I get so excited when others find the pop parables because it means I’m not crazy.  Yay!  I hope you enjoy this heart felt post from my {real life} friend, Angela.

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Cinderella. Aurora. Snow White. Jasmine. Ariel. Rapunzel.

The other day while driving along with my daughter, listening to the Tangled soundtrack, it hit me like a ton of bricks.  All of the Disney princesses share a common struggle: captivity. I was stunned that I had never made this realization before.

For all their beauty and admiration, the princesses all experience a period of captivity.  Consider:

• Cinderella is a prisoner in her own home. She must follow her evil stepmother’s orders or face the consequences. At the movie’s climax, the stepmother locks her in the attic in an attempt to hide her true identity.
• The three fairies in Sleeping Beauty hide Princess Aurora in a cottage deep in the forest to keep the evil Malificent from discovering her whereabouts. She spends the first 16 years of her life unaware of who she truly is, and who she is destined to be.
• In spite of her attempts to hide from the wicked queen, Snow White eventually succumbs to the temptation of a beautiful apple. She is poisoned, held captive under a spell until her rescuer comes.
• Even though Jasmine lives the life of royalty, she is far from truly free as she is held to royal law that she must marry a prince.
• Ariel longs for a life she cannot have, and gambles away her freedom on a bet she makes with Ursula, the sea witch.
• Abducted as an infant, Rapunzel spends her days trapped in a tower, longing for a life of freedom.

But, what does it mean to be held captive?  What does it mean to finally be free?

Held Captive

We’re told in II Kings that the Israelites were held captive.  The Bible also makes it very clear why they were taken into captivity.

All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God.  {II Kings 17:7}

There was a litany of offenses that the Israelites had committed against the Lord including idolatry, witchcraft, and human sacrifice. Bottom line? Sin. Check out what’s happening in verse 9, too:

The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right.

There’s something so dangerous about the sin we do in secret, isn’t there? It’s easy to kid ourselves and think no one’s watching when we gossip, shortchange our employer at work a bit, cheat in some way or other, or allow bitterness to grow in our heart. We fool ourselves into thinking we’re controlling the behavior.

When in fact, we are held captive by it.

Sold as a Slave

Paul describes the condition of the human heart in terms of slavery:

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do. {Romans 7:14-15}

It’s so easy to fall into the lie that being a Christian means giving up your freedom. On the contrary, when you become a Christian, you realize that you had never been free in the first place.

Paul makes the point painfully clear – it’s as if you’ve been sold to sin. As long as you are in the flesh, you are owned by it.  So who is really free then?

I See the Light

When I had the realization about the Disney Princesses, I was listening to a particular song from Tangled called “I see the Light”.  In the movie, there is one particularly breathtaking scene where Rapunzel has an epiphany about her life, and what she’s been missing.

Now maybe I’m a bit of a sap, but this scene always chokes me up a bit.  And, I couldn’t figure out why….until the other day, as I’m driving down the road and listening to the song. Really listening to it.

All those princesses experienced captivity, yes. None of them were free to be who they were meant to. But what inevitably happens at the end of the story? They are rescued! The handsome prince – remember him?

It was as I was making all this connection that this song touched me in a new, and real way. I love how God can use anything, even a song written by Disney, to minister to us.

I hope you will take a few minutes out and listen to it. (Please note that when Eugene sings, you’ll have to change “she” to “he” about 2-3 times. But you can handle that, right? I know you can.)

All those days watching from the windows

All those years, outside looking in

All that time, never even knowing just how blind I’ve been.

Now I’m here, blinking in the starlight

Now I’m here, suddenly I see

Standing here, it’s oh so clear

I’m where I’m meant to be

And at last I see the light!

And it’s like the fog has lifted

And at least I see the light!

And it’s like the sky is new

And it’s warm, and real, and bright

And the world has somehow shifted…

All at once, everything looks different

Now that I see You.

 

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  {Romans 8:1}

 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  {Galatians 5:1}

Praise the Lord, our Prince of Peace! He has come so that we might live happily ever after with him!

 

Angela Russell has seen the Disney princess movies one-too-many times. She lives with her husband and two children, Keefe and Piper in Tacoma, Washington. She runs a money-saving site, The Coupon Project, and is also a freelance writer.

Last week I shared about the church’s opportunity to fully integrate faith with media, social media, and technology. The post was intended as a discourse on the “good” uses of media. The flip side of that argument is that there remain negative, even evil, uses of technology.

Last Wednesday, seven teenagers were arrested after their YouTube video went viral. And, by viral, I don’t mean the kind of viral you and I aspire to, like Rebecca Black’s “Friday”. {I know you sing that song into your hairbrush every Friday morning!}

The three minute video depicts the attackers yelling at the visibly terrified victim, punching and kicking him in the face with apparent glee as he curled up on the snow-covered ground. After robbing the victim, the teens {one of whom is the son of a sheriff’s deputy} posted it on YouTube. Shortly thereafter, their names and identities were provided in the comments of the video, which aided in their arrest.

Call me cynical, jaded, or heartless, but this article didn’t cause my eyes to widen. I didn’t scratch my head in bewilderment. It didn’t strike me as anything I hadn’t heard before.

Continue Reading…

After the birth of Little Bubba {my 3rd born son}, I knew I had to find a way to stimulate my otherwise mushy brain. The mind which I had once worked so hard to challenge was now falling apart at the seams due to limited sleep, constant convos with a 2 year old, and general lack of motivation for thought beyond whether or not it was a makeup day.

I considered starting a blog because I longed for a place where I could dig deep into matters of my faith. I wanted a place that wasn’t dependent on real time, but allowed me to interact between diaper changes and midnight feedings. Through social media, I discovered that I enjoy writing and talking about my faith. I’ve grown deeper in my walk with God. I’ve had convos with people about my faith in the most random of places. I’ve found a new community of believers who are spread across the country.

All this because Al Gore invented the internet! WOW!

Continue Reading…