Christmas reminds us that we have great reason for joy. The holidays are filled with activity, food, family and friends. It’s exciting – you are never too young or too old for Christmas. There is a growing pile of presents under my tree! However, in our rush for holiday cheer we easily lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas. I was reminded of this yesterday when a friend who works in retail recounted cash register drama with people pushing and shoving and telling others to get out of their personal space! In that moment, not only had the Grinch stolen Christmas but at least one shopper had lost their humanity. Now, that is a fearful thing! Holidays are great but the artificial and commercial pressures they create can cause us to lose sight of what matters most. Ironically, sometimes the best time of year brings out the worst in people. We get confused about what love is.

Misunderstanding love

“Misunderstanding love as a matter of purely personal pleasure disconnected from the divine source, our minds, attitudes and habits became self-centered. Hence many people find it quite an effort to serve others without the expectation of some sort of payback. We have created a society of takers, not givers, leading inevitably to inequality, resentment and crime” (World Scripture).

There’s all kinds of trouble when we become disconnected from the divine source.

A growing number of people aren’t even sure about the meaning of Christmas. After all, there are Christmas trees up all over the world now. Why is it so important that Jesus was born and we remember that day?

Christ’s birth matters because he came to unfreeze this world. His revolutionary – I won’t say teaching because that word is insufficient – his way of being and loving was like an explosion in the Universe. His mission was to show what love truly is; to express the heart of God as our parent. He came to expose the enemy of love and take people out of their uncomfortable but safe prisons of self-centered. He was a revolutionary! And that is why he had so many enemies during his too-short life.

Jesus’ message wasn’t bound by religious doctrine. That’s why the religious leaders of his day felt so threatened. His is a universal message for all time. It was true 2,000 years ago, is true today and is echoed in every faith tradition. Rev. Moon asked in sermon:

“Does God live only for Himself and His glory, or is God totally selfless, living for the well-being of the entire creation? Which way is true love? In fact, the true God comes to us fallen people, shedding tears. People weep either when they are sad or happy. What about God? Does He shed tears of grief looking at human misery, or tears of laughter as He saves people? Think about it. If you ever lost a loved one and then found him again years later, what would you do? You would weep, first with grief and then with joy.” – Sun Myung Moon

Art mirrors life

The question is how to bring that quality of heart alive in our own lives. They say that art mirrors life. This is why we have been examining themes in the movie Frozen, which is based on Hans Christian Anderson’s “Snow Queen.”

The protagonist, Anna’s struggle is a universal struggle. How do you free your heart from the pain inflicted on you by others, especially those closest to you? How do you reconcile with those who have wronged you and won’t even open their door to you? We all want the instant quick fix. I’m sure you’ve wanted the kiss of a prince or something similar (perhaps winning the lottery) to take your pain away. But will that “kiss” really fix everything?

In this scene from the movie Frozen, Anna’s heart has been struck by the icy magic of her sister, Elsa, and the only thing that can save her from turning into frozen ice is “an act of true love.” Everyone told Anna that an act of true love is a kiss from someone who truly loves her and so she implores Hans to kiss her.

Watch this clip from the movie: Hans’ betrayal of Anna

Hans reveals he never loved Anna, and in some chilling dialogue explains, “You were easy to fool because you were so eager to be loved.” That is heart stopping. We are too easily seduced, driven by our desire for love.

So how do we create that “act of true love” that will save us? The Divine Principle lays out secrets within the Bible and allows us to study the anatomy of salvation. Yes, God’s grace comes rushing in but our portion of responsibility is designed to set the stage for that moment.

We see in Frozen, and in the world around us, the results of what the Bible calls the fall of man. I think Hans’ self-centered, sleazy nature sums up the consequences for humanity pretty well. Even the innocent are affected. Elsa, Anna’s older sister, has struck ice into Anna’s heart and she is crippled. What is the way out?

