By the age of 12, I had been to a Disney theme park more than 10 times.
Althought that might sound extravagant, don’t get the wrong idea.
I was not a spoiled little rich kid, by any means.
I didn’t grow up with a lot of money or material things.
But, I do have a lot of special memories of visiting the Happiest Place on Earth with my family.
And, whenever that glorious castle appears on the screen, I get a little nostalgic, a little lump forms in my throat, and I imagine strolling down Main Street, hand in hand with my little bro, awestruck at the magic of it all.
Ahhhhhhhhh. {insert warm fuzzies}
Revival
The latest Disney animated flick, Tangled, brought to mind some of those same memories for me.
This film was a hearkening back to the {older} Disney animation, yet there was something decidedly 21st century about it.
{Oh, yeah, it was Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi-that’s what it was.}
The vibe of Tangled reminded me a lot of the revival days of Disney animation, that came about with films like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King.
If you’d like to read a review of the film, here are some options:
- The Glowing, Girl Power Review, by Richard Corliss of Time magazine
- The Focus on the Family Review, by Plugged In
- The Quick Review, by Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine
And, watch this little preview, here
Backstory
While her doting parents the King and Queen are asleep, the beautiful and long awaited Princess Rapunzel is kidnapped.
Every year on her birthday, the King and Queen release a barrage of floating lanterns in hopes that they will aid in her return to the kingdom.
What they don’t know is that Rapunzel has been locked up in a tower for all of her 18 years, held captive by a woman claiming to be her mother.
And, every year on her birthday, she sees the floating lanterns and imagines what it’s like where they come from.
For her upcoming eighteenth birthday, Rapunzel decides she must visit the place of the floating lanterns.
But, her “mother” forbids it, saying the world is full of terrible, selfish people who would only want to hurt her. Remaining in the tower is the only thing that will protect Rapunzel from the evils of the world below.
Yet, somehow, Rapunzel is convinced that those floating lanterns are calling to her. That they hold some meaning for her, and she must see them on her birthday.
She is completely unaware that the source of the floating lanterns is the source of life itself.
With the help of Flyn Rider, a bandit on the run, Rapunzel journeys to the land of the floating lanterns and discovers a truth much bigger than she could have imagined.
Pop Parable
Do you already see it without me telling you what it is?
Because this one was so simple and glaringly obvious to me that I almost thought it wasn’t even worth sharing (until my bff told me it was).
Let’s start here:
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:20 (NLT)
I really like The Message interpretation,
Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being.
Just as Rapunzel was drawn to her homeland, to her parents, to that from which she came by seeing the floating lanterns, so we are drawn to God.
Just as her parents put the lanterns ablaze as a visible sign of their yearing for her return, so God has placed the stars in the sky to draw us near to Him.
We can’t deny He exists.
In surveying the beauty of His Creation, The Creator is undeniable.
Even those who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, can see and know that the One True God is REAL, LIVING, as evidenced by His Creation.
In response to the Pharisees call to rebuke the disciples who call Him Lord, Jesus responds,
If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise. Luke 19:40 (MSG)
Creation itself brings forth praise, and we, as the only beings made in His image, yearn to join all of Creation in this praise song.
In unison with the words of the Psalmist David, singing,
3When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4)
In Ecclesiastes 3:11 we are told that He has set eternity in the hearts of men.
He longs for us to be reconciled to Him, to join Him in eternity, to return Home to be with Him, it is a desire in our heart of hearts.
My Creator King,
lives in me,
pursues me,
never forgets me,
never leaves me.
And, if I should ever forget that, I need only look to the stars in the sky or the lilies of the field to remember,
9O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:9)
Won’t you take a moment to worship him? Check out this awesome video by the amazing Gungor singing “The Earth is Yours”,
::
Is there a specific part of His Creation that draws you to the Creator King?
p.s. The supercool and ultra hip David Miles of 24/7 Life is featuring Pop Parables on his bloggity today. Won’t you stop by and tell him I sent ya? You might even learn something new about where Pop Parables came from and my {self}diagnosed disorder.
