Crying At Finding Nemo

How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. – Luke 6:42

There I was with tears swelling in my weary eyes. Sitting in a dark living room, lit only by Christmas tree, I was sitting with my two month old son watching Finding Nemo (his idea, not mine). Perhaps it was the father son story line, my overall sensitivity, or the fact I haven’t slept post baby, but what I once viewed as pedestrian, was now giving me a major case of the “feels”. Rationally speaking, I know my son and I are not clown fish trying to find each other through great peril, but something deep within me was awaken on that cold December night. Fear. Past parental hurts. Failures.

This event made me think of the lens in which we interpret life. It is our experiences – our perspectives – that reveal the truth and passion which we live. Other people had told me of their love for Finding Nemo, but honestly I never understood it. Neither of us were wrong, we were simply viewing it through different experiences. For better or worse, becoming a father has forever changed my perspective on everything. In this case, there seems to be a healthy life event that makes me change my lens. Yet, there are countless negative events that color our view as well.

Hurts

Let Downs

Failures

They all feed into fear that manifests itself in emotion. Many of our perspectives are disguised; hidden. I heard recently from someone wise who said that anger is simply the public display of an inward hurt. Anger is the cloak in which insecurities hide. Christ calls us to stare down these hurts and perspectives and drag them into the shade of the cross to die. If we are to truly follow Jesus, we must see His life, death, and resurrection as the experiences that shape everything else. This is the Gospel lens we view the world through. Woe to the person who finds themselves contrary to God’s perspective.

Lord, be our perspective. If there is any opinion or attitude that runs contrary to you, root it out. Deal with my sinfulness; my ego. Amen.