Cars

Some of you may remember that I visit Disney World in Florida with my family at the end of June/ beginning of July. It was a good time, though it didn’t last long enough. The first three days were hectic, checking into hotels, spending a day (or at least a few hours) at Islands of Adventure, picking people up at the airport and attending a wedding during the weekend. However, the last three days were wonderful because I had the chance to wander the Magic Kingdom and Epcot by myself. Some people might think that going to Disney World by yourself is pointless because you are not with friends, but being there by myself allows me do my own thing and actually enjoy it, and enjoy the thoughts and feelings that I have there. Four years ago I went by myself and it was a great retreat after my first year of grad school. Not that I don’t enjoy being with others while at Disney, but by myself I can see every movie at each country at Epcot’s World Showcase, speed onto rides as a single rider, and actually enjoy Stitch’s Great Escape in Tomorrow Land, whereas when with a large group I might have the opportunity to visit a couple of the countries at Epcot and the suggestion of going into Stitch’s Great Escape would get shot down.

Anyway, my visit to Disney coincided with reading “Waking the Dead” by John Eldridge and he talks a lot about stories and how our story is significant in God’s grand scheme. The thing about Disney World is that it is built on stories – stories that that we grew up with and have been endeared to our hearts over the years. And being a theme park/amusement park, you can go on rides or enjoy exhibits that allow you to enter the story. And it got me thinking about how often we get lost in other people’s stories and forget to attend to our own. We might be so wrapped up helping others that we don’t notice when we haven’t done something for our own enjoyment, or trying to appease those around us so much that we have forgotten our own agenda. But sometimes stories can mirror so much of how we want life to be, or how we have found life to be; our hopes and dreams and ambitions, and disappointments.

I think some of the best story-tellers in filmmaking right now can be found at Pixar. There is something about their stories that grip our hearts, and something about the characters that allows us to identify with them and join them in their adventure. The latest Pixar installment is the movie “Cars”, which is appropriate because it is a film about cars. I went to see this movie the weekend before traveling to Florida and I loved it! I didn’t love it because it was exciting or action-packed or really funny, though it had elements of each. I loved it because it reflected part of my story in so many ways.

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, pardon me as I tell a little bit about the storyline, or go see it and then come back and resume reading :0)
A race car, who is on top of the world finding success on the racing circuit gets lost on his way to the final championship race and finds himself in a tired old town forgotten by time. He has to stay in town for several days and at first he is in a hurry to leave so he can to the race so he can win, but the longer he stays the more he is endeared to the “people” of the town, and they are endeared to him. He finds real friends and real community. I’m not saying that I’m going to go get a job at NASCAR or anything, but in graduate school people are so intent on getting it done, getting out, rushing, graduating. Actually, a lot of things in life are like that…but in my experience it was grad school. After a semester best summed up as exhausting my advisor and I thought it best to slow down, and I have kept a steady pace since then, and it has allowed me to enjoy so much more than classes, but the interesting people whom I have met.

I have heard several people complain that the movie “Cars” is too slow. They take too long to tell the story and there are some scenes that are unnecessary. Isn’t that the point though? This car was all in a rush, and couldn’t enjoy his life. Once he slowed down he could enjoy life and he had friends with whom he could enjoy life. He realized that not everything that glitters is gold, but also that some of the rusting things are better than gold. Jesus used stories to get some points across as well. We are still reading his stories but we don’t see them portrayed in film as often as might be good for us. I don’t think the people at Pixar had a Christian message in mind as the made the movie (or maybe they did) but in the hustle and bustle of life, this movie is a tribute to all the things we often forget, like sometimes the most important thing is friendship, and friendship develops over time – and you have to take that time…no one takes it for you.
So take some time… and enjoy what Father has given you.