3 Reasons "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" Is a Spiritual Experience
WARNING: MANY SPOILERS. MUCH SPOILERS. ALL THE SPOILERS.
There is a reason that certain movies make us feel so good.
In the case of the latest Jumanji movie, definitely one of those reasons is watching Jack Black play a teenage girl.
I DARE YOU TO FROWN WATCHING THAT.
But the deeper reason is that movies convey truths to us quickly. In ways that speak not only to our mind, but to our spirit.
SO HERE ARE THREE TRUTHS IN JUMANJI THAT PROBABLY MADE YOU CRY AND GAVE YOU ALL THE FEELS:
1. Sometimes we lose chapters of our life to save someone else's life all together.
Sometimes relationships take more than they give.
We see that when Bethany sacrifices one of her "game lives" to save Alex's real life.
But Bethany (AKA Jack Black) says it best when she says "I WANT ALEX TO COME HOME TOO."
We are all spirit brothers and sisters, experiencing this weird "human thing" together.
Sometimes love means willfully giving away our time, whole chapters of our life, to someone else.
Without receiving anything in return.
And sometimes love is allowing people to do the same for us.
And even when we don't immediately get love in return for these sacrifices, we ALSO see that later Alex names his daughter Bethany. Love given, returns to us in the end.
2. We need to trust the people God has put in our life
The theme of trust appears over and over again in this film.
For example, even though Alex is a pilot, he can't beat level two without the help of the other players.
IN THIS GAME OF LIFE, WE ALL HAVE LEVELS WE GET STUCK ON.
We need to trust that God is surrounding us with people in our lives that are there for a purpose, to help us level up together.
3. If we learn how to use them, our weaknesses can become our greatest strength
In the game Jumanji, the players are each given weaknesses that are their strengths in real life.
But even these weaknesses become strengths as the game progresses.
THE WEAKNESSES WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN IN THIS LIFETIME REALLY ARE STRENGTHS.
We learn more about our true power from our weaknesses than we ever do from the things that come easy.
Our flaws are meant to be our teachers.
There is a purpose in all things.
