Moana and the Truth: I know Who You Are

 
"I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my boat, sail across the ocean, and restore the heart of Te Fiti."

This is the prepared speech that Moana intends to deliver with confidence and force to the demi-god, Maui. And she does. 

And she IS Moana . . . but at this point in the movie our little Heroine is admirable and inspiring, but she hasn't really figured out Who she is.

At the pinnacle of the film . . . all of her experiences and all that she has seen and learned sink in and add up.

After utter failure and complete defeat, she sings:

Who am I?
I am a girl who loves my island
I'm the girl who loves the sea
It calls me
I am the daughter of the village chief
We are descended from voyagers
Who found their way across the world
They call me
I've delivered us to where we are
I have journeyed farther
I am everything I've learned and more
Still it calls me
And the call isn't out there at all, it's inside me
It's like the tide; always falling and rising
I will carry you here in my heart you'll remind me
That come what may
I know the way
I am Moana! 

And she IS Moana. She has finally realized who she is. She has finally become who she is. And that knowledge will be the key to completing her Quest.

She courageously resumes her journey to restore the heart of Te Fiti so that her island and its people can be saved.

But first she must destroy the monstrous Guardian, Te Ka.

In the middle of a battle that she is losing, Moana see's through everything.

"I know who YOU ARE!"

*Spoiler Alert!!

Do not read further if you have not seen the movie!

Te Ka . . . is really Te Fiti.

When I find out Who I am . . . it can open the door that may enable me to know Who YOU ARE.

Maybe you are NOT my enemy.

Maybe we DON'T have to fight.

Maybe I don't have to destroy you, or you don't have to destroy me.

If someone is contrary to you or in opposition . . . maybe they are not just wicked, or evil, or cruel. Maybe something has happened to their heart, something of which you are unaware. Hurting people are often angry and violent people. And it may be that no one knows who they really are . . . they are misunderstood.

Now, there IS Evil and Wickedness in the World, but we probably seldom face it. More often than not we need not slay the dragon or violently quench the fires of Te Ka.

Withholding our blows long enough to find out who our foes really are . . . may be important. But we will never know until we first find out . . . Who WE ARE.

Moana and the TRUTH that makes you FREE

In John 8:32 (in the fourth Gospel of the New Testament) Jesus said that The Truth would make us FREE.

I don't believe that He meant that we would find ultimate Freedom and Liberation in information that is True, or facts that are True, or dogma and decrees that are True.

There ARE Truths in Doctrines, Teachings, Lessons, and Messages that can be inspirational and instructive. They can be life-changing and certainly liberating.

We are blessed if we discover words that are True in Advice, Counsel, and the Verbal Guidance of the Wise.

You might find Truth or principles of Life that are True in a Sermon, or a Song, in a Book, or a Movie. But you will not find the TRUTH that Jesus was talking about directly from those sources.

In the same Gospel Record (John 14:6), Jesus stated flatly that HE was the TRUTH.

You may not choose to believe it or accept it . . . but Christians believe that knowing Jesus is the only thing that brings ultimate, eternal FREEDOM . . . and salvation. We believe that because that is what He taught us.

The life that our Creator offers is not just for those who are most correct, those who adhere to the best knowledge, those who are the most Orthodox in their belief systems and Theologies. 

We would like to believe, and to be able to convince others that we are smarter than they are and that we alone have the real revealed information. We have insider information. We have feasted from the Tree of Knowledge and we have figured out all verity. The Facts. 

Let me tell you what I believe: It's not what you know - It's WHOM you know that matters.

When you finally get FREE from this world and you are to pass into the next - you will not be given an entrance exam to fill in the blanks correctly or check the right multiple choices. You will be asked for a password.

"Jesus sent me."

I think that is true . . . HE is The TRUTH . . . and you will never get HIM or a working substitute for HIM from a book, or a song, a message, or a movie.

I am Moana and the Truth

 

I recently got a glimpse of God in another unusual, unexpected place.

In a little Disney movie named after the title character - a small Polynesian Island girl named Moana.

I call it a little movie because it is dwarfed in scope and popularity by a film like Frozen. 

The story of the movie IS based on the cultural legends and stories of the Polynesian people . . . gods, demi-gods, magic, and mysticism. It has always been my belief that Christians need not fear a glimpse into the beliefs or lore of others. 

I argued openly many years ago in one of my seminary classes with one of my favorite professors: Dr. Reginald Barnard. He was a brilliant man who for some strange reason always chose to stand before his students and read from our textbook!

I know that he did this intentionally . . . and we figured out what he wanted us to do. He wanted us to interrupt him with a question or challenge him in a point of meaning or interpretation. If we didn't jump in and derail him . . . he would drone on . . . reading material that we had already read in preparation for the class.

Don't get me wrong . . . HE was the author of our textbook . . . and its teachings were profound. (On the first day of the course, he told us that he had asked his son to read it and give an opinion. "Excellent work! Rather dry . . . isn't it?"

But when Dr. Barnard went off script and spoke extemporaneously in response to our questions he took us on an intellectual journey!

It was my turn to sidetrack him on a particular day. (Does all of this seem disrespectful or manipulative? Believe me . . . he was a co-conspirator!) He read from the text, "Truth is not the truth wherever you find it."

"Doc, do you mean that if something is true . . . and the Mormons believe it . . . that it is not Truth?"

"Precisely. Truth is not the truth wherever you find it." 

It seemed to me that if some statement or element of thought or expression was genuinely true . . . it didn't matter what kind of philosophy, doctrine, or belief system you dropped it into . . . it would carry the quality of truth along with it.

He disagreed eloquently . . . and we talked for fifteen or twenty minutes. I'm certain that Dr. Barnard substantiated his case and proved his point . . . but he didn't change my mind.

The Truth that I found in Moana was - Know Who You ARE!

Know yourself, accept yourself . . . but strive to be a better, bigger, wiser version of yourself without changing who you are. You ARE whom God has created you to be, but He always wants us to become MORE than we were when we started out.  

In Philippians 1:6 (in the Bible), the Apostle Paul declares, "I know that HE . . . Who began a good work in you . . . is going to continue to work . . . ."

We are ALL a work in progress.

I like this placard:

You CAN be Batman, or Superman, or Spiderman, or Wonder Woman! Never settle for being just how you are right NOW.

Grow. Expand. Experience. Learn. Go. Love. Launch. Fall down and get up. Run, jump, climb, fly. 

But none of that is ever possible at all . . . until you come to an understanding of Who You Are at the beginning of the journey.

Then you must learn who you are becoming at each step of the journey. Stay in touch with your Creator, trace His map and feel the currents with your fingertips, and stay in touch with what He is recreating as you make yourself sail beyond the reef (a reference you can only understand if you have watched the movie). 

I believe that this is True . . . even though you might just find it in a children's film!