Peace, dude. (a movie review of sorts)

Peace. Is that what it’s all about? That was the question I was asking myself as I drove home from seeing a very DEEP and PHILOSOPHICAL movie tonight. Yes, I saw Kung Fu Panda 2 tonite.

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT recommend this flick for lil kiddos. Lots of violence and some dark themes. And, yes, I’ll say it – there was hokus pokus/ying yang-business that I could’ve done without.

As I was driving home asking the 9 year olds I brought with me what THEY thought the movie was trying to say to them, I asked myself the same question (and yes, surprisingly, they got it – so there’s that). What can I take away from this thing that I just gave 2 hours of my life to? (I mean besides the fact that Jack Black is dang funny.)

What I immediately thought of was the whole “inner peace” thing. That is, finding–in this crazy life–a place of peace. Finding a place of reconciliation with the past – and trusting the future. Ya see, in the movie, we kinda see Po walk thru a place where he has to decide whether he is defined by hard stuff in his past or by what his future holds.

Peace.

I once heard one of my favorite Bible teachers say this: “Your past matters – its part of what shapes you into who you are ultimately meant to be. But, the past is not meant to be a place for you to camp out.” And so, in a weird way I kinda saw a window into something God wanted me to see…right there at the panda movie!

And so I thought…how am I trying to help my kids understand this “way” of living? I mean, do I spend more time trying to protect them from the hard stuff so they get the impression life is supposed to be clean and easy? Do I share what storms I’ve come thru so they can see where my trust lies? Good question.

Driving home a song came on that I’ve always thought could be my anthem. Here’s the verse that I REALLY heard tonite:

I can count a million times
people asking me how I
could praise You with all that I’ve been thru
the question just amazes me
can circumstances possibly
change who I forever am in You…

Its funny. Right now one of my sweeties (well 2 if you count his daddy!) is away in the Dominican Republic. He’s chosen to follow something God dropped in his soul…He wasn’t scared at all. Every bone in me wanted to keep him here and yet…I loosen my grip to let him go. He’s having his eyes opened to some hard things. He’s realizing life’s not clean and sometimes when we cry out to God to explain things, He doesn’t answer back (in the way we’d like).

And so, tonite, I’m contemplating this very thing…inner peace. How do we get it? Do we get it by surfing the ebbs and flows of fear and circumstances? Do we get it when the waters are calm?

Or, do we get it by trusting in a God who is never taken by surprise…and who is just itchin’ to share some peace with us. Let’s show our kids how to do this…by example.