Four steps to freedom

• Anna was searching for a solution. Her strength was her purity. Even though Elsa hurt her again and again, she continued to love her sister and believe in her. She knew the true Elsa and couldn’t give up on her. Unknowingly, she was following God’s path of salvation or what the Principle calls path of restoration or recreation. She could continue to love because she viewed Anna through God’s eyes. While everyone else feared Elsa, Anna continued to love her sister. Victory #1 Anna reversed the fallen nature of failing to see from God’s viewpoint.
• Anna never forgot her place as Elsa’s younger sister. She wanted to love and support Elsa instead of harming her, which is very different from the relationship of Cain and Abel. Victory #2 Anna reversed the fallen nature of leaving ones position.
• Also, once Elsa withdrew and harmed Arendale by freezing everything, affecting trade and commerce, Anna continued to support Elsa’s right to the throne. Unlike Hans, Anna wasn’t vying for what was not hers. Anna didn’t want to become Queen of Arendale. She simply wanted to bring back Elsa as the rightful Queen. Victory #3 Anna reversed the fallen nature to reverse dominion or try and put yourself on top.
• And finally, Anna didn’t want revenge for all the pain she had experienced through her sister, Elsa. That is indeed incredible. How many times have we gone down the road of revenge, hoping for ill to happen for others? Victory #4 Anna reversed the fallen nature to multiply evil. She resisted revenge and instead multiplied goodness.

This is why Rev. Moon said, “We can only connect with God’s love when we transcend the standard of love of the fallen world.” Loving your friends is easy. That’s to be expected, but we can aspire for more? We have to discover within ourselves the true love that God planted there. Living for others was meant to be a natural expression of a loving heart that flows spontaneously from a person’s inner being. This is possible because human beings take after God.

Never underestimate the power of purity

Anna bravely walked the path of restoration by taking four important steps. The Bible and Divine Principle are like a road map out of the woods. So many fairy stories have a hero or heroine lost in the deep, dark woods. That is the time when you need to take that first step and search for God’s point of view. This is why it says in Matthew 5:8

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

This is one of my favorite Bible passages. When you are stuck, disorientated, not sure what to do you have to fight for a pure heart, for only then can you see your way out of the woods and know what to do.

All of the great people in history who we admire for challenging incredible odds had to fight for the right attitude. It can be a life and death fight, but it’s always worth it.

Anna found herself in a fight for her life. She was crippled, having been struck by Elsa in the heart. Anna was becoming colder and colder and would eventually become Frozen. In one of the final scenes in the movie she is struggling across a frozen lake, in the midst of an ice storm. Suddenly she sees Sven on the horizon. Can he save her in time by giving her true love’s kiss? She stumbles towards him but suddenly realizes that Hans is about to kill Elsa.

Watch this clip from the movie:  An act of True Love

In turning around, and with the last dregs of life within her; driven by her love for Elsa, Anna puts herself between Hans and her sister and takes the blow that was intended to kill. In that moment she turns to ice and her soul is trapped inside a frozen statue.

Elsa, shocked, breaks down sobbing, wrapping both arms around her sister. Unexpectedly, Anna begins to thaw and returns to life.

Elsa exclaims disbelief that anyone should sacrifice themselves for her, but Anna guilelessly responds, “I love you.” It’s that simple and yet at the same time, that incredible. Love frees them both. It wasn’t a kiss but “an act of true love” that freed Anna and in that moment Elsa realized that love allows her to control her power. It’s a fairy story, but it brings the teaching of Jesus to life. How are we saved? By an act of true love. It’s how Jesus saves us and why his birth matters. He brought that quality of love into the world. He made it real and because of his example the early Christians had the power to build a movement that was so counter cultural and revolutionary that it brought a Roman Emperor to his knees. The real question this Christmas is how can we become an instrument of God’s love in the lives of others?

It starts with finding power within. You can’t force love. But we can hope to love because in the words of 1 John 4.19: “We love, because he first loved us.”

Loving and living for others are at the heart of all of the world’s faith traditions. Tenrikyo expresses it this way:

“Until now each and every one throughout the
world has been concerned only with himself.
How pitiful it is! You have no mind to help
others, however hard you may think it over.
Henceforth, ceaselessly strive to restore your
mind! I, God (Tsukihi), request it from you all
equally. If you ask what kind of mind it is, it is
the mind to save single-heartedly all people of
the world. Henceforth, if only all people of the
world equally help each other on any and every
matter, believe that I will accept your minds and
will work any and every kind of salvation!”
Ofudesaki 12.89-94 (Tenrikyo)

The words from Anna in Frozen are important. She says to her sister, “I knew you could do it.” We need to hear those words too. Rev. Moon empowered people saying, “Who is the Messiah? You should all be little messiahs. Be a messiah in your family and community.” He even coined the term “tribal messiah” to mean someone who loves his or her family and community with God’s love. Would God only want one son, Jesus, or would he like to be able to say, “all of my children are my begotten children. They come from me, they love like me. They have my DNA.”

Let’s celebrate the season with many “acts of true love.”