Recently, we were invited back into Alice’s Wonderland, but this time, through a looking glass (or, mirror).
About the movie itself
Sequel to the Tim Burton directed Alice In Wonderland (2010), new director, James Bobin attempted to take the audience through the same dark-thrill that one inevitably experiences in a Burton creation, in Alice Through The Looking Glass. The story is set three years after Alice’s first visit to the now peaceful Wonderland, that is – ever since the banishment of the evil Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). However, despite the peace in the land, Alice’s friend The Mad Hatter’s (Johnny Depp) finds himself struggling to deal with the death of his family by the Jabberwocky. The situation spirals so out of control that only “his” Alice (Mia Wasikowska) can help him get out of.
The movie was a fail amongst critics and in the box office, grossing way below the 2010 counterpart. Bad choice of date – and subsequent overshadowing of the film by other releases, The Depp Scandal, Disney 2.0 Fatigue, as well as the rebooting of a reboot, and more are all reasons given by critics for it having failed to impress big time.
Although I found myself agreeing about the film being overshadowed and the plot redundant, I couldn’t deny the thought-provoking escape that the film provided amongst deadlines and end of year fatigue.
“Sign over The Wonder, give up on the Impossible? Then who will I be?”
– Alice.
What did I take from the movie?
TWO THINGS: LOYALTY AND LEGACY!
There was Alice, who had become the fearless and skillful captain of her late father’s ship, The Wonder. She was busy. Busy carving out trade routes to China, being chased by pirates and living out her father’s legacy – hoping never to betray all that he had taught her, to never give up on an extraordinary life and to always believe that she could do “six impossible things before breakfast.”
We all know that obtaining one’s dreams doesn’t ever come without a fight, and sometimes, we need to relearn what is important along the way.
And, so there Alice is, faced with having to give up The Wonder!
An inheritance is a gift. I’ve seen family members fight to the death (no lies!) to get more than their siblings.
What about our inheritance?
The Bible introduces us to Jesus, who through his death on the cross and conquering of sin was, and is, able to offer us a new inheritance if we so choose to be adopted into his family, and be called sons and daughters:
“But now that you have been emancipated from the death grip of sin and are God’s slave, you have a different sort of life, growing in holiness. The outcome of that life is eternal life. 23 The payoff for a life of sin is death, but God is offering us a free gift – eternal life through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, the Liberating King.”
Romans 6:22-23 (THE VOICE)
It is an alternative path to a better life than our parents could ever give us, or than we could ever give ourselves – a pathway and inheritance of holiness. Without Jesus, a natural inheritance might just as well be squandered.
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.”
Prov 13:22 (NAS)
“Jesus: Come here, you beloved, you people whom my Father has blessed. Claim your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of creation.”
Matthew 25:34 (THE VOICE)
Recently, I’ve had to keep praying fervently that I keep focused on what matters. While I believe in justice on earth, I also believe in the bigger picture. I believe in not getting distracted by what is right in front of me so much so that I lose sight of that which is ahead or even not yet revealed to me. The way that Jesus does things is so vastly different to the way that the world does things that it’s so easy to lose the wonder!
If you’ve started to think and fight for your earthly inheritance more than you have for the one that Jesus has provided you, then there might be something wrong in the way of priorities. If you’ve started to get more angry about what the media tells you, or even if you remain indifferent to what is happening around you and refuse to let your actions and thoughts be dictated to by what Jesus think’s then there is something wrong.
God help us all to never lose the true picture of what The Wonder is.
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