“Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” – Psalm 25:4-5
This past weekend, I watched an inspirational Disney movie with my youngest daughter called, “Onward.” It’s one of our favorites for many reasons.
It’s set in a once magical land made up of elves, sprites, trolls, and many other mythical creatures. It’s about two elf brothers, Barley and Ian, who lost their dad at a young age. In fact, the youngest brother, Ian, wasn’t born until after his dad passed.
Ian carries around this sadness and fear of letting others close wherever he goes, but Barley isn’t afraid of anything. He has embraced life and is determined to keep dreaming. Ian is extremely embarrassed of Barley’s outgoing nature and is consumed with the fact that he never got to meet his dad.
It’s Ian’s birthday and his dad has left both brothers a special gift; a magical gift that will allow them to see their dad one last time, but only for 24 hours. Ian is so excited at the chance to finally meet his dad, but something goes awry with the magic only revealing the lower half of his dad. So, Ian, Barley and the lower half of their dad embark on an arduous journey to find a gem that will allow them to reveal the upper half of their dad so they can hug him and talk to him one last time. Ian made a list of all the things he wants to experience with his dad in a 24-hour period, and he has so many questions to ask him. So now, they’re in a race against time to make this happen.
Throughout their journey to find the magic gem, they encountered lots of obstacles which eventually lead them right back to where they started. Ian also learns that Barley never said goodbye to his dad. His brother, who seemed fearless and unbreakable, was also once scared, and regretted that he never told his dad how much he loved him before his death. Just before the 24 hours are up, Barley finds the gem, which unleashes an ancient curse. However, he wants to hold it off so Ian can finally have the chance to meet their dad. When Ian starts looking over the list of things he didn’t get to do with his dad, he realizes that he had experienced all these things with his brother. Ian selflessly gives up the chance to finally meet his dad, and lets his brother spend the last minutes with him instead so Barley could tell him how much he loved him and finally say goodbye.
Oftentimes we feel there are many obstacles in our way, holding us back from going forward. In reality, what we think is hindering us can be a positive path for us to move forward. It’s easy to lose sight of what’s in front of us and hold on to anger, resentment, worry, or doubt. All that truly does is hold us back not only for the love that we have for each other but the unconditional love that God has for us. On the flip side, sometimes we need to go through our obstacles to get us back on the right track. I love this line from the movie, “On a quest, sometimes the clear path isn’t always the right one.”
– Jamie Williamson, Director of Administration, St. Luke’s Edmond
