Truth from The Lion King (1994)

Apart from being one of my all-time favourite movies (maybe because it's the first movie I ever remember watching) and apart from being an award-winning film, The Lion King embodies some very solid truths about life.

While following the adventures and times of Simba the lion through childhood (cubhood) to adolescence to adulthood, this animated film tackles massive subjects such as sense of moral direction, identity, the role of truth in our lives and legacy – pretty good stuff. Maybe that's why somehow this isn't the first time I'm referring back to my most watched childhood film for wisdom in difficult life situations, like I'm sure many 90's kids do in some way.

Simba starts out as a young cub eager to explore life and become king, but soon finds out that character has a lot to do with responsibility when he goes to an elephant graveyard where he's been forbidden to go by his father. His father reprimands him and teaches him about legacy and the the bigger picture of life within the african “ubuntu” concept – we are all connected in one big circle of life. One person can never stand on his or her own. That's why you need to respect those around you, because they are part of you.

The villainous Scar, younger brother of Mufasa, feeds Simba lies with the intent on killing him and his father so he can have the right to the throne. Scar's evil plan succeeds and after experiencing the trauma of his father's death, Simba is tricked to believe that he is the cause of what happened and runs away. After meeting Timon and Pumba, the two unlikely heroes and later best friends, Simba settles into a life that's as far removed from his true identity as possible. The reason for “forgetting his past” and subsequently his true identity is the fact that he believes the lies that he has been told. The withholding of the truth causes him to remain enslaved in his way of thinking, until his father speaks to him in a vision in that is problably the most important scene in the movie.

Mufasa's words reflect some deep spiritual meaning when he reminds his son of his true identity: Remember who you are, you are my son, and the one true king. “You are my son.” What powerful words to establish an identity. You are the sum of all that I am and more. Your destiny is intertwined with mine in this circle of life. This phrase won't be as powerful to all of us if spoken by our own fathers. Maybe your father isn't exactly the guy you want to be someday. Maybe your father couldn't care less about your destiny. These words have an altogether different meaning for me personally. When I hear them, I hear them through the voice of my heavenly father. It reminds me of the sacrifice Jesus made so that I could be part of his kingdom as a joint heir and a son of the living God. Now these words have eternal meaning, and is a force of identity for me.

The latter part of this scene also contains some vital wisdom of life. Rafiki the witchdoctor baboon talks to Simba after he has just had this encounter and jokes about it being a weather phenomenon. Simba talks about his fear of facing his past, and Rafiki demonstrates rather physically that the past can hurt... but you can either run from it, or learn from it. This lesson ties in with the importance of not letting what happened in your past define you.

Simba at last returns to his pride after this encounter with his “heavenly” father. He is determined to live out his true identity. Upon his arrival at the chaotic pridelands which Scar has all but run to the ground, Simba demands Scar to step down. Scar, clearly taken aback by Simba's return, once again feeds Simba the lie that has kept him from the truth for so long. “If it weren't for you Mufasa would still be alive it's your fault his dead, do you deny it? No. Then you're guilty!” Scar and his hyenas back Simba up to the cliff while still proclaiming the lie that Simba is the murderer of Mufasa. He keeps on retreating – almost symbolic to the way the lie is disempowering him – until he is hanging from the cliff. Scar is already savouring his victory but cannot resist telling Simba the truth just before he dies, this was Scar's biggest mistake.

 The scene climactically shows Simba's eyes as he hears the truth: I killed Mufasa A flashback shows the young Simba and the events that led to his identity today. The truth impacts his whole being as it sets him free and suddenly he finds a strength that overpowers Scar as he leaps back from hanging on the cliff face. The truth sets free and the truth has enabled Simba to truly walk in his identity and operate in the power thereof.
 

The reason I'm writing this post is because I recently had an experience like that, where the truth was revealed after a long period of suppression and suddenly I felt empowered to live the life I'm supposed to be living. It was interesting to me that somehow I remembered this scene from the movie, to which I previously didn't attach so much value (even though it made an impact because of its dramatic nature). But having experienced a similar event than Simba, who got his power and identity back as a result of the truth being told, suddenly this scene brought me to tears. I watched this movie over and over as a kid and some of the truths in it are still with me and still being revealed to me, now that's powerful.

Although Hakuna Matata is a great phrase, I think The truth will set you free (John 8:32) is a better one for today. Peace

Inception - If everything is an idea, what about God? (dream or reality)

Runtime:                      148 minutes
Rating:                         Rated PG 13 for sequences of violence and action throughout.
Production:                 Warner Bros. Pictures
Genres:                         Sci-Fi, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Director:                       Christopher Nolan
Writer:                          Christopher Nolan
Principal Cast:
Ellen Page                    Ariadne
Leonardo di Caprio    Cobb
Ken Watanabe            Saito
Watch the trailer

Ok, I take it you've seen the movie and was absolutely blown away like me, or you were totally confused and dazed afterwards... like waking up after a very real dream (less likely).  The fact remains, this movie is an absolute masterpiece and it inspired me to ponder over some really interesting and gripping ideas.  I love to analyze movies and break down the elements that make them spectacular, but I'm not going to do that here.  Instead, I want to share my thoughts on some of the main themes of this movie that the plot is based upon.

