Okay, just need to check something before we start:
Everyone has seen The Greatest Showman, right?
WHAT?!?! WHY??? Okay, I’ll forgive you if you order tickets for tonight’s showing immediately.
I know some people aren’t into musicals and I get that. (Well, I don’t GET it, per se. But I believe that it’s true.) But adding music to a story just jacks the power up to an unexpected level, in my opinion.
As far as The Greatest Showman goes, the movie is good. The story is fine.
But the music is mind-blowing.
And as predicted, at this year’s Golden Globes, “This Is Me” won best original song, as it very well should have.
In the movie, it was in good company. Every song seemed to get me in one way or another.
But later (you know, as I was leaving the theater) when I downloaded the soundtrack, “This Is Me” pulled away from the pack to become my undisputed favorite. And I know many who agree with me.
It’s an anthemic (yes, I made that up), ferocious, defiant declaration of identity. Coming from the heart of someone who has been oppressed far too long, never able to live the truest version of themselves for fear of rejection, the character finally just snaps and informs the world, “This is me.”
This resonated in a deeply primal place for me.
It immediately reminded me of my reaction the first time I heard “Let It Go” from Frozen. Yes, it was overplayed. Yes, we’re all sick of it. Yes, every little girl in every elementary school talent show sang it that year.
Another character forced to tame herself into something the rest of the world can handle. At long last, she is outed by accident, but finds great relief in releasing the act and finally being who she truly is.
You know another movie that did that to me? Moana. “How Far I’ll Go.” Same thing. Once again, a character wrestling against the expectations put on her by her family and community, wanting to please and be who they need her to be and yet unwilling to shake her true nature.
What’s going on here? What is it about these characters, these stories that tug at our heartstrings and poke at our reality? I mean, obviously it’s not just me feeling this way. These movies, these songs would not be as popular as they are if they weren’t tapping into something common to the human experience:
The desire to have your identity match your reality, to live the truest version of yourself on a daily basis and be accepted for it.
I’ve been doing a sort of word study in my devotion time over the past couple of weeks. I’m exploring the use of the word “free” and all its variations in the Bible. How is it used? What is the context? What do the footnotes and/or cross references say? Is there a word picture in the Hebrew or Greek that gets lost in translation?
I stumbled upon an unfamiliar use of the word earlier this week and it is my current favorite to date.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and I’ve come across the word in it twice so far.
I run in the paths of Your commands,
for You have set my heart free. (v. 32)I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out Your precepts. (v. 45)
In verse 32, the footnotes say, “enlarged my heart, expanded it with joy, swell with joy, increased my understanding, breadth of understanding.”
In verse 45, ‘freedom’ refers to “a wide space, unconfined by affliction or oppression.”
The Queen Lindsey Translation: to take up space, to stretch out, wide open spaces, etc.
Do you see it? Enlarge, expand, swell, increase, unconfined, a wide space. In this Psalm, freedom involves being as big as you were created to be.
I think as children when we are taught good manners, some of that input gets mistranslated. It’s not polite to make noise, talk about yourself, serve yourself first, draw attention to yourself, etc.
And while those are good teachings, I think sometimes we carry them into adulthood. Our bodies and minds are growing, but we are trying to stay within the boundaries and borders of childhood.
I remember in November of 2001, I was graduated from college, married and someone handed me a large knife to cut lemons to make fresh lemonade. My immediate reaction (this is so embarrassing) was, Oh, I’m not allowed to use that big of a knife.
To quote Moana, “Um…. WHAT?!?!”
Thank goodness I didn’t say it out loud. I swallowed my hesitation, reminded myself I was a grownup, for heaven’s sake, and wielded that knife just fine. I had just grown up never using the big knives because they were dangerous. And they were. You know, to a kid. (And of course also to adults, when we’re not careful.)
It wasn’t that I didn’t think I could do it. It’s that I wasn’t ALLOWED. How the heck did THAT make it into my early twenties?
When you’re riding a horse and he’s unruly or unpredictable, you keep the reins taught. Not too tight to keep them from moving, but just enough of a presence through the bit in their mouth to remind them that you’re in charge (or at least pretend that is the case).
And when they start to get out of control and you jerk too hard on the reins (usually out of fear), they will throw their head in protest, maybe even buck. Because oppression goes against the nature of every living thing.
But when everything is going well, they’re moving at a comfortable pace and cooperating, you loosen the reins. They’ve earned it, proven they can be trusted.
It took me a long time to realize that the reins of my life were now in my own hands and I didn’t need permission to spread out and take up space.
And just in case any of this is ringing true in your heart, neither do you, my friend. You’re holding your own reins. What do you need to do? Tighten them and get some areas of your life under control? Or loosen them and give yourself a little room?
I remember a couple of months ago when Brad and I were just about to fall asleep one night. I was nestled in his arms and we were just about to drift off when I whispered sleepily, “Do you think I’m doing it right?”
“What?” he asked, confused.
“Me,” I replied. “Do you think I’m doing ‘me’ right?”
There was a pause. “What do you mean? How else could you do ‘you’?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I replied, eyes closed, barely awake. “Sometimes I wonder if there’s more in here. Like maybe I’m only at eighty percent or something.”
“Uhh…” he stammered nervously, “I think you’re doing ‘you’ just fine. I don’t know if we need too much more…”
I yawned. “Well, maybe this is it. Maybe this is all of it. But if I find any more, just so you know, she’s coming out.”
“Oh great,” he muttered. He probably stayed awake a little longer than usual that night, wondering what the heck more me could look like. (Hee-hee.)
One of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes is,
Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.
Is it possible that these songs, these movies became so popular because so many of us have yet to fling open the gate into those wide open spaces we were created for?
Because here’s the thing, if the world never gets the youest you, if we all stay locked inside our castles and never show anyone what we’re capable of, if we obediently stay on our islands and never venture past the reef into the wild ocean, if we stay hidden in a dead-end job because something about us is deemed too much, too different, too SOMEthing, our purpose in life remains undone and our time here is wasted.
A few years ago at our church’s annual retreat, we were introduced to Allen Levi. He’s tall with white hair, deep Georgia accent, eyes that sparkle with youthful glee and Jesus oozes from his very pores. I LOVE being around people like that.
He’s a former lawyer/judge turned singer/songwriter/author. He is easily one of the most magnetic people I’ve ever met.
His songs are homey, heartfelt and unexpectedly poignant. One of my favorites is called “The Fences Must Give Way.” The first verse says,
A little tree was planted there long ago
Just inside a picket fence and left to grow
But the years have come and gone
And it’s grown a bit each day
There’s a time when the fences must give way
The following verses talk about a woman overcoming a childhood trauma and the veil of the temple being torn, more fences giving way.
To God. To life. BIG life. Wide open spaces. Room to spread out, take up space and grow, grow, grow.
There are fences that trap and fences that protect. Sometimes both/and. Examine the fences in your life. Make sure they’re working FOR you and not holding you back. If you find any that are blocking the youest you…
Make sure that fence gives way.
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