Disney's Got It Right

I absolutely adore this film! Great animation, amazing music, hilarious dialog...what's not to love? And what's more, it has terrific gospel symbolism. They've got practically the entire Plan of Salvation in there. Here's the breakdown:

Mother Gothal: Satan
She is selfish and wants to keep the regenerative power of the flower for herself. Sound familiar? "Give me thine honor." ~Moses 4:1. She keeps Rapunzel locked in a tower, kind of like sin keeps us captive. She is manipulative, convincing Rapunzel that she can never leave - repentance is not an option, we have to remain in sin. She is very patient, willing to wait for the opportune moment to get what she wants. She pretends to love Rapunzel until it is no longer useful for her own purposes. She twist the truth about those who care about Rapunzel - Satan is the master truth-twister. Her most valuable tool is guilt, yet she has no power unless Rapunzel gives it to her. However, she ultimately meets her doom, just like Satan will ultimately fail.

Rapunzel: Us
She is the product of the Sun, a lost princess, daughter of royalty and light. She is endowed with power and virtue that she must protect, that is most precious of all her possessions, analogous to the sacred powers of procreation we possess. She embarks on a journey of self discovery, prompted by small revelations and feelings that there is something bigger out there. As she comes to realize who she is, evidences surface in all aspects of her life. She "sees the light" and her understanding of the world completely changes. Eventually, she makes it back to her true home.

Pascal: Holy Ghost
He is still and small and you really have to be in tune to understand what he has to communicate. He guides Rapunzel in evaluating decisions and is always there for comfort. Whenever Mother Gothal is around, however, he has to hide, just as the Holy Ghost cannot be with us in bad environments. He makes your heart feel warm and fuzzy.

Flynn/Eugene: Missionary/Eternal Companion
Without him, Rapunzel could never have discovered the light aka the gospel nor her true identity. He knew what the lanterns were and what they meant as well as the path back to them. He was also necessary for her to make it safely back home. We can't get to the Celestial Kingdom without a companion. True, at first he is only superficially motivated to help her, but he still respects her and helps to protect her hair and all that it embodies. He comes to care about what is important to her and together they become their best selves.

Other small tidbits of truth:

• The Vikings are just like all the good people in the world that may not necessarily belong to the church. They are still good people with worthy goals and dreams and we can, like Rapunzel, get over our initial fear and aversion and make friends that may turn out to be powerful allies.

• After the lanterns on the water scene where Rapunzel's eyes are opened to the reality of the world, analogous to a significant personal revelation, she is almost immediately plunged into a foggy, dark experience fraught with doubt and uncertainty. It seems that an experience full of light is always followed by a season of more intense hardship and temptation.

• Mother Gothal is constantly shrouded in darkness. She only uses the smallest pieces of light to lure us in, but it is tainted from it's pure white form. Similarly, she snuffs out the small candles that Rapunzel tries to keep lit, just as Satan snuffs out every bit of truth and hope he encounters. She knows what the lanterns are, but uses every tactic to conceal the poignant message they embody. Satan knows, perhaps more deeply than we do, the ultimate Plan of Happiness, but makes every effort to blind us. Mother Gothal powerfully presents the plan of Satan in her last scene. He wants to chain us up and drag us down to Hell where no one will be able to find us ever again. But we should keep fighting him, no matter how bleak the odds seem to be.

• The King and Queen, our Heavenly Father and Mother, were truly devastated at the loss of their precious daughter and never gave up hope of her returning. They continued to send out small tokens of their affection in hopes that she could find her way back. That scene where they are about to send out the lanterns for the eighteenth time is so tender. That tear of his gets me every time. Heavenly Father truly weeps for His children. (Moses 7:28) He will also meet us with a joyous embrace when we return to His presence.

So there you have it, the Plan of Salvation as presented unwittingly by Disney. Go watch it - I bet you'll find even more symbolism. You'll see the light. :)

Shopping Spree!

"Sunglasses. Yeah, we bought some sunglasses. Cause sunglasses protect our eyes from the sun. (you look good) Sunglasses..." ~Corrina, Corrina

I love sunglasses for whatever reason. This most recent purchase will make four pairs of them. I just forgot to take them with me out of the store. Whups! Good thing people around here are honest and that we walk slow.

