Virtually the first film I can remember watching was Disney’s ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.’ I can remember being terrified by the wicked stepmother in that film and feeling her raw jealousy as the mirror responded to her question ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall/ Who is the fairest of them all?’ with the assertion that Snow White was more beautiful than she was. I can also remember willing Snow White not to take the apple from the queen and being horrified that this woman could transform herself into that old hag and deceive the lovely heroine. I was totally immersed in the story, and whilst the seven dwarfs provided much comic relief, my abiding memory of that story as a five-year-old is fear. The innocence, beauty and sheer loveliness of Snow White was so contrasted with the evil of the wicked queen that even then, the conventional ending of the prince awakening her from her poisoned sleep with a kiss never seemed to me the main point of the story.

Fairytales give us a glimpse into good and evil. They do so in conventional forms, but for me as a child, the transformation of the wicked queen from a beautiful woman to a wicked-looking hag was my first understanding that evil did not always have to look ugly to be ugly. I knew she was wicked when she looked beautiful; I knew she was wicked when she was ugly. Disney personified evil in this character and as a child, I recognised that evil comes in different disguises. Paul tells us that Satan masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Cor 11:14) I think I learned that first from ‘Snow White’...

Whilst fairytales may place what people have subsequently felt is an over-emphasis on female beauty, I have always felt that they underline the need for inner beauty as much as outward forms of beauty. Snow White’s kindness and good nature are seen repeatedly in the film; she is generous, warm-hearted and loving. I rooted for her not because she was beautiful but because of these inner characteristics, and as such, I learned a valuable lesson about beauty from a young age.

‘Sleeping Beauty‘ is another classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, a sleeping enchantment and a handsome prince. In this story, the celebrations at the birth of a princess are ruined when an evil fairy curses her, saying that when she pricks her finger on a spindle on her sixteenth birthday, she will die. A good fairy is able to commute this sentence to sleep, from which she can only be awakened by the kiss of a prince. Despite all attempts to rid the kingdom of any spindle on which the princess could prick her finger, she does indeed do this and falls into a sleep from which she is finally awakened by the kiss of a prince, whom she subsequently marries and they ‘live happily ever after.’

Fairytales are not for the faint-hearted; they contain their fair share of darkness, evil and dramatic tension. In this, they are useful teaching aids for children, for we live in a world where there are wars, where sin can be found everywhere. Fairytales contain the battle between good and evil which is actually the backdrop to our daily lives. They are also reassuring in giving us ‘happy endings‘. It is perhaps this tendency above all which makes people cynical about them, for they argue that life is not quite so neatly packaged as a fairytale makes out.

The story of God is adamant, however, that there is a happy ending, an outcome where ‘there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ (Rom 21:4) We may have to wait for our happy ending; we may have to wait beyond this lifetime, but the Bible is adamant that that happy ending will come and will include a beautiful bride (the church) and a marriage feast. (Rev 21:2)  Not so different to a fairytale after all…

Fairytales are modern parables, clothing important truths in stories that enchant us.

‘Beauty and the Beast’ is another of these stories, where the kindness and love of a beautiful girl (Belle) see beyond the ugliness and fierceness of the Beast to transform him and set him free from the spell cast upon him. It’s a tale of the transforming power of love.

In real life, the roles are reversed a little. We are the beast- people tainted by sin, unable to see beyond the physical world, trapped in a mixture of good and evil. Jesus is the Beautiful One who sees beyond that sinfulness and loves us unconditionally. Even while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. (Rom 5:8)

Just as Belle’s love for the Beast has power to overcome the enchantment which has turned him into an ugly creature, so Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross for us has the power to transform us and free us from the curse of sin, liberating us to become who we really are – people made in the image of God and created for a relationship with our Creator.

This story urges us to see beyond the physical and to believe in the transforming power of love. Far from condemning such love to the realm of fairy stories suitable for children only, we need to embrace these truths and be transformed. We need to see ourselves in these stories and find God in them too.

