Good morning…
“I was lounging on my couch on a beautiful Easter Sunday afternoon with the TV on, when the screen in front of me began to show one of the oldest and most beloved stories of our time,” writes my husband Steve in his chaplain’s devotional. “It was as much a part of my childhood as anything. Every year, once a year, my family would gather around and view this epic tale. As I lay half-awake on the couch I watched yet again to see the story of a people who desired to be freed from wickedness and the person who helped them do it. Now, you might think I’m talking about the Greatest Story Ever Told – the 1965 film that chronicles the life of Christ, or Mel Gibson’s (2004) rendition of the Passion of the Christ; movies that would surely be aired on an Easter Sunday. In fact, it was neither of those. The story playing out on my TV was The Wizard of Oz.”
“As I watched I realized, in many ways The Wizard of Oz tells a very similar tale to that of the Easter story,” Steve continued. “It tells of a people (the Munchkins) who desire to be freed from wickedness (The Witches of the East and West). Its central character (Dorothy) comes to rid the land of evil. Her disciples (The Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion) all play a significant role in the drama that unfolds. The grand and mysterious, all knowing and all powerful force in their universe (The Wizard Oz) provides them the very thing they all so desperately need whether it’s more heart or the wisdom to think clearly or courage in the face of their fears. In the end, the story teaches us what many of us spend our lives searching for; that our heart’s desire is not over the rainbow but rather has been right in front of us all along.”
“I think part of the enduring magic and wonder of The Wizard of Oz is the same enduring wonder of the message of Easter,” Steve muses. “We long to be freed from the ‘evil’ that keeps us from being all that God has intended for us to be. And the hopeful message is that God’s gift to each of us is not far from each of us. In fact, because of Christ and his sacrifice, God’s gift is available to us all. As Dorothy finally discovered – the awe inspiring king of the universe is approachable and available to people as seemingly ‘small and meek’ as us.”
“I had been to church on Easter morning and while the sermon I heard was fine, I feel like it took a retelling of L. Frank Baum’s classic story in the land of Oz to remind me that the Lord of the universe is approachable and available even to someone like me,” Steve concludes. “I suppose one of the biggest differences between these two great Easter Sunday stories is this: as Dorothy’s final words in the fictitious tale of Oz reminded her “there’s no place like home” – the final words of the resurrected Jesus are intended to provide us real world comfort and blessing, “remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
…Sue…
