Thursday, November 25, 2010

TGX3: The Wisdom Of Oogway

FX is running a marathon of Kung Fu Panda and so far today, I've seen the movie once all the way through: middle to end to beginning to middle. Oogway, the ancient tortoise master, offers profound wisdom through bits of riddling prose and mystical whispers. Some of it is meant to be funny (it is a Jack Black movie!), but some of it is quite poignant. And surprisingly Biblical. God's wisdom is eternal and existed before the foundation of the world (Proverbs 8); Oogway just tapped into it. Here's a little of what I gleaned:
  • Seeds reproduce after their own kind: Oogway teaches Shifu about the nature of control in the shade of a mountaintop peach tree. No matter how much we control the soil, water, and sunlight input, a peach pit will never produce an orange tree. The Bible teaches this concept too, starting in Genesis and culminating in the Seed that is Jesus. He was planted in the ground to reproduce in manner like himself: a tree of spiritual beings who resemble their Creator, made and remade in His own image. See Genesis 1:11 and John 12:24.
  • There are no accidents: Oogway teaches Shifu through a series of encounters that accidents are not really accidents in the scheme of the Universe. Now, that sounds very metaphysical and not so Christian, but the Bible has similar things to say. In all things, God works for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Finish the verse and find that these things are according to His purpose. Twila Paris sang it this way: "God is in control."
  • My time has come: Oogway finishes Shifu's lifelong lessons by acknowledging his imminent death. Where's God's message there? After all, death is an enemy! But we are commanded to die to ourselves, be buried with Christ, and then be raised in His likeness, forever forgiven and livin' with God. My time has come; today is the day I die and Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20)!

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