit. Most humans don't recognize that they have a soul, anymore. They don't understand the inward workings of the heart. In a world that is becoming more and more dependent in technology, one cannot help but wonder if we are losing some of our humanity to it. People no longer have meaningful conversations, or connect as easily on an intimate level. As relationships are replaced with social media friends, and people converse less and less....a part of the human brain is not only stifled, but handicapped. We were created with emotions, that are meant to be realized, and used to determine the state of the soul. People are no longer recognizing symptoms of unhealthiness. 

* Man wasn't created to be alone, or to feel alone.
The world is becoming a lonelier place, as people disconnect from the communities around them, and plug into a world of technology that focuses mainly on the outward appearance more than the condition of the heart. People are no longer embracing the realities of humanity, but rather trying to create a world where everything is flawless, and emotions are weakness. It is in our humanity that we find our true purpose, not by disconnecting or ignoring it.  We are reminded that as humans we long to belong and were made to feel a part of something bigger than ourselves.

* We are all God's creation/Children whom He loves personally. We are not some meaningless beings, we are beautiful creatures, with a divine destiny. We are super-wonderful, intricate, living vessels made in the image of our Creator. God loves us so much more than we imagine, and His love is not shifty like the world's. He made us the way that we are, because we represent so much spiritually in our physicality. The Devil would like us to think we are expendable and unloved

* We no longer live in yesterday, but in today.
The cool thing about this film, is that it reminds us through several lines of dialogue, that we shouldn't be so confined to the memories of who we used to be, because our identity and value is more found in our inherit humanity than in our positions, talents, or deeds. All humans deserve respect and love, because they are humans, eternal beings, and living breathing reflections of the image of God. God is the "beginning and the end" and at the heart of our DNA. True "Science" observes God in mankind and points back to Him.

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what he has made, so that people are without excuse.

Thank you for reading my thoughts on this movie, Ghost in the Shell is rated PG 13, Directed by Rupert Sanders, Based on the Comic Book, and stares Scarlett Johansson.

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The Greatest Showman: The Greatest Show

Ahhh, I enjoyed this movie so much! After being much dissapointed with the last Star Wars film, and not expecting much from another modern made musical...I went into the movie not hoping for much, and leaving the theater happily surprised at the beautiful cinematic masterpiece I'd just witnessed. 

This is a film I could most definitely watch a hundred times. It is refreshing, vibrant, and original.
Call me obsessed but I've seen it twice already, and am planning a third viewing before it leaves the theaters for good!

What made this film a beauty, was that it delivered EVERYTHING you could want from a Classic Musical. Good acting. Good Choreography. Good Vocals. Good Story. Good Pace. Good Screenplay. Good Music. Good Visuals. Good Ending. Good Editing. Good Characterizations. Good Vibes.

It is a movie that the world needs right now, because it it is positive. We don't see a lot of positivity  coming from the cinemas, or media in general anymore. I hope that this movie wins a load of awards, because frankly, it earned them.

This is one reason I would be surprised if it did win them...Because it is in many cinematic ways a Disney movie, and an safe movie. And Disney movies are never taken seriously.

 It touches on some deep issues, and yet it doesn't leave you walking away feeling vexed. It covers the overly covered topics such as Prejudice, Class Differences, Forbidden Love, but it doesn't leave us trampled by them. 

I'd say perhaps the only thing I found unsettling thing about this film first time around was the performance by the HIGHLY SKILLED singer Keala Settle, who is playing "The Bearded Woman". The performance I refer to is, "This is Me" where the character is stomping around wearing a bossum busting corset dress while singing to the top of her lungs... The clash of beard, busts, and dance choreography is a bit...MUCH. But, it's not the whole movie, it's ONE song.

However, the song is catchy, just as epic as the rest, and isn't in it's self a raunchy song.

Yet, I think if you listen to the song and watch the scene through the lens of present social issues , you can definitely see the connotation. I don't think it's controversial, but I do think it's dangerous for those who are being taught that "Anything Goes". 

Before long we're going to have a social problem, and I frankly think we already have one...If you had physical deformations back in the day, you were considered "A Freak", but it wasn't something that folks could help, they were essentially BORN THAT WAY. 

Now a days most of the deformations are physiological, and because people refuse to treat people based as their sexual preferences, or multiple personalities, quirks, they're considered hateful. 

Thinking about another character's struggle in the story...I was reminded that people need to realize that there is a difference between hate and disagreement . People should be given grace to have their own opinions, and just because they conflict with your own, or aren't fully formed truth, does NOT mean you should point a finger and call them wrong. 

