"Brave" A Story For Our Lives

Isaiah 53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

      Lord, You gave us the wonderful privilege this last weekend to spend time with one of our son and his family. We had a great time and they were such a blessing to us and I pray we were to them as well.
      One night we watched the movie "Brave" by Pixar films.  There are several themes in the film but the main theme appeared to me to be how families and kingdoms can be torn apart because of pride and selfishness.  The solution is humility, confession, and repentance.
The young lady in the film is lamenting on how her mother, the queen, rules every moment of her life trying to make her into someone she was not intended to be...the future queen.  Mom wants her to be exactly like her.
      I thought about how You asked me to raise our children to be responsible and selfless in their service to others as adults, but how I sometimes failed in not seeing Your plan to use the gifts and talents You had given each them to accomplish those tasks.
      Because of the arrogance of one brother, the original clan was split into 3 separate ones and the original kingdom destroyed.  Then there was rivalry between the remaining three clans.  However; when their land was attacked, they all fought together to save it, then went back to the rivalry.
     The young lass wants to be her own person and go her own way.  After a serious fight with her mother where she slices the picture of her mom away from the rest of the family on a tapestry mom has made, she flees into the woods where she finds a witch. She asks her for a potion that will change her mom.  The witch gives her a tea cake that will change her mother...but she does not tell her how it will change her.
    Lord, I can be like that too!  My flesh desire is that you change the other person instead of asking for You to change me. 
   The tea cake changes her mother into a bear. The daughter has to get her mom out of the castle where all of the 3 remaining clansmen have met and back to the cottage she found in the woods to get the witch to change her back.  On the way, mother starts to find the strengths in her daughter, the daughter starts to see the weaknesses in her mom, and they start to form a bond working together for survival.  They find the cottage and the witch tells her that she is to say some words before the second sunrise or her mother will forever be a bear.  The words were words of humility and reconciliation- mend the bond that is broken...
      In the course of the rest of the film, her father and all the rest of the clansmen try to kill the bear and the daughter has to try to save her mom's life.  She tells everyone that it really is the queen, but they do not see that because she looks like a bear.  The daughter goes back to the castle to try to sew the tapestry back together, misunderstanding that sewing the tapestry is not the issue.  She finally hugs her bear mom weeping tears of humility and confession for her pride, rebellion and selfishness.  At that point mom turns back into the queen.

      Lord, I do not believe that Pixar is a Christian film company or if they really meant to portray Your Word...but for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, the message is there.  Pride and arrogance destroyed the unity in Heaven, and then Earth, and has been destroying relationships ever since.  I was given grace and mercy when I humbled myself before You asking forgiveness for my sinful rebellion and relinquishing my life to Your Lordship.  You ask me to give grace to others as I have been given grace.  Only then are relationships healed and peace and harmony restored.
      Lord, since then I have lapsed into times when that ugly part of me has resurfaced.  Lord, forgive me  for those times and lead me to those to whom I have endangered because of it so I may ask forgiveness.