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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