Princess and the 'Pearl'
We need to be able to see ourselves and each other the way God sees us. It is a tall order to ask ourselves to see the light, the spirit, dwelling in each of us. I think the busier we are, the more we accumulate, the farther we can get. We sometimes even struggle to view each other as human.
Having our third child going through toddlerhood, I've had the opportunity to revisit children's movies and get a deeper meaning that I missed before. The idea of seeing ourselves as God sees us made me think of the story, the Princess and the Pea, and of a song from the Disney movie,The Princess and the Frog.
What if we look at ourselves as the princess' bed. We have something buried that needs our attention. It is buried under layers of what we think will make us more comfortable. I know this is not a new thought, but in our culture and place in history, we have a lot of mattresses to pile on! We keep adding layers and layers of things to cushion us from what dwells within. We layer tasks, deadlines, vanities, extravagancies, titles, and so on. But these do not completely comfort us, at least not for long.
What if we remove the layers, we may get more uncomfortable, but we get down to the 'pea' and we discover that it is really a pearl, our divine connection to God. In discovering and knowing it, our souls are comfortable and at home wherever we rest our bodies and our minds. We may be able to see the pearl in others and know that if we were able to bury ours so deep, that others can too. What if we can believe that under the mattresses that others carry, is a pearl that is the same as ours, one that connects us.
In the Princess and the Frog, the main character kisses a frog and instead turning him into a prince, she gets turned into a frog. They go to see "Mama Odie" in the swamp to see if she can turn them back into humans. The lyrics are some of my favorites and I think they run parallel to the concept of really connecting with 'who we are'.
Dig A Little Deeper written by Randy Newman
Mama Odie:
Don't matter what you look like
Don't matter what you wear
How many rings you got on your finger
We don't care
Choir: (No we don't care)
Don't matter where you come from
Don't even matter what you are
A dog, a pig, a cow, a goat
Had 'em all in here
(we had 'em all in here)
And they all knew what they wanted
What they wanted me to do
I told 'em what they needed
Just like I be telling you
You got to dig a little deeper
Find out who you are
You got to dig a little deeper
It really ain't that far
When you find out who you are
You'll find out what you need
Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed
You got to dig (dig)
You got to dig (dig)
Prince Froggy is a rich little boy
You wanna be rich again
That ain't gonna make you happy now
Did it make you happy then? No!
Money ain't got no soul
Money ain't got no heart
All you need is some self-control
Make yourself a brand new start
You got to dig a little deeper
Don't have far to go
You got to dig a little deeper
Tell the people Mama told you so
Can't tell you what you'll find
Maybe love will grant you peace of mind
Dig a little deeper and you'll know
Miss Froggy, might I have a word?
You's a hard one, that's what I heard
Your daddy was a loving man
Family through and through
You your daddy's daughter
What he had in him you got in you
You got to dig a little deeper
For you it's gonna be tough
You got to dig a little deeper
You ain't dug near far enough
Dig down deep inside yourself
You'll find out what you need
Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed
Open up the windows
Let in the light children
(Blue skies and sunshine)
(Blue skies and sunshine)
Tiana: Blue skies and sunshine
Mama Odie: Guaranteed
Choir: (Ahhh...)