Sermon for January 19th, 2020 - Revision history

Iraneal at 06:56, 19 January 2020

2020-01-19T06:56:02Z

Iraneal at 06:25, 19 January 2020

2020-01-19T06:25:57Z

Iraneal at 04:53, 19 January 2020

2020-01-19T04:53:51Z

Iraneal at 00:17, 18 January 2020

2020-01-18T00:17:34Z

Iraneal at 23:35, 17 January 2020

2020-01-17T23:35:54Z

Iraneal at 22:37, 17 January 2020

2020-01-17T22:37:28Z

Iraneal at 21:35, 17 January 2020

2020-01-17T21:35:37Z

Iraneal at 21:11, 17 January 2020

2020-01-17T21:11:25Z

Iraneal at 21:10, 17 January 2020

2020-01-17T21:10:48Z

Iraneal at 20:49, 17 January 2020

2020-01-17T20:49:00Z

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 ====Three Minute Film Synopsis====
 Frozen 2 is the sequel to the Disney animated film Frozen, which itself is *loosely* based on the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson, "The Snow Queen."  This film begins by reintroducing us to Elsa, the magical Snow Queen of Arendale (which is located somewhere in a fictionalized Scandinavia), Elsa's younger sister, Anna; Anna's boyfriend, Kristoff (a reindeer farmer); and Olaf, a magical talking snowman.  The action begins when Elsa begins to hear a voice calling out to her.  The voice leads Elsa and her friends on a journey to the far North, where they enter an enchanted forest shrouded in mist.  In the forest, they encounter a group of indigenous people, called the Northuldra (loosely based on the Sami people in Norway and Sweden), and a group of their own people from long-ago Arendale, who have been locked in a struggle over a dam that was built by Elsa and Anna's grandfather, the King of Arendale.
 They also encounter several elemental spirits, representing Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water.  The heroes learn to harness the elemental spirits, learn painful truths about their past, and ultimately learn the truth about themselves and what they are capable of, individually and together.
-Like I said earlier, there's a lot going on in this film, but I think the best way to understand some of the key themes (and the spiritual connections) is through the songs--after all, this is a Disney musical.
+There's a lot going on in this film, but I think the best way to understand some of the key themes (and the spiritual connections) is through the songs--after all, this is a Disney musical.
 ====Some Things Never Change====

