Skadoosh!

Recently I went and saw the new Kung Fu Panda movie with a bunch of Jr. High students, the only group of people I fit in with. If you have not seen it yet, don't worry this blog does not contain any spoilers. I'm not that kind of guy, plus the plot of the movie is not that important to the content of this blog.

Being an avid Kung Fu Panda fan, I noticed a common theme present in both movies. In both movies the characters struggle with skewed perspective on time. In the first film several characters were obsessed with what happened in the past. Shifu (the tiny mouse) always thought about a mistake he made with his first student several years prior. He thought about that mistake so much, that he was unable to be the kind of sensei he needed to be for his current students. Tai Lung (the villain of the movie) was also caught up in the past. He could not think about anything else except how he was wronged in the past and how his life was horrible because of it. He was blinded by his mistreatment in the past so much, that he could not effectively evaluate or effectively function in his current circumstances. In the second film Po (the main character) is the one who is thinking about the past. His concentration on trying to figure out his past keeps him from concentrating on the present and fulfilling his Dragon Warrior destiny. The villain in the second film did not focus on the past, he focused on the future. He was completely wrapped up in what he wanted for his future as well as what other people said he was supposed to be and do. He was so focused on creating his ideal future, that he was blinded to what his actions were doing to others and himself. The characters that succeed in the movies are the ones who are not distracted by the past or the future, but the ones who are fully aware and active in the present moment. In the first film the wise old turtle says, "You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present." The message in the movies is clear: do not worry about things beyond your control, focus on the opportunities in your life now, focus on today.

But we don't need a sensai to tell us this. We have heard this message from a teacher already. This message echoes the one found in scripture.

In Matthew 6 Jesus is addressing a large crowd of people about living in the kingdom of God. He says "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Jesus is revealing a secret to living in God's Kingdom. Jesus is reminding us of God's sovereignty, how God is in control of everything, even the future. But God is not only in control, he is also constantly providing. In God's Kingdom we do not have to worry about what is going to happen tomorrow, because God has it under control and he has already given us today. Jesus is calling us to look around and seek out what God has for us right now, instead of focusing on what we could have had or what could be. I believe this is about what we need as people.

I tend to have a problem with this. I don't disagree, I just have trouble doing it. I tend to focus on the future. I'm always thinking about what could be, or what I would like to happen. I like to picture the possibilities of what could be. Not saying this is a bad thing, but it does create a problem. I spend so much time thinking about what life could be like or what I want to try and do, that sometimes I miss the opportunities in my life right now. I usually get annoyed with people that seem to live in the past. I get annoyed when people talk about the "glory days". I think to myself, "what about your life right now? Is your life over? Is there nothing for you to live for now?" But when I think about it, am I any different? When I spend so much time thinking about what my future looks like, my present suffers. If I am not thinking about now--the relationships I'm in now, the work I'm doing now, or whatever I'm involved in--then all those things suffer due to neglect.

When we always look back on the life that has already happened, or always focus on what could happen, we are not living in reality. Living in the Kingdom means just that: living. Living is hard to do in a fantasy world. Focusing on the past creates regret, and focusing on the future creates worry, two things not included in Jesus' description of the Kingdom of God. These things are barriers to experiencing all that God has for us, and barriers to fulfilling our purpose in life. God is calling us to seek him out and trust him to provide a life worth living now. Maybe I'm on to something, or maybe this is just another musing of a modern-day sasquatch