This story reminds us of the simple fact that "We're all trying to get ahead in this Life". But it also reminds us that Family is more important than earthly riches, and that the time we have on this earth is so short, and that true love takes sacrificial acts...The cool thing about the main Character is that he actually grows deeply in the film, yes, believe it or not, there IS character growth in this film...and although the main character battles with temptation, he does NOT give in to it, which is a nice change for us who are sick of seeing cheats being portrayed as innocents on the big screen. At the end of the day Family comes first, and is considered the greatest treasure of all. It's a good message.

So go see this movie if you like musicals. It's not rough, it's not gritty, and even though it is based on Barnum's Life and the creation of the circus, it is only "loosely based" on the facts, and is IN FACT mostly a good fantasy. Perhaps that is why it's put down in some places on the internet...people were expecting this musical to be the biography of P.T. Barnum's Life, and it's not, it's just a show, and a great one at that. People are the ones mistaken, and the ones who had false expectations. It's not a show to satisfy the nit-picking "realism" critics, but it sure is a graceful piece of art.

When I watched the movie in theaters I was transported by the first song that began to play. My favorites? Definitely A Million Dreams, Never Enough, and Rewrite the Stars.

A Million Dreams is the song that reminds us what it was like to be a child, full of imagination and wonder. Barnum, and his wife as kids steal the focus of the audience, as they explore an abandoned mansion. It reminds us of what joy there is in seeing beauty in the neglected and seemingly insignificant. If you can in-vision it, you can make it. 

When you're young, anything is possible...but if you hold onto your imagination, creativity, and work hard your dreams can still come true. 

I think this song is my top favorite because it's the song of a dreamer and I can personally relate to it.

Never Enough is the most moving...and literally you could have heard a pin drop in the theater after the incredible performance by the stunning Rebecca Ferguson, who nails the emotion of the scene so well. However, the vocal recording is by a lady (Loren Allred) who deserves a tour of her own! It's definitely a scene that will give you chill bumps. 

Rewrite the Stars is the love story theme. It gets stuck in your head, and you'll never want to quit singing it...I personally don't think I can stop...I just need the lyrics so I can stop re-singing the same two lines haha. It is beautiful, but the scene it's self is breathtaking because let's face it, the actors (Zac Efron and Zendaya) are captivating physically and their flying around on trapeze! It almost makes you believe that with love anything is possible, such as flying...And this isn't CGI folks! Some of the choreography is so fabulous in the film, that the first time around I found myself wondering if I could trust my eyes, but yes, from what I have researched it's mostly pretty legit. 

(P.S. I find I now have a crush on Zac Efron. Yes, that boy from High School Musical...

Except he's all grown up now, and age has been kind to him.)

I don't recommend this movie for those under 13 just due the level of understanding and the sometimes revealing costumes. But it's got a beautiful original soundtrack, and you can tell the actors worked hard to be in this production. The music is far more interesting and memorable than that of La La Land a musical that came out in theaters last year, brought to you by the same lyrical writers. La La Land is the opposite of The Greatest Showman, it is a film that promises much, delivers little. Fake Dancing, Boring Story, and Sad Ending. Not to say that I didn't find it unique, because I did. But heck it was about time that a positive musical hit the big screens again...I guess I didn't know I was starving for a good, old fashioned, musical. *Happy Sigh* 

 I can't help thinking that film titles should be switched between the latest Star Wars film and this Musical...The Greatest Jedi (in honor of the Luke Skywalker we used to know and love) And The Last Showman,  because the Barnum and Bailey Circus is in fact, NO MORE,  and because Hugh Jackman is one of the greatest Showman of our time, and because I know not many more Musicals like this will hit the big screen.... Maybe I'm just being eccentric, but after looking at the reviews on rotten tomatoes, I am reminded that not everyone is looking for a positive escape from the mundane. People are putting down the film because they heard someone say 

"This film fails because the real Barnum's life was more interesting than this petty musical", please, go smoke your pipe and leave us folks to have a little fun. ( It's because of people like this, that we no longer have the Circus!)

 Hardly anyone knows the biography of P.T. Barnum, and I'll tell you right now, it wasn't at least bit as entertaining as The Greatest Showman. But if anything, this movie's release might make you look it up now.

After all critics, real life isn't a musical, and if you think we wanted another Les Mis like the 2012 version or to come away singing "Life killed the dream I dreamed" than you are sadly mistaken. For once some of us would like just to be entertained. I think people take everything so "seriously" these days that they're losing the ability to be entertained by music, trapeze, dancing...those things that people used to pay to see before technology zapped out our attention spans. 

Anyhow, I'm just happy that they released this entertaining movie, instead of the biography of P.T. Barnum. Not to say that I wouldn't watch a movie about him if ever there was made a serious drama about him...But I can't promise I'd enjoy it.

Now all I'm looking forward to is owning the soundtrack...and having it on DVD, this way I can watch The Greatest Showman every weekend hehe.