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 ==Faith & Film VIII: Frozen II==
-[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwzLiQZDw2I Movie Clilp #1 - Trailer (2:21)]]
+[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwzLiQZDw2I Film Clip #1 - Trailer (2:21)]]
 ====Three Minute Film Synopsis====
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 ====Some Things Never Change====
 The first song (Some Things Never Change) is a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek song that paints a picture of the characters' picture-perfect life in the Kingdom of Arendale.  I say tongue-in-cheek, because it's obvious even in the course of the song that things are constantly changing--and the overarching theme of the film is change, transformation, or being "reborn" to borrow language from our own faith and scripture passage.
 The song should also remind students of the Bible of a famous passage from the book of Ecclesiastes, which also became a famous song in the 1960s:
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 Elsa, who longs to know more about her mysterious powers, and who has never felt quite at ease among her people, sings this song in response to the voice she hears calling to her.  At first, she pushes it away, but then she embraces the voice--or, put a different way, she embraces her calling, even though she doesn't know where it comes from and where it will ultimately lead her.
 Listen again to the words of Jesus in today's scripture reading as he describes the work of God's spirit:
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 ====Lost in the Woods====
 The song "Lost in the Woods" is sung by Kristoff, about his relationship with Anna, when he becomes separated from her in the enchanted forest.  In the beginning of the song, he expresses frustration that they seem to be on different paths, leaving him "lost in the woods."  By the end of the song, however, he has come to realize that Anna is in fact his "true north" and, overcoming his natural indecisiveness, he finally gathers up the resolve to propose to her.
 The woods, or the enchanted forest, is a catalyst for transformation.  In fact, when the characters first arrive in the enchanted forest, Olaf (the magical talking snowman who often is the voice of child-like wisdom) says, "Did you know that an Enchanted Forest is a place of transformation? I have no idea what that means, but I can’t wait to see what it’s going to do to each one of us."
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 Eventually she comes to a magical place where the memories of her past and all of her loved ones take on lifelike (but also frozen and death-like forms, allowing her to see and know the truth about herself, her grandfather, her parents, and the nature of her powers.  She learns that she is in fact the fifth element, that unites earth, wind, fire and water.   At the end of the song, Elsa sings "Show yourself, step into the power, grow yourself, into something new. You are the one you've been waiting for all of your life."
 This knowledge comes at a cost, however, and as she goes deeper, she becomes frozen, and appears to die.  We know this, because back up above ground, Olaf the snowman, created by Elsa's magic, also dies, leaving Anna alone and primed for her own transformation (more on that in a bit).
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 In the song "Next Right Thing," Anna acknowledges the darkness, the hopelessness we often feel in the face of the world's big challenges, but then sings to herself, "break it down to this next breath, this next step; this next choice is one that I can make.  So I'll walk through this night, stumbling blindly toward the light, and do the next right thing."
 I think that's a pretty concise summary of our own spiritual wandering in this life, and pretty good advice.  When people come to Jesus in the gospels with their problems, rarely does he tell them how to save the world.  That's his job.  Instead, he says, "when someone asks to go one mile with you, go two." Or "love your neighbor as yourself."  Or, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's, give to God what is God's."  Do the next right thing.
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 ====All Is Found====
 This song actually appears in the very beginning of the film, in a flashback to Anna and Elsa's childhood.  The song is a lullaby their mother sang to them about a magical river where "all is found" and in whose waters "deep and true lay the answers and a path for you."
 But the song, like the river it describes, weaves its way through the entire story, connecting all the songs and transformations.  You can hear the melody or the words in the background of many of the other songs, and the characters quote from it often.
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 Here's the last verse of the song that flows through Frozen 2:
-Where the north wind meets the sea, there's a mother full of memory
+Where the north wind meets the sea, there's a mother full of memory. Come, my darling, homeward bound; When all is lost, then all is found.
 Come, my darling, homeward bound; When all is lost, then all is found.

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:53, 19 January 2020
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	==Faith & Film VIII: Frozen II==		==Faith & Film VIII: Frozen II==
		+	[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwzLiQZDw2I Movie Clilp #1 - Trailer (2:21)]]

	====Three Minute Film Synopsis====		====Three Minute Film Synopsis====

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:17, 18 January 2020
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	It is a river that takes Elsa to the underworld, and brings her back, transformed into a divine being.		It is a river that takes Elsa to the underworld, and brings her back, transformed into a divine being.

−	It is a river that separates the people of Arendale from the Northuldra people. In destroying the dam and freeing the river's waters, Anna becomes worthy of wearing Arendale's crown.	+	It is a river that separates the people of Arendale from the Northuldra people. In destroying the dam and freeing the river's waters, Anna's transformation is complete, and she becomes worthy of wearing Arendale's crown.
		+
		+	It is on the banks of a river that Olaf melts and is later reborn. It is on the banks of the same river that Kristoff finally proposes to Anna.
		+
		+	In the Bible, rivers symbolize baptism and rebirth. It was in the river Jordan that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. And in our scripture passage today, Jesus tells Nicodemus that "no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit."
		+
		+	Baptism marks the beginning of our spiritual journeys, and our entry into the community of faith. It connects us with the memory of countless Christians who have walked that same path. The final book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, speaks of the "river of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God" and beckoning us all to the completion of our journeys, our heavenly home.
		+
		+	Here's the last verse of the song that flows through Frozen 2:
		+
		+	Where the north wind meets the sea, there's a mother full of memory
		+	Come, my darling, homeward bound; When all is lost, then all is found.

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:35, 17 January 2020
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	When Anna keeps putting one foot in front of the other, doing the next right thing, her actions and her decisions begin to grow in scope and magnitude, transforming her into someone whose power comes not from any supernatural abilities, but from conviction, purpose, and habit. Proverbs 2 teaches us to "walk in the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the just."		When Anna keeps putting one foot in front of the other, doing the next right thing, her actions and her decisions begin to grow in scope and magnitude, transforming her into someone whose power comes not from any supernatural abilities, but from conviction, purpose, and habit. Proverbs 2 teaches us to "walk in the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the just."

