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Insights:
20th
Century Fox's new film, Ice Age, is far more than
warm and fuzzy, as one movie critic has described it.
There is a profound message in this move, which simply is:
'One tiny thing can create a whole new age'. The acorn
creating the Ice Age is a metaphor for the tiny baby who
brings peace to ancient foes and unites them into one unique
yet diverse new "herd".
The
film begins with the onset of the Ice Age, and the animals
are fleeing to the south. It is an exodus that is
visually reminiscent of the animals boarding the Ark to
escape yet another covering of the earth by water. In
this case, getting through Glacier Pass is the same as
getting on the Ark. One animal is going in the
wrong direction. He is a wooly mammoth named Manfred1,
who is traveling all alone. Another loner, Sid the sloth, who is seeking
protection from two rhinos, soon joins him.
Manfred reluctantly offers him protection simply because he
"doesn't like animals that kill for
pleasure".
The
film shifts to a tribe2
of humans under surveillance by a pack of saber tooth
tigers. The tigers are out for revenge - "an eye
for an eye". Evidently these humans, who now wear
tiger skins for clothes, destroyed half of their pack.
Soto, the pack leader, has a keen interest in this human
baby; making it seem that his revenge is of a very personal
nature. He wants the baby, not the adults.
The
entire movie is centered on this miracle baby. After
going over a waterfall in order to escape a tiger named
Diego, the baby is given to Manny and Sid by his dying
mother. It is a beautiful scene of sacrificial love
overcoming the power of death. Now the stage is
set for the great journey to bring this baby back to his
"herd".
Diego3,
the tiger, joins Manny and Sid in the quest. Traveling
together out of necessity, this unlikely threesome does not
trust one another. They go through humorous encounters
with Do-do birds and dangerous short cuts, and all the
while, the peace child4
is working his way into their hearts.
One
of the most powerful scenes in the film occurs when the
foursome discover the cave drawings made by the
humans. It is a record of a fallen world where man and
the animal kingdom prey upon one another. To his
horror, Manfred recognizes that the picture on the wall is
his own. It brings to his memory the attack by the
humans, which resulted in the death of his mate and
calf. As Manfred touches the painting, the baby
touches it, too. At this moment, Manfred's heart is
transformed. He identifies what has happened with this
child with what happened to his own. He makes the
choice not to give "an eye for an eye", but to
turn from hate to love. Thus, they emerge from a dark
cave (a short cut planned by evil, but used sovereignly for
good) into the light.
Diego,
who has observed all of this, now has his turn to learn what
the power of love can do. At the risk of his own life,
Manny goes back to save Diego from a river of lava.
This is an incredible scene of one laying down his life for
another (John
15:13). When Diego asks why he did this, Manny
replies, "That's what you do in a herd; you look out
for each other." Later by the campfire as the
baby touches their hearts by taking his first steps, Sid
tells Diego that he has never had a friend that would risk
his life to save him.
The
end of the film is obvious, but extremely powerful.
Diego's heart is turned; he helps Manny and Sid overcome the
pack of tigers. Wounded, he confesses, repents, and is
forgiven by Sid. Manny and Sid hurry to get the baby
back to the humans who have reached Glacier Pass. In
the most tender of scenes, the "man of peace"
confronts the hunter man. He takes away the man's
spear and gives him his son in return. The holding up
of the child by Manfred as the humans start to rush him is
an incredible picture of the power of the peace child.
Where the peace child is, hearts are transformed from hate
and vengeance to love and peace.
As
they say good-by to the child, Sid says, "Don't forget
about us," and Manny says, "We won't forget about
you." Where the peace child is remembered, a
whole new herd is created. It's the "weirdest
herd" as Sid says, and it's off to the best migration
ever.
20,000
Years Later
The
film began with one small acorn setting off events that
covered the earth with water. It now ends with another
small thing, a coconut releasing the fire (II
Peter 3:5-7).
Scripture:
Isaiah
9:6
Notes:
1. Manfred
means "man of peace".
2. Tribe - The social organization
for human beings.
3. Diego - Spanish for
"James" (Hebrew for "He who supplants")
4. Peace child - As they go
through the cave and see the flying saucer, the baby holds
up his hand
and makes the peace sign.
("Pinky") Pink - Highest or most excellent
example, state, or degree; as in the
pink of condition; also, an
exquisite. Webster's Dictionary
Recommended
Reading: Peace
Child by Don Richardson
Peace Child is the story of the Sawi's, a Stone Age
culture of head hunting cannibals of New Guinea, who were
transformed by the "peace child". Their own
redemptive analogy of a child given by his father to make
peace between tribes was the key that unlocked the truth of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them.
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