Unthawing the World: "Frozen" the movie

Thanks to Keith Tan who told me about this Disney movie from last year; I highly recommend it as a way to show our children, grandchildren the meaning of Christ’s act of love for the world and the consequences it has brought. An Easter message to be sure!

After the kingdom of Arendelle is cast into eternal winter by the lovely yet cursed Queen Elsa, her spunky sister Anna teams up with a rough hewn country boy, Kristoff and his trusty reindeer, Sven to break the icy spell. They travel to the far reaches of the kingdom to the icy palace Elsa has isolated herself in. Anna pleads with her sister to come back but Elsa, who is so conflicted by what she has done, accidentally unleashes her icy powers, a portion of which strikes Anna in her heart; and she slowly starts to die. She is told that the only remedy is an act of true love, otherwise she will become frozen forever.

At the end of the movie the turncoat Prince Hans is about to kill Elsa, but Anna throws herself between them, saving Elsa’s life, but in the process she freezes.

As Elsa grieves for her sister, Anna begins to thaw since her decision to sacrifice herself in order to save her sister constitutes an “act of true love.” Not only is Elsa saved, but her curse is broken and the kingdom of Arendale starts unthawing, changing from winter into spring. And this is what we proclaim on Easter Day, isn’t it? Because of an act of true love, sacrificial love on the cross, Jesus the Christ has broken Adam’s curse, and defeated the powers of sin and death; his resurrection signals a new creation, an unthawing of our world so to speak; can you believe after this winter that God is unthawing the world Richmond?

Anna's Act of True Love

Seven Stanzas at Easter

I’m a huge John Updike fan; I’ve read all his novels, and love his insightful book reviews, art reviews and essays; my son tells me he is “so out now, Dad," but you know what? I don’t care!

One of the reasons I find Updike intriguing is that he was a man of faith who didn’t shy away from integrating that faith into his work. He had a German Lutheran background; and as a student of Harvard was introduced to the writings of Soren Kierkegaard, the 19th century Danish
theologian, and Karl Barth, probably the greatest Protestant theologian of the 20th century. All these influences shaped a Christian worldview.

Later in life, Updike became a devout Episcopalian; a clergy friend of mine was his Rector and told me that Updike was a stern critic of my friend's sermons, loved the liturgy of the 1928 Prayer Book, and was a regular at the 8:00 AM Eucharist. John Updike also wrote some poetry which, once again, the critics don’t give high marks to.  But one of his poems, “7 Stanzas At Easter” is one of my all- time favorite poems. In true Updikean style he doesn’t mince words. Since Easter is right around the corner I send it along for your consideration:

Seven Stanzas at Easter

- Jeffrey

This is Water

In 2005 David Foster Wallace, at a commencement address, delivered one of the most provocative and I believe influential talks of our time. His words have made a profound impression on me and have even changed the way I look at myself and more importantly how I look at other people. It's irreverent, rambling, complex, but WOW! Especially helpful for those of us who have trouble in traffic jams and in the supermarket check out lane.

You Tube calls it “This is Water” from his opening story, but I would call it Living a Compassionate Life with the subtitle, Learning how to be a little less arrogant (it's not all about me).

Part 1:

And here is the full speech if you are interested in listening. These 25 minutes will fascinate you and I hope convict you.

As always would like to hear your observations and questions.
- Jeffrey