Check it out:

We are now hitting the town in style!

A Flowery Commentary

“Tra la la la la. Spring is in the air. And I am a flower…with nothing interesting to say.”

Perhaps you will find it interesting; I can’t say for sure.

Anyway, I was contemplating my blossom preferences and have come to some conclusions. I absolutely love daffodils! They are so bright and happy, perky and expressive. Even their name is fun. Go ahead, say it. Out loud. Daffodil. Laugh-o-phil. See? Daffodils are happy things.

 

Crocuses are another lovely creation. Such rich, luxurious color in such a small yet sturdy life form. They save my sanity every year, poking their hopeful heads through the frost. Yes, they seem to say. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Winter is does not last forever (either the season or the semester). I’d like to chat with whoever it was that named them; it seems to be somewhat paradoxical. Crocus sounds like croak, which colloquially implies death. Yet they are the forerunners of life, the burst of vivacity that is spring. Obviously someone did not think that through.

 Other favorites include daisies, pansies, and lilies but I don't have any particular relationship with those at this point. So for now, suffice it to say that SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!

Now let's see your war face!

Sometimes I'm an attacker. And when this happens, sometimes my face gets dragged along the turf.

That's right, we're hard core in my self defense class. Check out my battle scars...ok, so it's not that impressive, but at least this made you smile, right?

An Embarrasing Lesson

A few weeks ago I lost my wallet. Never a good thing. The timing of this occurrence was particularly aggravating because I was just on my way to the post office to turn in my passport application, which of course I'd been putting off until the last reasonable moment. After scouring my entire apartment 3 times as well as my car, I deemed it officially missing. The next logical step to procuring a missing belonging is not, contrary to popular belief, to panic and worry; this will only result in the accelerated release of cortisol, unnecessarily raising stress levels, which we all know does not have any desirable or uplifting effects. Rather, it is to rationally analyze your past traversing to ascertain other possible whereabouts. Therefore, I knew that I had had it between the time I copied my driver's license (for the application) and the time I realized it was gone, in between which time I had been in class. I retraced my steps in the parking lot and around the classroom without success. So I went to the Lost and Found to see if they had seen any sign of it. They hadn't yet. It had only been 2 hours though, so it was highly possible that it would turn up later. It was, however, Friday afternoon, so that meant I'd have to wait until Monday to check back again. No problem...ok, a little inconvenient but I still didn't see a reason to worry. I kept an eye on my bank accounts, got frustrated about my foiled plans, and bunkered down to wait. BYU is a great place to lose something that important, if it has to be lost at all, so I had every confidence that it would turn up one way or another.

Well, Monday morning rolled around and during my 11 o'clock break I checked in with the Lost and Found. Contrary to my dream the previous night, they still had not seen it. I was starting to get a little anxious and irked that I was going to have to call the bank and go through all that hassle plus figure out how to get a new driver's license (which shouldn't have been a big deal, it expires this year anyway, and not that I really liked the picture on my old one - it's actually pretty hideous - but I thought it would be cool to have my first driver's license for sentimental reasons). Then I checked my phone and saw that I'd missed a call. It ended up being from my finance professor saying that he had my wallet! He was going to bring it to class so I could get it from him then. Elated, I went about the rest of my tasks, satisfied that my cool-headed handling of the situation was well founded.

When I got to the class, I wasn't really sure how to breach the situation, because I'm pretty sure that he doesn't know who I am. So after some deliberation, I bashfully made my way to the front and asked/told him that he had my wallet. He was very gracious about it, and a little apologetic. A student had apparently approached him with it after class on Friday and he meant to contact me about it then, but had gone to his office and forgotten. So I could have fretted a little less about how I was going to cover myself on that date I went on on Saturday (I asked him so I wasn't sure if he was going to pay for me or not - don't worry, he did. :)), but that was probably a small price to pay.

Now, this situation is fraught with irony. Friday's class was actually a lecture about being financially responsible. Next thing I know I have committed the most financially irresponsible act of carelessly leaving my wallet in a public place. In the very class that discussed it. And I get my wallet back from the man who was telling us to be responsible in the first place. Classic. Needless to say, I am now very conscientious about where I put it. Lesson learned.

King of the Lab!

