Friday, February 18, 2005 AD
The Gospel according to Nemo
Our elder son's current favourite video - sorry, DVD; he's very particular about the distinction :-) - is Finding Nemo. He has been watching it incessantly for the past month, which suits us because it is a wonderful film that bears repetition rather better than, say, Percy the Park Keeper.
Not only is Nemo very well made, but it also deals with themes that are obviously closer to a (nearly) four-year old's heart than you might expect. This comes out in the questions that T asks my wife about the film: "Why did Nemo want to make his daddy cross because his daddy made him cross?" (sic); "Why does Nemo's daddy want to find Nemo so much?"
One thing that's clear is that the reason T is asking these questions (repeatedly!) is not because he doesn't know the answer to them. Rather, it seems to be a way of processing the emotions that are stirred up for him by the film. He asks the question ("Why does Nemo's daddy want to find Nemo?") not because he doesn't know the answer, but because he wants to hear E say it anyway ("Because he loves Nemo very much. Because daddies do love their children very much").
In this T is, of course, being a good Lutheran. Because that's why Lutherans emphasise the public ministry of the Word and Sacraments so much: it's not enough simply to know the Gospel, in our heads. We need to hear it proclaimed to us, over and over again, in the Absolution, the preaching of the Gospel, the Lord's Supper.
Yet another way in which "whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it".
Not only is Nemo very well made, but it also deals with themes that are obviously closer to a (nearly) four-year old's heart than you might expect. This comes out in the questions that T asks my wife about the film: "Why did Nemo want to make his daddy cross because his daddy made him cross?" (sic); "Why does Nemo's daddy want to find Nemo so much?"
One thing that's clear is that the reason T is asking these questions (repeatedly!) is not because he doesn't know the answer to them. Rather, it seems to be a way of processing the emotions that are stirred up for him by the film. He asks the question ("Why does Nemo's daddy want to find Nemo?") not because he doesn't know the answer, but because he wants to hear E say it anyway ("Because he loves Nemo very much. Because daddies do love their children very much").
In this T is, of course, being a good Lutheran. Because that's why Lutherans emphasise the public ministry of the Word and Sacraments so much: it's not enough simply to know the Gospel, in our heads. We need to hear it proclaimed to us, over and over again, in the Absolution, the preaching of the Gospel, the Lord's Supper.
Yet another way in which "whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it".
