The Fairytale Effect

Have you ever found yourself reading a book, or watching a movie - mediums which portray characters who unbeknownst to them, are about to face a certain challenge? For the most part, they seem to be living normal lives, and then something invariably happens to disrupt their seemingly ordered world view. Their lives may seem to have nothing of note, or significance to speak of. The sun rises and sets, just as it does every day in their ordinary lives.

However, at some seemingly random point in time, something unexpected happens to change the flow of their daily routine. Usually this is something unexpected; something that transpires without any warning or foreshadowing, thereby intensifying the impact on the individuals in question. This could encompass, emotional upheaval, personal turmoil, or even risk of physical harm directed against them.

We the viewer, become wrapped up in their story. We feel their tension mounting as the situation progresses. Depending on the intricacy of the story, being read or viewed, we may on some level even identify with what the characters are experiencing. It’s as if we have a symbiotic relationship with their struggles, their confusion, their pain, and in some cases, their sense of hopelessness.

As the tension mounts, we start looking for any sign to provide hope and assurance the ultimate outcome will be a happy one. One that leads to a full and satisfying resolution.

We tend to live vicariously through these fictional mediums. Whether reading a book, watching a movie, or even viewing the so-called real-world lives of individuals online.

We like Snow White’s happy ending. We shed a tear of happiness for George Bailey at the end of It’s A Wonderful Life, when he redeems his sense of worth and discovers his true value, along with the positive impact his life has on those in his world. We get a sense that the overlooked and disenfranchised can experience love when Jennifer Lopez’s working class character in Maid in Manhattan is first seen, courted by and eventually gets married to the rich bachelor.

Each of the above stories, involve individuals with normal, everyday, even seemingly boring lives. Lives that seem average. Nothing particularly interesting to write home about.

We don’t live on movie sets, or in books, but it is interesting to note, these mediums time after time, always seem to tap into very real elements of our human condition - such as longing for fulfillment, seeking acceptance, or just being loved and cared for unconditionally.

Fairytales may or may not have elements of truth in them. Some are based purely on myth, while others may be based on actual events, with storylines evolving over time.

Have you ever wished or longed for the ubiquitous fairytale life - one in which everything works out in the end? You don’t have to. We have been given a life that is more grounded, fulfilling and protected than any skeletal framework of pseudo-emotional movies and fairytales. We have the creator of our hearts. We have the ultimate resource in our sovereign Lord, who knows how to heal, replenish and bring joy to that which He has created - your heart.

Psalms 139: 1-17 defines the truth of who we really are.

You are wonderful - not worthless
You are understood - not unappreciated
You are priceless - not a pariah

Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for your heart. This is not a fairytale, but it is a tale worth telling nonetheless.