‘Cinderella’ is our classic ‘rags-to-riches’ story. It talks of a young girl facing immense difficulties in her family life, being unfairly treated as a skivvy because of sibling rivalry and a stepmother’s jealousy. It talks of the providence of a benevolent fairy godmother whose power (magic) transforms this injustice for a night, paving the way to an encounter with a prince whose heart is captivated by the beauty and grace of this young woman and who determines to find her when she disappears on the stroke of midnight. It talks of his search for her and their ultimate joy in reunion and has the classic fairytale ending of a wedding where both live happily ever after in riches and splendour.

Such stories exist because at hear we all long for love, for justice and for security. They exist also because we recognise without external intervention (in this case, in the form of the fairy godmother), there is no way to change our miserable existence into something beautiful. In the pantomime version of ‘Cinderella’, the character Buttons acts as a confidant and friend to Cinderella in her awkward poverty; in the story, there is no such aide. Cinderalla is lost, alone, and in need of salvation.

No matter how many friends we have and how loving a family, this remains the position of all people without Jesus Christ. We are lost, alone, and in need of salvation. (Eph 2:1-2) The good news is that there is a benevolent God whose power and majesty don’t just work for one evening!

God sent His Son to be our ‘Prince Charming’, but also to be our Rescuer. Jesus put on human flesh. He did not come in the splendour of the majesty of God, even though this was rightly His, to woo us with riches. Instead, He came in poverty, seeking our untainted and unfettered love. Only after we freely respond to HIs generous love and unconditional acceptance did we discover we’re marrying royalty!

The Bible says, ‘for you know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that we through his poverty might become rich.’ (2 Cor 8:9)

We teach fairytales to our children because deep-down, we long to believe in the triumph of good over evil and love conquering all. Yet we live in reach of the greatest love story ever and so often refuse to believe. It seems too good to be true.

‘Cinderella’ reminds us we are called to be a beautiful bride. This is the church’s ultimate destiny.

The Sabbath year and Year of Jubilee (Lev 25) are visible reminders that God has built generosity and rest into nature. Even the land is to have a Sabbath rest (Lev 25:4). No sowing, pruning or reaping was to take place during this year. (Lev 25:4-5)

I imagine there was nervousness about this edict. For six years, the Israelites’ identity was bound up in work – hard, physical, demanding labour, necessary for survival in an agricultural society. It was one thing to take one day off in seven, but could they really survive by letting the land have a year of rest?

God’s provision and grace said yes. The people had to trust Him to provide and to learn the all-important lesson that we are not the centre of our existence.

The Year of Jubilee occurred once every fifty years. For most of us, that is a once-in-a-lifetime event. The principle of this special year was intended to focus attention on the grace and generosity of God and how this looks when lived out by people. Everything was returned to its rightful place and rightful ownership during this year. Freedom was to be restored; redemption practised. (Lev 25:8-55)

Again, such radical generosity and kindness did not make economic sense in the natural, but was a lived-out parable of the generosity and grace of God. When we live in this way, we allow the blessing of God (which cannot be explained in material terms) to flow.

God’s commands are not easy to follow, for they force from us a fundamental decision: do we follow God or our own reason? Do we believe God will provide and make a way where there is no way or do we follow the path that is plain, visible and apparently leading to prosperity? Jesus reminds us that the visible path actually leads to destruction and urges us to choose the narrow gate. (Matt 7:13-14) Obedience comes at a cost, but the rewards are priceless (see also Lev 26:3-13)

Some guitarists use a capo to play in a different key more easily. A capo is a device which a guitarist uses on the neck of a stringed instrument to shorten the playable length of the strings—hence raising the pitch. It effectively means the guitarist does not have to learn alternative fingerings for every key. It makes life easier!

Not all guitarists use a capo; a capo is not an essential part of playing the guitar. But for many, the capo gives additional abilities and harnesses the abilities the musician has in new ways. In the same way, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not ‘essential’ to being a Christian – you can be a Christian without the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit gives us access to God’s power and is a gift promised to us by Jesus. This gift enables us to access God’s power, to experience God’s power in new ways. Paul urges us to be filled with the Spirit daily, (Eph 5:18)

God’s gifts for us are good; He is a loving Father who give good gifts (see Luke 11:11-13). Let’s not spurn the gifts He want to give or run from them because they may involve experiences beyond our understanding or explanation. We can trust God to give good gifts and the Holy Spirit longs to live within us, helping us to live each day in God’s strength and power.