I sit here, recalling the moments I shared in the experience of watching *Avatar* the movie; moments filled with emotion, liberation, fulfillment and solace. Moments filled with the idea that where I long to be in my mind looks more like the world of Pandora. A world absent of money, technology, cars, college, The American Dream. A world where man and nature are one. A world that resonates the true authentic power of love. A world of higher thinking and existence. This was where I found myself as I sat in my seat, close to tears, imagining this world. Only to find myself at the end, forced to shrink back into the corrupted fallen state of human existence. Where our conversations are futile and our thinking is jarred with lower-level thoughts. Where we fight and argue over money, power, success, and status. Where we murder, kill, abuse, assault, threaten, belittle, and devalue our world and one another. Where we settle for how much we know, how much we make and how much we achieve as our purpose. Where we behave almost as low as animals; savages, full of hate and anger and jealousy and evil. Where we hurt one another with verbal and physical ignorance.
However, I find myself revisiting this other world. Similar to Pandora. Where conversation is trumped by an experience that super-exceeds the reality that we live in. I think of where Jesus found himself, in thought, unable to depict this new world and this new way of life that he so desired for us to aspire to. How he framed his words and told stories to propel our minds to higher thoughts and our lives to higher living. How he desired for us to exist with the Creator and think as He thinks. Religion is bullshit. And it keeps us stuck, fighting over lower-level ideas and rules. Impairing us from truly living at our fullest potential. Keeping us as defined beings. Limited, miniscule, and obsolete to what COULD be.
So, I sit in my seat in a theater filled with people who came to see yet another movie. However, I find myself invited into a 2 hour and 40 minute experience. Invited to look inside a world that is none like what I’ve experienced. A world absent of corruption and humans (sad to say). Couldn’t seem to pull myself out of the experience, wishing that I too could be like Jake, having the opportunity to transfer over into another life. A higher life. A purer life. A liberated life.
Just like Jake, I found myself forced to awaken back into this world of which I am so familiar. Longing to go back to Pandora. Longing to be in community with those who understand. Longing to ride the backs of mysterious birds throughout the heavens. Longing to smell the scent of nature in its most liberated state. Longing to see the beauty of nature and to be one with God’s glory. Longing to love at its purest form. Longing for more. Longing for meaning. Longing for something greater than the pathetic American Dream. Longing for something deeper than religion and ignorant Christians practicing a bunch of rituals every week.
Just like Jake, I found myself constantly deliberating, battling, turmoiling, searching for identity. Knowing that all that I have found in this reality to be nothing more than ignorance and heartless living. Wanting to awaken in a place where life is more than a job, a check, and anticipation for the weekends and a vacation.
How can I bring this world I imagine – this world that I find myself traveling to – to reality? Is it possible? Is it more of a positioning of the mind and my thoughts? Are there others who feel the same? Am I alone? I can’t help myself. I find this world appearing in everything I do and experience. I can’t see a movie without being pulled into this amazing way of life that I see. I hear it in music. I can’t walk out the door without envisioning it. I find myself evaluating other people’s conversations, longing for them to think and live higher. Longing for them to see a little clearer. Longing for their conversations to take on more meaning. Longing for their lives to mean more than what they have settled for. Finding myself with the same possible outcome of becoming another one of them. Making no difference and living no difference. But what if. What if? What if there WAS more. What if I wasn’t crazy. What if I have stumbled upon something that so few have longed to see. What if I am seeing what Jesus meant when he said, “I came that you would have life and have it in abundance.” What if I am being exposed to what it means to live a higher life. A more fulfilling life. A purer life. One that is in-tune with God, with His thoughts, with His beauty. What if Pandora was more than a fictitious world in a movie. What if it was home. What if it was my home.
[Note: If you haven’t seen the movie, you need to see. Better yet, you need to experience it.]
December 25, 2009
Jon Griffith
I left the theater and Pandora for the second time today after taking my father to see it. This time, in 3D.
On a wonderful day of the year, again I was struck with sadness as the very core of me longed to become part of this world.
That we can create in our imagination a world such as this is a testament to the reality that it exists beyond our wildest dreams. Sure, it may sound insane, but I say that what we can imagine, God has only created something more for us. How is it that one can fabricate such a fabulous world out of their imagination? Awe inspiring.
December 25, 2009
Antwon Davis
I feel exactly as you do Jon. I was sitting in the theater, thinking of how possible a world like this could be from the mere fact that we are even able to imagine such a world in the first place. I don't believe the ideas and imaginations that come from these movies are pulled from thin air. I think we share the same trait as God; the ability to see and create what has yet to be seen and created.
What if Pandora became a way of life HERE? What if we began rethinking the way we live and the systems we've developed and the restrictions we have placed on one another? I wonder if movies like these are signs of what could be. I wonder if writers and producers are divinely inspired to create films that captivate the human mind for a reason. What if these films were meant to be more than just mere movies at the box office? What if they were tools of God, used to deliver a message?
Sorry for all the "what ifs". I can't help but imagine and live in the possibilities. I think conversations like these are missing from today's society. We're too concerned with our paycheck, our bank accounts, and our selfish ambitions to really create the kind of world we all long to live in. But what if?
December 26, 2009
JarJar
"What if Pandora was more than a fictitious world in a movie. What if it was home. What if it was my home."
In some ways Pandora resembles life on earth before Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. A new heaven and new earth is mentioned in Rev. 21:1.
Towards A Biblical Approach to Creation
by Rev. Dave Bookless
http://www.arocha.org/int-en/3289-DSY.html
December 27, 2009
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January 1, 2010
Wilso
Ok, im 15 years old, pretty popular, jock and all no lie, i was a happy guy, liked the nature. not noticing the things around me and the terror and corruptness in this world. Until i watched avatar. It made me sad, i didnt want it to end. I didnt want to leave, this movie made me want to be an avatar and live free. and find a never ending love. it felt like leaving home, the people and nature were all beautifil. so i kind of have been dpressed for the last few days, and i hate it. I have never been like this.
January 2, 2010
Antwon Davis
@JarJar - I thought about the same thing; the parallel between Pandora and the Garden of Eden. I think that longing that lives inside of all of us for a world like Pandora is the same longing that is described in scripture (ie. Romans 7:24) where Paul desired to be free from his body and this world of sin.
@Wilso - The movie did a great job of depicting the reality of corruption that exist right outside our doorsteps - and sometimes in our own homes. Just thinking of how the love of money, power, and the desire for more has led to massacres and mass murders of tribes, races, religious groups, etc. It's sad. It's sick. I'm grateful to have had the chance to escape for a few hours in the world of Pandora. Though unrealistic, *Avatar* allowed me to step outside of the harsh reality that we have all been forced to swallow. Using our imaginations to envision what could be is just enough to inspire us to make what may have been a fictional movie somewhat reality.
Thanks for the comments.