If you've been following my recent status update, you might have noticed I have become (slightly) obsessed with the Kingdom Hearts series on the PS2. Ever since I was in middle school, I've wanted to play this game! My friends would talk about it, and the idea fascinated me. You see, I've always loved the idea of putting worlds together that would otherwise not ever interact and have amazing adventures! When I was a little girl, I would close my eyes in bed and dream about different Disney characters meeting in the clouds (Mount Olympus style), and being ruled by a queen I'd seen in some random cartoon movie. I, of course, was a heroine, and saved the day several times with my personal favorite Peter Pan!
Happily Ever After
At the end of the second game, you had a great reunion of friends, and the feeling I had watching that was a lot like what I think arriving in Heaven will feel like... You may think this a little strange to be comparing the feeling of this game to that of heaven, but in the end, I don't really feel like it was that far of a stretch. Heaven is a perfect place, a place of pure hearts, which is kind of what this game is all about - the battle in our hearts and in the hearts of those around us. Can you imagine being in Heaven with all your friends and relatives who believed in Jesus and the joy of standing at the end of a hard journey victorious??? Seeing the Creator who guided us and loved us at our worst??? Something I absolutely love about this game is the fact that you get to travel to many different worlds, and I can imagine heaven being like that as well. Can you imagine going to different galaxies and seeing what there is to discover? Makes me excited just thinking about it! Yet there is always a home to go back to, just like in Kingdom Hearts. Unlike the game, we won't need to worry about death, destruction, and mayhem, and we can just enjoy the journey that is in front of us! We won't have anything to fear or dark powers to fight, but I'm sure we'll have jobs to do! And that euphoric feeling I get whenever I see a happy ending is something else I'm looking forward to given the fact that I only feel that every once in a blue moon ever since I started dealing with my clinical depression. And to have even that is lucky. A lot of clinically depressed people don't even know what it's like to have joy and happiness.
Follow Your Heart?
The major difference between this man made game and the God who created us is that they tell you to follow your heart, no matter what; and God calls us out of the darkness in our hearts first and then to rely on Him to make our hearts pure again. In the game, it's the same old tune of "follow your heart." You know, Disney style. The problem with this is that our hearts are very lost without God. That's why our endings are not like the happy endings in these games. There is no happy ever after when we die apart from God. God alone is the keyblade wielder of our hearts. He alone can save us. Sora, the main character pictured above (yes, he does fight with Donald and Goofy), in a lot of ways is the savior of the game. He is somewhat naive, but his sense of justice in uncanny! He's got a giving and selfless attitude and rarely follows his own selfish desires. In a sense, he's the perfect hero! That's what makes him so lovable and so much fun to play! He can do superhuman things. His friend Riku, in my humble opinion, is more like a human being in the fact that he battles the darkness and even gives into it at one point. He has an actual human nature. We tend to follow our hearts into things that make us feel good but regret later. It cracks me up that even Mickey in the game tells Sora to let Maleficent and Pete follow their hearts at one point even though they were villians. Why would you do that??? That's a terrible idea!!! As Jeremiah 17:9 states, "The heart is deceitful and exceedingly wicked." However, the true love of God can save a heart from it's true nature. His original purpose for us was to walk with Him and live in the light. I mean, Heaven has no need for a sun because God shines so brightly! My mere human mind cannot comprehend what Heaven is like even though the Bible gives us little glimpses. It's like trying to explain the universe to a little kid who only sees glimpses of the stars at night. But I digress. Our original hearts were pure before we messed up, and now we have to be redeemed. That's what makes Jesus so much better than any imaginary, fictional character that looks cool with a keyblade. And Jesus will one day come riding in and save the day all on His own! Like He'll have a whole angel army behind Him and won't need anyone! That is EPIC!
Our Savior Complex
Why do you think we are so obsessed with heroes and legends? Why are we so obsessed with being saved or saving others? When we think of heroes though, we don't tend to think of humility. I mean, who in their right minds would bring themselves down to a level of an ant (comparatively) to save a bunch of ants? But that's what Jesus did. We cannot begin to fathom what makes Him love us so except in realizing He created us and desires to be with us. So much love. And not just the euphoric and completely emotional love either, but the kind of love that spurs you to action. Not only does He love us enough to die for us, but He did it to give us everlasting life. That's a happily ever after story that goes on forever! I mean, it doesn't get much better than that! He's also a savior that comes back to life! I don't know about you, but I can't wait to spend eternity with Him. Maybe He'll even go on adventures with me? That would be epic!
Anyways, I hope I didn't completely bore you all with my random thoughts on a video game I just really happened to like. I haven't been this excited about a game in... forever. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, so if you read this, thank you for putting up with my nerdiness for one blog post! ;) I think people love these games so much because they do give you hope and a way to live a happily ever after. However, this cannot be your happily ever after. Real life will come knocking, and you'll realize all you have isn't real at all. I fear for people who become obsessed with games, books, and movies because of the emotions we have attached to it. If that is our only source of hope and/or fun, we are going to be sorely disappointed in real life. No wonder this game is so popular in Japan (it was made there) since there's a whole generation of people there who almost never leave their rooms and thrive off of video games and comics. Sora's life is indeed exciting, and it's gripping. However, it is not your life. You need to figure out what's important and grasp onto that.
My mission? To live life with Heaven in front of me. This is not the end of my journey. In fact, it's really just a beginning. What am I going to do with it? I want to please Jesus with my life and hear Him say, "Well done good and faithful servant!" My life really isn't about me. I get to live it for Him and serve Him and those around me. My life is part of a big picture that I can't wait to see revealed at the end of time! It really is an adventure I'm excited to be on! It's hard at times, and it's just going to get harder. That's what makes the destination all the more desirable! I can't wait to see where God will take me in this life as well as in the next! In a way, it really is like getting to live a fairy tale - C.S. Lewis style. :) I want to have a Heaven Heart. That is my true home, and maybe one day JD and I will be able to go on adventures there with our children (Lord willing). I don't think we can even begin to understand what Heaven will be like, and that's what makes me so excited!!! It's an unknown I can look forward to because I know who's waiting for me on the other side!
Peace to you all!
Keri Lynn
P.S. JD begged me to put a picture of his favorite character Axel on my blog, so here you go, dear! ;)
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