Life-teen update (07-22-2007)

Friday Night Flix: For those of you with inquiring minds who want to know how our movie nights are going, I just wanted to give you a quick update. We got everything kicked off on July 13 with the extended version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. We had a few minor problems involving the sound, but once we got them all ironed out everything else went smoothly. Afterwards we had a great discussion on the various themes of the movie. Aside from the glaringly obvious relation between Aslan being killed in the place of Edmond, we also noticed that there were some other interesting examples of Christian symbolism. For example Just as Christ was striped before the crucifixion, Aslan was shaved. After the resurrection Christ first appeared to the women of the group, not to the Apostles. Similarly, After Aslan is raised from the dead he first appears to Lucy and Susanne, not to Peter and Edmond. There are many other examples, in fact more stand out to me each time I watch the movie. All Christian symbolism aside, there are a couple of other things that make The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe a great movie. For one it presents a very clear view of good and evil. There is no middle ground between the Witch and Aslan. This is becoming an ever increasing oddity in our secular world that teaches that both black and white are wrong and the only truly morally acceptable position is one that is gray and rejects the concepts of both right and wrong in the name of tolerance. A gray position would have said that Aslan and his followers had no more right to the control of Narnia then the Witch and her followers. The real right answer would have been to sit down, negotiate, and divide up Narnia so that everybody could get part of what they want, and each sside would have to respect that the other side had just as much right to exist as they did. After all, right and wrong and just two different personal opinions on the same subject and no one ever has the right to force their point of view on someone else. It is a good thing that we as Catholics do not believe in being gray. I am not saying that there isn’t room to compromise on certain issues, but when it comes to the moral sphere there is right and there is wrong. I have yet to hear an actual gray moral issue, though I know some people claim that they do exist. Getting back to the movie, All of our hero’s are truly people that can be admired, even Edmond. In the beginning of their adventure into the wardrobe Peter and Susanne are scared of what may happen, they are tempted to turn back but they don’t. The persevere to the end even knowing that they might die. In one moment of weakness Susanne tells Peter that just because some man in a red coat gave him a sword, that doesn’t make him a hero. In many ways she was right. What she couldn’t see was that Peter had what it took to be a hero long before he had the sword. This is true for all of us. We all have what it takes to be a hero, and it takes more than just a sword. It takes the courage to use it, to take the risks that come our way, to put our life on the line for our king. The theme of self sacrifice is hit on over and over in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Next up we are going to watch The Princess Bride. All high school youth are welcome to join us Friday at 7:00pm as we take a look at love and how it is presented in the media. As always there will be some kind of not so nourishing food, maybe pizza this week. God bless and I hope to see you all on Friday.