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Squeeeeeeeeee!!!! This was SO insightful and delightful!!! God is such an amazing Master! Such a beautiful Savior/ Redeemer/ Creator! Thank you so much for the reminders! Simply lovely! I enjoyed this so much!
I’m so glad you liked it!!! And, I’m always glad when the first person comments because it’s like verification that it all wasn’t just in my head. LOL
Thanks for reading, friend.
Dear Lady, you shouldn’t worry! God uses your posts to open eyes to Him! This one was great!
And further, i love how you encouraged us to adore/delight in God. Praise Him! <3
Thanks a lot, friend. I really appreciate.
I love the ocean. It is so powerful and strong, yet calm and peaceful at the same time. The sound, the smells, all of it.
I grew up a couple miles from Disneyland. We had season passes. When we moved cross country right before high school I was “sick” of it.
Now…. I want to go back! 
And….. I think I love Tangled more than my girls. No shame.
For me, it’s a tie between the ocean and the mountains. Good thing I live near both.
Have you taken the girls to Disneyland yet? That was seriously a dream come true for me.
And, LOL about you loving Tangled. My boys actually haven’t watched it yet. I think some of it may be a little too intense for even my oldest. He’s pretty astute to knowing what’s real and what’s not, but he still gets a little freaked out by certain things. Oh, I read that they tried to make it more “guy friendly” than other classic Disney fairytale based films. I guess it worked based on your response.
Haven’t taken them to Disneyland/world yet. My parents took our oldest to DS for
a few hours when they took her to Cali on a trip a couple yrs back. We’re
thinking Disneyworld will be a family trip in 3 years or so.
________________________________
Bonus points for no shame. #fistbump
#fistbump accepted!
That was a good movie. Of course, we love Chuck so we’re partial to Zachary Levi.
Is it just me or are Chuck fans like crazy loyal, more like fanatics!? I think Zachary Levi was awesome in this movie. And, he can actually saaaang!
Is there a specific part of His Creation that draws you to the Creator King?
———————-
Yes. Ultrasound pictures of babies. They get me every time. I honestly marvel at His handiwork, His perfect system of how He put women together to produce life. The most poignant moments in my life where I broke down and cried openly in joy involved ultrasound photos.
Yeah, but maybe not so much a 3-D ultrasound because the baby really, really looks like an alien in those pics. LOL
But, I hear ya, I loooooooove ultrasound pictures.
Keri,
My sister-in-law and her husband got those 3D ones done. ( …freaky, alien, creepy, and it gave me nightmares.) The baby looked like Bob Hope. No joke.
Love your article above – and LOVED “Tangled” too! Great analogy. I love @davidmiles:twitter and think he’s super cool and hip too! Glad you two have connected – he’s a great friend
I don’t know why it took me forever to watch Tangled! Probably because I only have sons and I figured they wouldn’t be interested. Actually, they didn’t even watch this with us. It was too late, and I wanted to rent it for blogging purposes.
Don’t tell them! hehehe 
Thanks for reading, Cindy!
This was very moving and a whole new way to watch the movie Tangled. I love watching that movie with Katie. You are so insightful of so many things. Thank you for sharing all of what God shares with you. I don’t always post to every blog but I do read most of them and each and every one of them touches me in a different way. Keep up the great work.
Thanks a lot, Maria.
I know that He sure has taught me a lot since I’ve been blogging and purposefully seeking Him in all things. It’s pretty crazy how it changes your perspective. If only I had thought of it sooner.
I’m so glad to know that God speaks to you through Pop Parables.
The moon when it is full and bright grabs my attention like nothing else. I’ve spent evenings looking up and rejoicing over the grandeur of God.
Oh, Matt, I’ve got an upcoming guest post about the moon that will make you smile.
We took all four kids to the dollar theater to see this movie. They all enjoyed it so much that they sat completely still through the entire thing! Miracle of miracles! I agree with you about it being reminiscent of Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast and Aladdin.
