Espresso Theology

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Sing! A new song for a new year

Shout out to Russell from Russelling Reviews who told me to take my family to see Sing (2016).

Sing is a feel good musical movie with over 60 songs sung by animated animals. The main characters are Buster Moon (koala), Rosita (pig), Mike (mouse), Ash (porcupine), Johnny (gorilla), and Meena (elephant).

The movie's message is to chase your dreams.

The dream of the animals is to sing. And not just any song. But a song that expresses who they can be.

But to do this they must overcome obstacles. For the koala it's the stuck-up banker who wants to repossess the theatre. For the gorilla it's his father who wants him to rob banks. For the porcupine it's her self-absorbed boyfriend who's left her for another girl.

But if the animals can believe in themselves, then they can be anything they want to be.

This of course is the unchallenged mantra of the West. It's how we put a man on the moon, cured smallpox, and invented the seedless watermelon.

But the problem is that not all dreams are equally valid.

What about the banker's dream to repossess the theatre? What about daddy gorilla's dream to rob banks? What about boyfriend porcupine's dream to be self-absorbed and discard one girlfriend for another? Should we chase these dreams?

Just because we can chase some dreams, doesn't mean we ought chase all dreams.

So which dreams do we chase? What songs do we sing?

A big theme in the Bible is that God gives us a new song to sing.

So if we're sick of chasing our own self-absorbed dreams, 2017 might be a chance to chase a new dream. And sing a new song.

 

Psalm 96:1-3

 

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