Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Campfire: Third Evening

Tonight I've set up an outdoor projector screen so that we can enjoy a movie while we snack on our s'mores and some popcorn! I "previewed" the movie yesterday in anticipation of talking about it tonight. For all you Disney fans out there, we're watching Brother Bear!

(In lieu of posting the whole movie on here, which probably isn't allowed anyway, I'm just going to share a YouTube video I found of a scene that shows the joy of relationships. Enjoy!)



Humility and Relationships

Brother Bear has a lot to say about familial relationships - whether it's blood-related family or love-related family. The three human brothers (Kenai, Denahi, and Sitka) all have different strengths and were given different ways in which they specifically needed to grow in order to become men. In order for there to be harmony and unity between the brothers, appreciation of their differences and a dose of humility are necessary.

Humility, you ask?

Well, Sitka is the eldest, and as such he is supposed to help guide his brothers. But all leaders need to be humble, and it is often shown in their interactions that Sitka doesn't choose to act high and mighty, but instead listens to his brothers, laughs at their antics when they are harmless, and helps them without the need to make himself look good.

Denahi is supposed to be wise. At the beginning of the movie, he often isn't. He mercilessly teases Kenai at times, suggests that he blames Kenai when Sitka dies, and then decides to seek revenge. And yet, he learns from his journey. In order to reconcile with his brother and with his future, he has to be humble enough to realize his errors - and humble enough to share the story with his village later on in his life.

Kenai has a long way to go to learn how to love when the movie first starts. He scoffs at his totem - "the bear of love." He thinks that real men don't need love - they need something much more "manly" like "bravery," "strength," or "greatness." But throughout the movie he realizes how important and powerful love really is. Love, too, requires humility. Kenai had to be humble enough to accept responsibility for his actions, to be open with Koda about his sin, and to choose to sacrifice for another rather than seek his own way. (Jesus Himself gave us the ultimate example of humility in love: "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even the death on a cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him..." ~ Philippians 2:8-9a)

No matter what position we have been placed in within our family or in our other relationships, humility can help us draw closer to one another. But it all has to start with being humble before our Lord, as our relationship with God is the most important relationship we can have, and it determines how we choose to act in our relationships with others.

Easier said than done, right? This is something I really have to work on! But I hope that on this blog we can remind one another of the value of humility and encourage one another to strive to be more humble. It's a journey, and I'm so glad that you are willing to share it with me!

(You can read more of my thoughts on the movie Brother Bear HERE.)

4 comments:

Julie said...

Amber, I always enjoy your devotionals. You have such insight into the characters of movies. You see deeper than the "face value" of things. What a gift you have. Thank you for the reminder that we all need to be humble as our Lord was humble. I really appreciate that verse in Philippians.

Amber Holcomb said...

Julie,

God has blessed me with such wonderful people in my life - such as professors and friends like you! - who encourage me to look deeper and who support me when I share thoughts like these. :) Thank you for the kind words!

And yes, that passage in Philippians about Jesus' example is powerful! My principal in middle school had my class memorize Philippians 2:5-11, and I can still quote it once I remember how it starts. :) He had us start small and keep adding verses until we memorized that passage - it was repetitive, but that's good, because it worked! :)

~Amber

Audrey said...

I don't know the movie, but I loved the bears' names. Those are the Alaska regions where I'm at right now!

Amber Holcomb said...

Audrey,

Oh, it's a sweet movie! :)

And that's so awesome that you're in Alaska right now - it must be so beautiful!! The latest Country magazine features the state of Alaska, and I noticed the names Kenai and Denali in the captions of some of the pictures... That's really cool that the creators of Brother Bear used those names! :)

Hope you're enjoying your time there! Are you working in Alaska all summer?

~Amber