Funnily enough, the pop parable that I thought was so glaringly obvious was not the one you mentioned. Maybe you did that on purpose to keep the post short, but the one I really took a hold of was the mother locking her child away in the tower. I think that in Christianity there can be this fear about allowing our children to go out of our security field, because the world will eat them alive. The thing I gained was that Rapunzel was stronger, and more capable, than her mother gave her credit for. Yes, I know that she wasn’t really her mother, and that she wasn’t really concerned about her safety, but I still learned a lesson.
The other part of it was that she forced Rapunzel to keep the power of her hair a secret, because evil men would take advantage of it. Another thing that we Christians fear: people using their God-given gifts for personal gain. Honestly, I think this is why so many who are successful show false modesty. They’re afraid that people will accuse them of selling out and glorifying themselves instead of God. Wow…I guess I got more out of this movie than I thought.
Dollar theatre is total awesomesauce. I’m hoping to do a post soon on cheap/free movies for kids at participating theatres in the summer.
Honestly, I was so focused on the one that I mentioned, that I didn’t even think of the ones you mentioned. They’re both totally relevant and oh so true. Your first one really ties into some of the things I shared in my Lady Gaga post. I likey!!!
Careful girl, you’re setting yourself up for a guest post with the pop parables you suggested!
I have to admit, I went to see this movie with my daughter so that I can catch some Zzz’s sine I thought it was going to be boring. Boy, was I wrong! One of my favorite movies last year. It was such a funny, witty and terrific movie. I loved it.
As for what is my favorite part of creation? I would have to say the birds. The fact that there are so many and to see how God provides for them gives me an appreciation of our Lord.
P.S. Loved David’s Pop Parables profile. You rock!
That would have been a pricy nap, but less money than a babysitter, so I totally get it! LOL I was pleasantly surprised with Tangled as well.
Okay, given your history with pigeons, the bird thing really surprises me. But, I really like what you have to say about God’s provision for the birds. You should totally get a tattoo of that-ya know it could be kind of an RIP for those other pigeons, but also a good reminder of His love at the same time. hehehe
David’s profile totally made my day! Thanks for swinging by and showin’ some love!
and how do you know that I don’t already have one of an eagle with wings spread on my back?
*I have no tats.
Even if you had eagle tat, you would still need to pay homage to the pigeons, preferably with a Chinese character.
Gungor is sick nasty. It’s funny how they are all hispter-tastic now though. I have their earlier stuff and they were very much typical worship style. They’ve always been great musicians and Michael has an incredible voice. But now they have skinny jeans and thrift store clothes!
Not that there’s anything wrong with that….
I’m a city boy but I recently went to West Virginia. Being in the mountains and sitting by beautiful rivers absolutely blew me away. I just worshipped God by experiencing the beauty of His creation.
My Dad is the one who turned me on to Gungor. Have you seen this cool pic of my Dad with Gungor >> http://popparables.com/2010/11/a-very-musical-weekend-indeed/
When I saw them in concert, Michael Gungor also performed for the entire set that Israel Houghton put on and that was super cool, too.
Worshipping God by experiencing the beauty of His Creation-I love that we can worship in silent adoration, just soaking up His goodness. Every day when I see snowcaped Mt. Rainier, I am awestruck by its grandeur, how dangerous it is (to climb, and in its potential to blowup any day), and it’s incomparable beauty. I am truly blessed to live in what I believe is one of the most beautiful places in the lower 48.
I liked the film Tangled and I expected not to.
This is awesome! I totally saw the pop parable in Tangled as I was watching it and I absolutely adore it. I have to own it. For me sun sets — when the sky is pink for those few minutes. There’s no reason for the sky to be so beautiful. So do stars — when you get a clear uninterrupted view of them when you’re away from the city. I love it.
Esther…welcome to Pop Parables!
You’re right-there is no reason, no function or necessity in the aesthetic qualities of a sunset. But, every day, to see the beauty in simplicity and be reminded that He is with us, that His merices are new every morning-so sweet and refreshing.
Oh, and the STARS! My most memorable sky gazing experience was at the Grand Canyon. Absolutely breathtaking and like nothing I can even imagine in Seattle.
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.