The Advent of a New Season

December is here and brings with it the magic of the Christmas Holiday and the hope of the New Year. In the Catholic tradition, today is the beginning of the Season of Advent, a period of attentive waiting for Christmas and the start of a new Liturgical Year. The lights are up, trees are being decorated, and the familiar music of the Season echoes across our days.

We opened our December with an overnight visit from our two oldest grandchildren and the movie, Rise of the Guardians. We only discovered this 2012 movie in the last few years and it has become a Christmas-time favorite. Though one of the characters is a Santa Claus figure named “North,” the movie is not really a Christmas movie in the traditional sense – no Frosty or Rudolph and, technically, the only Holiday season it hits squarely is Easter and in a very cursory way.

With all that said, it fits quite well with the Season in its spirit and message centered on goodness, belief, hope, and purpose. The movie begins with a mysterious introduction to the character, Jack Frost, who awakens to a wintery world with no memory, special powers with ice and wind, and invisibility to the humans he encounters. The story evolves along two plot lines: Jack Frost’s search for his purpose within the bigger issue of a group of Guardians and their battle with the evil Pitch Black.

At its heart, the movie is a non-dualist allegory pitting the ultimate good, and mysterious purpose, of the “Man in the Moon” and the Guardians he’s chosen, against Pitch Black, who’s dark plan is to corrupt the special gifts of the Guardians and create a perpetual season of nightmares for the world’s children.

Along the way, the puckish Jack Frost, who has been wandering for centuries, purposeless and mischievous, is invited to to join the Guardians by the voiceless Man in the Moon who reveals the request to North, the boisterous, Santa Claus character who is the informal leader of the Guardians. Frost is initially resistant and is pulled into a conversation with North beginning with the direct question (spoken in a Russian accent which really works well for the character), “What is your center?”

The Good, the True, and the Center

Since first hearing North’s monologue about his “center,” it has taken up a permanent place of fascination and conviction within my heart. He uses a Russsian Matryoshka nesting doll to make his point. Starting with the outside shell, North reveals elements of his personality in each succeeding doll: kind. strong, intense, etc. until he gets to his center, a little baby doll with big eyes, representing his ability see the magic and wonder of the world. North proceeds to tell Frost: “This wonder is what I put into the world, and what I protect in children. It is what makes me a guardian.”

The “good” of a thing is what it is made for, it’s purpose. Each Guardian’s good is his or her gift to the world – it’s purpose. This center is made purposeful, and effective, in it’s sharing, and in the context of the movie, purpose centers on protecting children. North brings wonder. The Tooth Fairy collects and protects special memories. The Easter Bunny brings hope. The Sandman brings dreams. Frost, it turns out, is about laughter and joy.

The notion of “center” as purpose is also profound in a deeper way. Finding, and sharing, our gift for the world is truly a noble quest. However, the broader implication centers on our raison d’etre, the real reason for our existence. We may have a gift to share, but the “why” of our life has to be about something other, something not centered on self. Looking more deeply at the Guardians reveals that they exist to protect the children, a “why” given to them by the Man in the Moon.

The good may be their gift, and the beautiful what it produces, but the true is why they were given it to begin with.

Source of Power

Early-on in the movie, we are introduced to a globe representing Earth and displaying little lights all around the planet. We learn that these lights represent children who believe in the Guardians. It turns out that the power of the Guardians is dependent on the belief of these children and Pitch Black’s plan is to snuff out the lights, and their power, by convincing the children that the Guardians don’t exist. In that process, the power shifts to him as he corrupts the good of the Guardians and converts it to his nightmares.

Belief as a source of power. What an incredibly powerful image…and truth! Consider for a moment the things you believe in: faith, people, facts, philosophies, etc. These beliefs drive everything we do, from how we plan to how we react. Our beliefs underpin our choices, how we hope, what we regret, and what we fear. When we believe in something, we are in fact giving it power; power over us as well as fuel for its sustenance.

When the children stop believing in the Guardians, their power, their gifts begin to wane. They weaken. Their “center” as a gift begins to fade, however, their center as a “why” does not. Their purpose to protect the children remains and, though weakened, they show up anyway. The children stopped believing in them, but the Guardians did not stop believing in the children.

It turns out that belief is a source of power for what is believed in, as well as for the one believing.

Season of Belief, Center of Purpose

Framing this year’s viewing of The Rise of the Guardians are two recent reflections I heard. First, a brief commentary from Pope Benedict XVI entitled, “Living as if God Exists.” The point of his reflection centered on the necessity of belief and the willingness to live according to that belief. Regardless of where one exists on the continuum of “belief,” there is a broader message in his reflection. What would happen if we chose to live every day as if our eternity depended on the choices we made that day? What a difference that would make in this world.

In another reflection, living fully was defined as living virtuously. The four cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. The mind shift for me was not that living virtuously is a good thing, but that the best life I can live happens when I make virtuous choices. In our “live like you were dying” culture, we often equate living fully with all the great things we can do or have.

What would happen if our cultural definition of living fully centered on living virtuously? What would happen if we defined a full life for ourselves as becoming the wisest person we possibly can be, giving others their due in every situation, persisting through the most devastating struggles no matter how much we didn’t want to, and moderating our consumption of everything? Would we see that as heaven or hell? Can we even imagine?

A new season is here. We are heading to the close of the year and the beginning of what lies beyond. This is a time to be attentive. Attentive to the signs of our life. Attentive to our beliefs. Attentive to our center as both our gifts and our purpose. Listen closely. Is it a new call or a call to renewal? Perhaps the greatest reminder from watching the Guardians was that, once we hear it, we have to answer. And that makes all the difference.