Be

I found a wonderful video on YouTube yesterday (as well as the fire engine one!) with the song Chasing Cars over a selection of clips from the classic Disney films. It is really well done and if I can find it again, I'll put it on here.

One thing that struck me while I was watching was about just how many of the Disney films deal with issues of identity. Think about it, so many of the characters try to change themselves to be someone they think they should be. Perhaps for family acknowledgement, or to get someone to fall in love with them. Whatever the reason, many of the characters struggle with their true identity.

Mulan realised she could no longer be the 'perfect' woman her society told her she should be. Aladdin tried to prove himself to a princess by becoming a prince. The Beast couldn't accept that anyone would love him the way he was. When Fiona rises up at the end of Shrek 1 to 'take true love's form' we all expected her to become beautiful permanently. Was anyone else surprised when she didn't? I was. Because we don't expect people to be loved for who they are.

A closer look reveals that actually this is the case is most of the Disney films. At the end Mulan is who she is. She pretends no longer and in doing so is accepted by her family and finds love. Aladdin is loved by Jasmin at the end for who he is, not for his fancy made-up title. Belle has already fallen in love with the Beast before he changes back to human form. In Shrek 2 the tables are turned and it is Fiona who shows that she loves Shrek for who he is, the ogre she fell in love with.

I wonder how often I allow myself to be who I am. Sometimes I think I don't even know who I am. When I was younger I used to think of myself as two totally different people. One called Katherine and one called Kat. Generally I liked Kat better but she was the one who tried too hard to fit in, to be like everyone else. Katherine wasn't as well liked but she was the real me. I think now it's changed, I am only one person. Katherine and Kat and I like that I still have the two names. But too often I get confused. I forget who the real me is and I try too hard to pretend to be someone I'm not even though everyone around me knows what I'm doing. Like Aladdin who tried too hard to be a prince even though Jasmin loved him for who he was right from the beginning.

Even when I forget who I am, there is someone who knows me better than anyone else. If I ever lose sight of my true identity, all I need to do is ask the God who made me. The God who says these things:
You may not know me, but I know everything about you…Psalm 139:1 I know when you sit down and when you rise up …Psalm 139:2 I am familiar with all your ways …Psalm 139:3 Even the very hairs on your head are numbered…Matthew 10:29-31 For you were made in my image …Genesis 1:27 In me you live and move and have your being…Acts 17:28 For you are my offspring…Acts 17:28 I knew you even before you were conceived …Jeremiah 1:4-5 I chose you when I planned creation …Ephesians 1:11-12 You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book…Psalm 139:15-16

Be who you are. Who you really and truely are. You cannot be anything else.