We try to control our schedule. We want to control our food intake. Where we shop. What we wear. Who we hang out with. Where we live. Here in the states we all have a set plan that we must follow or for some of us who desire to be spontaneous we have the freedom to control how spontaneous we are. We even go as far as trying to control nature and the animals that God has created; the movie does an excellent job of communicating this very message to us. Although I wonder how many will overlook that for the awesome CGI, epic giant dinosaur fights, and the tiny bit of romance. All of these things are great things, but why is it that we are always trying to control things in life?
One of my favorite lines of the film is when the park owner, Masrani says, "The key to a happy life is to accept you are never actually in control." This is shown all throughout the film that when they try and control the dinosaurs and plan out what will happen, things simply do not happen how they want.
I have noticed this with my own life. When I try and control exactly what will happen and when it will--and trust me, I am a huge planner and often try to do just that--things typically do not go according to plan. There have been times where I have tried to plan a spontaneous, romantic date and it goes no where according to my plan. It still ends up being a fun goofy date but, nothing like I planned.
When I chose to go to MVNU to study Youth Ministry I had no intention of staying in the same community that the university was in afterwards. I had all these ideas of where I wanted to control my life to be at, however, because I let God have control I ended up staying in this incredible, often overlooked and undervalued, growing, little college town. I never would have been able to plan or control that I would one day end up working part time for a coffee shop where I would meet the most incredible people. There was one day I met an Amish poet who wanted to share his poems with me. Another time I met an elderly woman who I was able to sit with during my break and learn all about her bar tending years in her youth and how she was an american pool champion and had traveled all over the US competing unofficially. I never would have met incredible baristas that are willing to talk theology, religion, and spirituality with me and not try to argue against my more liberal leanings. Life truly does seem more fun when I surrender control and let God lead.
Another beautiful element involving control that Jurassic World exhibited was the idea that those who wanted to seize control were not really the true leaders. It was those who gave up control that ultimately were given the authority to lead. It was those who did not want to control others that were the ones who were trusted to lead. This very idea of control was also very connected to community and our instinctive need for it. In the film (SPOILER!!!) the Jurassic World staff are keeping a new genetically modified dinosaur in captivity and isolation until it is ready to be presented to the public and this creature ends up out smarting them and escaping from its cage in order to reek havoc and kill those who kept it in isolation. Early on in the film they share how they assumed it would be okay to keep the dinosaur in captivity and isolation because the raptors that Chris Pratt's character raised and trained were brought up in captivity. Pratt's character explains that it worked for them because they grew up with siblings in a pack. They had others with them to learn from. They had community. When we isolate ourselves and are forced to be without others we can fall into destructive patterns. When we are completely isolated we are much more susceptible for destruction and our downfall. At the end of the day this is just another beautiful reminder that we desperately need community. We need others. We are made to be with people and not to live alone. Our survival skills will not be enough if we are alone.
Oftentimes in the Christian community it can be easy to fall into American materialism and assume that we need to be in control. I think there are many who identify by the term "Christian" and yet try to live a life where they can control everything. There are those who try to gain the upper hand because they think this title gives them the right to do so. That, however, is simply missing the point. If we look to Jesus, the one we are called to imitate and follow as our Rabbi, we can see that this life is not one of control. Jesus himself, part of the Holy Trinity, did not view control as something to focus on, but instead humbled himself to serve others. That is what we must do. This is so wonderfully shown in Philippians 2:5-8 which says,
Think of yourselves the way Christ
Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much
of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter
what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and
took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed
human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special
privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a
selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
So let's stop trying to play God and control things. Stop trying to fight nature. And stop trying to be alone. Let's embrace community and nature and live life accepting we cannot always be in control and life will still be okay.