−	====?====	+	====All Is Found====
		+	This song actually appears in the very beginning of the film, in a flashback to Anna and Elsa's childhood. The song is a lullaby their mother sang to them about a magical river where "all is found" and in whose waters "deep and true lay the answers and a path for you."
		+
		+	But the song, like the river it describes, weaves its way through the entire story, connecting all the songs and transformations. You can hear the melody or the words in the background of many of the other songs, and the characters quote from it often.
		+
		+	It is a river that takes Elsa to the underworld, and brings her back, transformed into a divine being.
		+
		+	It is a river that separates the people of Arendale from the Northuldra people. In destroying the dam and freeing the river's waters, Anna becomes worthy of wearing Arendale's crown.

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 This knowledge comes at a cost, however, and as she goes deeper, she becomes frozen, and appears to die.  We know this, because back up above ground, Olaf the snowman, created by Elsa's magic, also dies, leaving Anna alone and primed for her own transformation (more on that in a bit).
-Who is Elsa?  Well, let's see.  She can walk on water.  The wind and the waves (and the fire) obey her.  She descends into the land of the dead.  She dies, and if you have seen the film, you know that she rises again to save her people.  Elsa is, without any doubt, a Christ-type, one of the most powerful and enduring archetypes in literature, and at the heart of our own story, the story of Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels.
+Who is Elsa?  Well, let's see.  She can walk on water.  The wind and the waves (and the fire) obey her.  She descends into the land of the dead.  She dies, and if you have seen the film, you know that she rises again to save her people.  Elsa is, without any doubt, a Christ-type, one of the most powerful and enduring archetypes in all literature, and at the heart of our own story, the story of Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels.
 ====The Next Right Thing====

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:35, 17 January 2020
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	====Show Yourself====		====Show Yourself====
		+	This song, and this theme, come with some spoilers about the movie. Of all the transformations, Elsa's is the most dramatic. Having tamed the fire spirit, the wind spirit, and the water spirit, Elsa crosses the ocean alone (at first on foot, and then on the water spirit in the form of a horse), then descends into a frozen, cavelike river, going deeper and deeper as her powers grow stronger and stronger, singing the song and asking the mysterious voice to "show yourself."
		+
		+	Eventually she comes to a magical place where the memories of her past and all of her loved ones take on lifelike (but also frozen and death-like forms, allowing her to see and know the truth about herself, her grandfather, her parents, and the nature of her powers. She learns that she is in fact the fifth element, that unites earth, wind, fire and water. At the end of the song, Elsa sings "Show yourself, step into the power, grow yourself, into something new. You are the one you've been waiting for all of your life."
		+
		+	This knowledge comes at a cost, however, and as she goes deeper, she becomes frozen, and appears to die. We know this, because back up above ground, Olaf the snowman, created by Elsa's magic, also dies, leaving Anna alone and primed for her own transformation (more on that in a bit).
		+
		+	Who is Elsa? Well, let's see. She can walk on water. The wind and the waves (and the fire) obey her. She descends into the land of the dead. She dies, and if you have seen the film, you know that she rises again to save her people. Elsa is, without any doubt, a Christ-type, one of the most powerful and enduring archetypes in literature, and at the heart of our own story, the story of Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels.

	====The Next Right Thing====		====The Next Right Thing====

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 This is a recurring theme in the Bible, too.  In the Old Testament, before God's people beome the nation of Israel, they must wander, lost in the desert, for 40 years.  Elijah and David each spend time alone in a cave before going on to become Israel's greatest prophet and king, respectively.  Jesus goes off into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights before beginning his public ministry.
-The message of Frozen and the message of the Bible is similar:  In order to understand ourselves, in order to grow as spiritual beings, we need to get away from our ordinary surroundings.  We need to spend time in solitude and reflection; sometimes, in order to be found, we need to get lost in the woods.
+The message of Frozen and the message of the Bible is similar:  In order to understand ourselves, in order to grow as spiritual beings, in order to be truly re-born, we need to get away from our ordinary surroundings.  We need to spend time in solitude and reflection; sometimes, in order to be found, we need to get lost in the woods.
 ====Show Yourself====
 ====The Next Right Thing====