‘At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’ (Matthew 19:1-3)
Children can help us to see God in a new way: their enthusiasm, zest for life, wide-eyed innocence and sheer exuberance are all reminders that life is there to be lived, not just endured.
Somehow, as we grow older and face more responsibilities, we can lose that simple pleasure in just being alive. Toy Story 3 (you surely didn’t think you’d heard the last of that from me, did you?!) reawakens the child in each one of us and helps us to think about what it means to become like little children.
Over the past fifteen years, we have watched Andy grow up… and for those of us with children ourselves, there is an added poignancy about this film, where Andy is all set to go off to college, flying the nest, leaving the toys wondering uncertainly what their fate will be: attic or rubbish bags? How do we cope with that transition from childhood to adulthood? It’s bitter-sweet for parents, knowing that you have spent years preparing for this moment and yet wishing you could go back to those halcyon days of childhood (memory is always selective: somehow you forget the not-so-halcyon days!)
Perhaps the most moving part of the film comes, though, when Andy himself recognises what he is leaving behind. He finally decides to give away his toys to another child who will cherish them and enter the world of imagination with them that he is now leaving and for one last time, he plays with the beloved toys, introducing them to Bonnie, their new friend. But he always intended to take Woody with him to college. Bonnie, who has already met Woody through the clever plotline, has no intention of being separated from this toy and Andy has to swallow hard and understand that Woody too will be better off in a house where he can be cherished and played with. There is a lump in his throat as he drives off, leaving all his toys behind, waving him goodbye, and I confess there was more than a lump in mine as I watched this.
Seasons come and go and we leave childhood behind. As Paul says, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” (1 Cor 13:11) But there is a part of childhood we must never lose: that ability to admit we don’t know everything, that joie de vivre, that world of imagination, hope and joy, if we are to take Jesus’s words seriously. Paul goes on to say, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Cor 13:12)
Films such as Toy Story 3 are not just good entertainment or box-office hits. They resonate deeply within us and are so loved because they remind us that there is more to life than the humdrum and the banal. There is more to life than working to pay all the bills. There is more to life than we can see with our natural eyes, and this is something children instinctively seem to know.
“Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing”
(‘What Faith Can Do’, Kutless)
So our task is to embrace the unseen, hold on to what is good and trust in a God who loves us. Woody trusts that Andy loves his toys even when it seems that he considers them rubbish. Andy, in turn, tells Bonnie that the best thing about Woody is his faithfulness. May we learn to trust God at all times and may He find us faithful to Him.