Not to boast, but this week on this screen:



(That's the screen at the testing center that posts your scores - dreaded by some and ignored by others...though I can't imagine why) I saw 3 scores of 100%. Never has that happened to me before. I hope it continues. :)

The Grand Adventure

~"It's a play!" "Just a bunch of silliness, really." "I should hope so."~
Finding Neverland

On that note of approval, allow me to present an event of grand proportions that occurred this past week (with a minuscule amount of embellishment).

The Characters (in order of appearance)

Heroic rescuer------------------played by me
Damsel in distress------------------played by Samantha
The Messenger Bird------------------played by my cell phone
The Treasure------------------played by Samantha's sketchpad
The Cave------------------played by the locker
The Beast------------------played by the drawing board
The Labyrinth------------------played by the HFAC

Once upon a time in a land with which we are all very familiar there was a heroic rescuer who was trudging through gulfs of misery and woe when the cry of a fair maiden in dire need of assistance came floating through the air. The rescuer paused, listening, but could not determine the source nor the message of the plea. Suddenly, a little bird appeared on her shoulder with a small envelope containing a message in its mouth. "Help!" it read. "I am in desperate need of a treasure, but it is locked in the belly of a beast and I am unable to retrieve it!" "Never fear!" replied the heroic rescuer. "I shall conquer yon beast! Direct me, fair maiden, [though how the rescuer knew that the maiden was fair is beyond the knowledge of this bard] to this savage creature that I may vanquish him!" "Bless you noble one! You are indeed a heroic rescuer! The beast may be found at the top of a large labyrinth in a cave guarded by many foes. There is a secret combination of magic numbers that will give you entrance to the inner chamber. Get in, retrieve the treasures from the jaws of the beast, and I will forever be thankful unto thee, heroic rescuer. Beware! The way is treacherous! I shall await your return."

Drawing up all her courage, the heroic rescuer plunged into the labyrinth. Alas! So many pathways! How would she ever succeed? Just as it looked that she would be doomed to spend the rest of eternity trapped in this twisting maze of dead-ends and traps, she saw a light ahead. The way to the cave! On she dashed, and in no time she found herself in front of the daunting cave entrance. Mustering her wit, she plunged into the series of magic numbers that would unlock the door. But to no avail! She tried again, with all the precision and agility this heroic rescuer possessed. Again, she failed. No, she thought to herself. I will not be conquered. I have come too far to fail now. Summoning the messenger bird, she sent out a petition for aid. "What is the secret to breaking the spell?" Her wait was agonizing. Finally, the little bird returned with the answer. "You must squeeze the soft spot." Of course! Every challenge, every riddle, every beast has a weak spot. Finally the heroic rescuer succeeded in gaining access to the cave. She advanced cautiously.

The beast's jaws were far more terrible than anything the rescuer could have imagined in her wildest dreams! Fire spewed from the depths, razor-sharp teeth the size of stalactites gleamed with sterling steel menace along the perimeter. Undaunted, the heroic rescuer leapt towards the ferocious creature and snatched the treasure from its clutches. AAAaaaggghhh!! A scream pierced the air as the rescuer's fingers tore along the fangs of the fiend, blood gushing from the wounds. [these injuries may or may not have been caused by the brutal weather's impact on the rescuer's already dry and eczema-infested skin and may or may not have been present before the aforementioned encounter.]

Injured, yet triumphant, the rescuer had one last battle ahead: that with the elements to voyage to the fair maiden's residence. Fighting against fierce cold and raging winds, the heroic rescuer was battered, bruised, and broken. Just as she thought her body was about to succumb, she forged on and finally arrived at the castle. "You have done it! You are truly a noble and courageous soul! [you may have noticed at this point that the characters in this tale are quite dramatic and prone to shout all their verbal exchanges with passionate emotion] Please, accept this token of my gratitude." Whereupon the damsel bestowed upon the heroic rescuer with a goblet of healing beverage made of the exotic and rare cacoa bean. "Thank you my lady," replied the heroic rescuer. "You are most gracious and kind." "From this day forward," declared the damsel, "you shall be knighted 'Fearless Champion!'" With her newly-bestowed title, the now fearless champion dwelt in the castle along with the damsel where they awaited many more dashing adventures.

THE END