In the movie we're constantly faced with the question of what is reality and what is only an idea, generated by the characters' subconscious minds, even up to the last minute. 

Dreams feel real while were in them, It's only when we wake up that we realize that something was actually strange - Cobb

So what is real? What is reality? Why isn't everything just an idea?  I don't want to attempt to follow in the classical philosophers' footsteps and redefine the concept of reality (for now).  But the truth is, that everything was just an idea before it became reality.  Think about it.  This computer or cell-phone was only an idea once.  Somebody thought about it, then acquired KNOWLEDGE of the matter (electronics and chips etc.) and then designed something guided by that knowledge, but fueled by the idea.  The chair you might be sitting on was once just an idea, somebody thought it might be nice to sit down sometimes rather than standing the whole time, hence they created the chair.  The point I'm making is that EVERYTHING was an idea before it came into existance.  The word idea is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as "a transcendant entity that is a real pattern of which existing things are imperfect representations."  Quite a stretch that one, but the origin of the word "idea" is "idein" which means "to see"(in other words to perceive reality).  The related ancient word is the word "WIT" which means "to come to know." http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wit

To come to know... which leads us to knowledge.  Knowledge is described in a number of ways by the Merriam Webster dictionary, namely: a (1) : the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or assosciation (2) : acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art or technique b (1) : the fact or condition of being aware of something (2) : the range of one's information or understanding <answered to the best of my knowledge>  I like the third definition "the fact or condition of being aware of something."  This expands our musings on reality:  The victims of the mind heists in Inception were not consciously (had no knowledge of) aware of what was happening in their dreams, likewise, Descartes states that he thinks, therefore he is.  Descartes was consciously musing/ applying knowledge to form his ideas - in the condition of being aware of them, as the definition states.  His knowledge, and the ability to regocnize and expand that knowledge rooted him in reality.

Therefore, I think that: 

Everything is essentially knowledge, and (less importantly) knowledge = ideas.

What is the most resillient parasite?  An idea.  A single idea from the human mind can build cities.  An idea can change the world, and rewrite all the rules.  Which is why I have to steal it. - Cobb

In other words - our reality (and even reality itself) is shaped by knowledge.  Think about that for a second.  Everything we know arises from know-ledge.  The word "idein" (the origin of "idea") means "to see," in other words to perceive reality - therefore something that is nonexistant needs to be "seen" in the mind before it can exist,(an idea), like I mentioned earlier.  The way we perceive the world (worldview) is the result of what we know about it - whether through experience or learning.  Our brains are extremely amazing things, capable of much more than what we are mostly aware of (most of what is attributed to the subconscious mind in the movie is not necessarily that far fetched).  Everything is essentially knowledge - physical, measurable material, as well as spiritual knowledge, because existance = an idea once = knowledge.

This way of looking at knowledge gives a whole new spin to the tree of knowledge of good and evil, doesn't it?  That one that Adam and Eve ate from and introduced the knowledge of sin to the world.  So then, spiritual knowledge - the knowledge that forms our idea of who God is.  Once again, the way we will perceive and experience God will be according to the idea that we have about him, which points back to knowledge.  Now the question:  Can we experience something (such as the world for example) entirely through knowledge?  I mean, if it's just an idea, we should theoretically be able to, right?  Yes and No.  We can know a lot about the world through acquired knowledge, and we can gain knowledge THROUGH EXPERIENCING the world, but we can't experience the world just by knowing about it - it's not just intellectual.  It's sort of like studying about different countries and their heritages and artworks and then not going there (which I can relate to at this stage).  But if you do go you'll have a far better experience (understanding) than the normal guy who doesn't know anything about the place.  But, you can't experience it from your book (just knowledge).  Likewise we need to have knowledge of a God or higher being to create an idea in our minds of the deity that we are worshipping, and learning more about this God and his character will aid you in approaching him and experiencing him...but you can't just do it by knowledge alone, you need to experience it.  Knowledge about something and experiencing something goes together:  We can't experience God without some sort of knowledge about him - because we won't know that he exists, BUT, we can have knowledge about him and not experience him.

You keep telling yourself what's real...but what do you feel? - Moll

According to the Bible, it was never a physical or intellectual separation that removed us from experiencing God, but a moral separation (Isaiah 59:1,2).  But then again, there was no knowledge of sin before the fall of man into sin, so it again plays a role.  Before the fall, man only knew God in his fullness, now he knows the sin that keeps him away from God and clouds and warps the real knowledge of him.  If the knowledge of sin was never introduced into the world, we would never have been in the mess that we are, because there would not have been an idea of sin, and therefore noboby would have been able to sin. 

But let's say we could know(experience) God through knowledge alone.  If we could, we might as well just know everything.  Let's say we could uncover all the deepest secrets of the universe and get the answers to all the burning questions of humanity.  If we were to know everything, would we still need God?  We would become all-knowing, just like God.  Can we be like God?  No - that defeats the purpose.  But we can die to ourselves and give our lives over to God and so be part of this ever-growing spiritual knowledge.  We will become part, connected to the spiritual reality that is the bigger reality of our physical one.  Our physical reality is in part comparable to a dream, in the sense that it is only temporary.  Not necessarily less real, (like the dreams of the movie), but subject to the spiritual one we find ourselves in.

