Hi, Page Turner here! It's been a while, but I'm back and a lot's happened. For one, I've seen Zootopia! (Watch out for a review on that) Disney stuff is all around us. Peter Pan inspired his own collar, fake syndrome, and countless movies and TV shows, including, "Finding Neverland," "Pan", "Hook," "Jake and the Neverland Pirates," and many others. Ask any four (or twenty) year old to sing "Let it Go," and they'll know the lyrics and many people know the basic plot of Star Wars. Cinderella has inspired new movies and endless amounts of brick a brack, and many know who Prince Charming is. I could go on, but let's just say that Disney movies create new things in our society. Ever heard of the Peter Pan Syndrome? That's when a young adult over the age of 25 stays in their parent's basement and plays video games, thus 'they don't want to grow up.' Yeah, that probably rings a bell now. Well, I'd like to introduce a new kind of Disney syndrome: the Little Mermaid Syndrome.
The Little Mermaid Syndrome is wrapped up in one of Ariel's best songs, "Part of Your World." (My personal favorite is 'I Remember' from one of my favorite Disney movies, the Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning...) Anyway, in "Part of Your World," Ariel swims around in her grotto that is literally packed to the gills with the flotsam and jetsam of human things. She sings, "Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collections complete?" And Flounder's like, "Yeah, you've got, like, 20 thingamabobs and a crazy amount of whozits and whatzits." What does Ariel say? "I want more..." That's pretty much all of us. Ask a regular guy who's a movie star, has a great voice, can pretty much date anyone they want, an entire island, a fleet of cars, seven houses (one on each continent), power and respect, and a holiday named after them. Ask some girl who has a great job, a handsome husband, awesome kids, a nice house, a ton of friends, and fun vacations: it doesn't seem like enough, there's something missing. Ask someone who's homeless, doesn't have enough food, and no friends or family and they'll say they want more. So what's the deal here? I think that God's given us each with what I like to call, "The Little Mermaid Syndrome." The need for something more, the itch for something else, the deep-down knowledge that the more you get, the more you want. So what is this great vacuum that isn't content living Under the Sea? Well, the wise dude who wrote Ecclesiastes struggles with the same problem. In essence, he says that he's done everything that you can ever think could bring fulfillment. He should be the walking dictionary of happy, or the prime example of content. But he says that it all means nothing. I believe that God gave us the vacuum because He's meant to fill it. We can't be happy as long as we're Under the Sea. God's the greatest thing that will EVER happen to anyone, and anything else is needless thingamabobs--they're okay, but they'll never bring joy. Joy isn't just happiness, though. Joy is really believing that God's real, that He'll never forsake you, and that He loves you. To me, it's a mixture of content, hope (that will come true), trust, and love. It's being happy--kind of, but it's being joyful in God alone, not in our circumstances. Paul's in jail and he's joyful. He's at a Christian's nice home in the city and he's joyful. Pretty much everywhere. He's undergoing torture, and he's joyful. He's not happy--but he has hope and contentment and the knowledge that God's in control.
Stuff's never going to satisfy us, as Ariel finds out. No matter how many dinglehopper or gadgets or gizmos, they're pretty underwater junk compared to God. They're seaweed compared to knowing Him. He's our Savior, Friend, Redeemer, and God! Go! Running, jumping, asking questions, getting answers, up on the shore all day, wondering free! (Oh, come on! Just read the song already) Go flip those fins and dive deeper into God, the greatest joy you'll ever know!
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----page turner
The Little Mermaid Syndrome is wrapped up in one of Ariel's best songs, "Part of Your World." (My personal favorite is 'I Remember' from one of my favorite Disney movies, the Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning...) Anyway, in "Part of Your World," Ariel swims around in her grotto that is literally packed to the gills with the flotsam and jetsam of human things. She sings, "Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collections complete?" And Flounder's like, "Yeah, you've got, like, 20 thingamabobs and a crazy amount of whozits and whatzits." What does Ariel say? "I want more..." That's pretty much all of us. Ask a regular guy who's a movie star, has a great voice, can pretty much date anyone they want, an entire island, a fleet of cars, seven houses (one on each continent), power and respect, and a holiday named after them. Ask some girl who has a great job, a handsome husband, awesome kids, a nice house, a ton of friends, and fun vacations: it doesn't seem like enough, there's something missing. Ask someone who's homeless, doesn't have enough food, and no friends or family and they'll say they want more. So what's the deal here? I think that God's given us each with what I like to call, "The Little Mermaid Syndrome." The need for something more, the itch for something else, the deep-down knowledge that the more you get, the more you want. So what is this great vacuum that isn't content living Under the Sea? Well, the wise dude who wrote Ecclesiastes struggles with the same problem. In essence, he says that he's done everything that you can ever think could bring fulfillment. He should be the walking dictionary of happy, or the prime example of content. But he says that it all means nothing. I believe that God gave us the vacuum because He's meant to fill it. We can't be happy as long as we're Under the Sea. God's the greatest thing that will EVER happen to anyone, and anything else is needless thingamabobs--they're okay, but they'll never bring joy. Joy isn't just happiness, though. Joy is really believing that God's real, that He'll never forsake you, and that He loves you. To me, it's a mixture of content, hope (that will come true), trust, and love. It's being happy--kind of, but it's being joyful in God alone, not in our circumstances. Paul's in jail and he's joyful. He's at a Christian's nice home in the city and he's joyful. Pretty much everywhere. He's undergoing torture, and he's joyful. He's not happy--but he has hope and contentment and the knowledge that God's in control.
Stuff's never going to satisfy us, as Ariel finds out. No matter how many dinglehopper or gadgets or gizmos, they're pretty underwater junk compared to God. They're seaweed compared to knowing Him. He's our Savior, Friend, Redeemer, and God! Go! Running, jumping, asking questions, getting answers, up on the shore all day, wondering free! (Oh, come on! Just read the song already) Go flip those fins and dive deeper into God, the greatest joy you'll ever know!
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