Jonah, Whalefall, Frozen 2 and Narnia

Recently I saw the trailer for a movie called Whalefall.  It is the story of a young man, who while scuba diving, gets in between a squid and a sperm whale just as the whale is getting ready to eat the squid.  The young man is swallowed whole and survives to find himself trapped in the whale’s first stomach. 

(Apparently, sperm whales have four stomachs.  Also, fun fact, the sperm whale is the largest mammal with teeth.)

So this guy is trapped in the whale’s belly with about an hour of air left in his tank and he has to find a way out.

And I’m sitting there watching this trailer thinking—okay this isn’t remotely believable.  Whenever we watch fictional movies or read fiction stories, we must always take with us a willing suspension of disbelief because there is always something that happens that makes us think—no way, that cannot happen.

And watching this movie trailer and seeing this man snug in the whale’s belly—I just could not suspend my disbelief.

Whalefall is not based on a true story, but considering our reading today, I know you are thinking of the story of Jonah being swallowed by a giant fish, though when I was a kid, it was always Jonah and the Whale. 

In the movie, Frozen 2, Olaf, the snowman comments to the group just as they are about to enter a part of their journey where they have no idea what will happen next that “an enchanted forest is a place for transformation.”  He then adds, “I can’t wait to see what it’s gonna do to each one of us.”

With both the young man in Whalefall and Jonah’s journey in the belly of the beast for three days, both men cross a threshold.  They enter a place of the unknown that will transform them into someone very different.  (Though I will add as an aside that Jonah emerges still cranky at the Ninevites.)

But all good stories have these threshold moments.  If the main character doesn’t change—if the main character remains the same from the beginning of the story to the end, well, what’s the point?  Character is plot and without those intense character moments, there is no plot, no movement.

Now you might say, “But Kendra, Jesus doesn’t change in the Gospels.  He’s the same in the end as He was in the beginning,” and I would say, “Ah, but Jesus is not the main character, is He?”

What?

We are the main characters in the New Testament or more specifically, our surrogates are the main characters, the disciples, the people who are healed.  Every person who comes into contact with Jesus or one of His disciples is changed forever.  They have crossed a threshold and nothing in their lives will ever be the same again.

Last night, I watched the trailer for the new Narnia movie, based on the book The Magician’s Nephew, and coming out in February next year, about fifty times.  I was mesmerized.  Over the past forty years, as I have read The Chronicles of Narnia over and over and over, my favorite book in the series has changed.  For many years, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was my favorite, but for most of my later adult years, my favorite has been The Magician’s Nephew.

The Magician’s Nephew is the story of how Narnia came to be, how the great lion Aslan literally sang the world into existence. 

There are threshold moments throughout the book from Digory and Polly’s decision to explore the attic spaces above the row homes, eventually leading them into Uncle Andrew’s magic laboratory, to Digory deciding to literally ring a bell that cannot be unrung, thereby imperiling Narnia for generations, before it even comes into existence.  And Digory’s final threshold moment coming when he has to make a very Eden-like choice, changes him forever.

The new movie, written and directed by Greta Gerwig who exploded into popularity with her take on Barbie, looks to be a wild choice.  Already fans are split from those who think the CGI elements overtake the movie, to someone like me who sees CGI being used not as a replacement for real work, but as a way to create a movie experience unlike anything you have seen before.  The soundtrack during the trailer is Stairway to Heaven and the final scene of the trailer, this kaleidoscope lightshow highlighting the emergence of Aslan is breathtaking.

Hence me watching it fifty times.

Threshold moments.  What have been some threshold moments in your life?  How have they changed you?  Where have you found God in those moments?  Are you in the middle of one of those moments right now?

I hope for two things as you encounter these moments, that you will trust that God is walking right beside you during those moments and that those moments will take your breath away as you see just how God is working to shape you into the person you were always meant to be.

Amen.