Maybe you're not even aware of this bigger reality, like the characters were unaware that they were actually dreaming in the movie.  Because you see, I believe God is constantly calling us to deeper realities, just like the multiple dreams that the characters found themselves waking up from.  He wants to reveal true knowledge to us, calling us to a higher awareness of who he is and what our purpose is and the way things work - deeper realities.  Romans 10:17 states that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds - allowing God to replace our knowledge with his true knowledge - shaping our ideas.  And some of us thought that this was just a "belief" system.

Allright, you might argue that knowledge (skill/talent) is power, and that the only true meaning to life is to expand this knowledge and by it contribute to the world and humanity, gaining power and meaning in life.  Think about it, your life just might relate back to this statement in simpler terms in one way or another. 

Is God just an idea?  Something formulated by our subconscious minds?  If our minds can build cities and rewrite rules, then surely it can imagine something like God.  Lets face it, if we were to argue this out on a logical/knowledge level, it would go on forever:  We would become lost in the endless knowledge of atoms and sub-atoms or in the marvel of the massiveness of the universe.  We would have to consider all the millions of theories of all time, since the beginning of History, which amounts to endless knowledge.  There is a question that people usually use to convince somebody of the existance of God:  They would ask you how much of the knowledge of all time you know, say 10%, 20%, 50%?  Then they would ask you if just maybe, God was somewhere in that sector of knowledge that you don't know?  Which is a valid question, but then again, the proof that God doesn't exist could also be somewhere in that unknown sector, right?  Which means that knowledge (intellect) just won't get us there.  And this is not the main reason most people don't believe in God.  They don't believe in God because they had a bad experience "with God," or, they just never experienced God and so concluded that he does not exist.  The determining factor then is more on the experiencial than the knowledge part, but the knowledge (though maybe not true knowledge) gained from that experience is used as real knowledge in forming their idea of a God (nonexistant or far away and uninvolved, or even angry).  People then go in search of proof of this idea of God that they have.

But a more achievable option I would like you to consider as I spur you on in this ongoing discussion, is to experience him for yourself before engaging further into a debate about his existance and our purpose and being.

The bible says that those who seek him shall find him (Deutoronomy 4:29).  I believe this promise to be true - and for you to find out if it is, that is what it's gonna require of you.  Not just to place the thought in the back of your head and discard it as nonsense, but to really seek him, because I know from his character that you will find him, (he will find you).  Just take the first step (don't just pretend to).  Is this a formula to finding God?  No, it's finding out who God really is by allowing him to reveal himself in our lives.  God was never missing (us seeking him).  He was there all along, waiting for us to see him, but what we found instead was a new way of thinking about him, looking at him, and at last seeing.  BUT, we didn't get this on our own (through intellectual means).  Only by allowing God to show his character in our lives.

We can know everything about people, different personalities, backgrounds, traits, but we cannot utilize this knowledge to know a specific person intimately, (even if you knew that person intimately at some stage), because you need to be in contact with that person to get to know them personally.  Faith is more a practical subject than a theoretical one.  Jesus died before we knew what we know now.  Once again, love is an

act(s), which springs from a choice, which stems from knowledge... but lets not go there.

I don't know everything, but what I do know is God's character - so go and try him out, before engaging in further intellectual reasoning about why he's not real.

I want to leave you with a song that summarizes the question at stake:  What is God?  A mere idea?  A very good concept of a transcendant deity?  An ideal that contains some truth or all truth for some people?

In the end there is another question we have to answer:  What is truth?  I didn't do a dictionary search (if anyone wants to,feel free).  But my definition of truth would be knowledge that is undisputable.

If God is truth, then we don't need to defend him, because he is already the truth, wether we believe in him or not.  Please listen to the words closely as you listen.

"The Truth Is Who You Are"

It would be easier if You were just a thought in my head
Simply something that I once read
A belief needing my defense

And it would be easier if You were something I once knew
A hope just to hold on to
But You're holding out Your hands

You came to take us back to the start
You came to touch the hardness of our hearts
You gave us truth that truth is who You are
It's who You are

And it's not enough to just say, "I believe"
'Cause truth is that talk is cheap
So grace give me eyes to see
You came to take us back to the start
You came to touch the hardness of our hearts
You gave us truth that truth is who You are
It's who You are

Flesh and blood You offer us
Oh, to eat the bread and drink the cup
Oh, to taste, to see, to feel, to touch
Emmanuel, God with us
Emmanuel, God with us

'Cause You came to break the chains apart
To wake the dead and the sleeping of our hearts
You gave us truth that truth is who You are
It's who You are
It's who You are
It's who You are 

 Listen to the song

What Tenth Avenue North had to say about the song

So, the truth is a person, called Jesus. 

Like the song says, we need to taste, feel, see, and touch God, otherwise a relationship with him will just remain an intellectual idea.

Please feel free to leave comments.