Encanto

1-26-22 Encanto Glenda Simpkins Hoffman 

Over the Christmas break, our family watched Encanto, the new animated Disney film with delightful music by Lin-Manual Miranda. These animated films are visually stimulating and fun for kids on one level, but I have discovered there are always lessons to learn as a parent, a follower of Christ, and a leader. Because the film is about building and rebuilding a house and community, I also found connections to our sermon series on Nehemiah. Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the movie yet. 

The movie begins with the main character, Mirabel, who introduces us to her family. We learn the Madrigal’s family history began when her grandmother and grandfather had to flee from their home in Colombia due to violence and war. Though there was loss, there was also power, protection, provision in being given a miracle and a magical home. Over time, each member of the family was given a unique gift, a special power, to be used for the good of the family and the larger community. 

Mirabel is the only member of the Madrigal family who doesn’t have a magical gift. She loves her home, she loves her family, she works hard to make her contribution, and tells others she is content. But the truth is she is struggling. She often feels undervalued and overlooked because she doesn’t have a special gift. Mirabel longs to be and do more, like her family members, and wonders, “Who am I inside? What can I do?”  

It becomes apparent to Mirabel that something is wrong with the magical house. It is starting to show signs of weakening, cracking, crumbling, falling apart, and she is determined to figure out what is wrong. However, it’s not just the house that has problems. Mirabel’s sisters Luisa and Isabela are also showing signs of cracking under pressure and falling apart.  

Luisa, who has super strength, is for the first time showing signs of both physical and emotional weakness. In the song “Under the Surface,” she reveals, “I’m pretty surе I’m worthless if I can’t be of servicе…. It’s pressure like a drip, drip, drip.… Who am I if I can’t run with the ball? …Who am I if I can’t carry it all? If I falter? …Who am I if I don’t have what it takes? No cracks, no breaks, no mistakes, no pressure.” Luisa is afraid because she doesn’t know who she will be if she doesn’t have the strength to do what others expect of her. What she really fears is losing her connection to and love of her family if she can’t fulfill her role. 

Isabela is the golden child in the Madrigal family. To Mirabel, Isabela’s life seems perfect, like a dream in every way. In the song “What Else Can I Do?” Isabela reveals her inner thoughts: “I grow rows and rows of roses… I make perfect, practiced poses. So much hides behind my smile.… What can you do when you know who you wanna be isn’t perfect?” Perfectionism is a weighty, exhausting, uninteresting burden. Isabela is tired, angry, and resentful that she has to carry it.  

These sisters are part of a family who received a miracle, which is a blessing. The problem is that their identity has become tied to their special gift and what they can do or not do. Outwardly, they keep pressing on to fulfill their role by meeting the family’s needs and expectations. However, their inner emotions reveal these expectations are hurting them as individuals and impacting relationships in the family. The cracking, crumbling house is a metaphor for a family that is beginning to come apart. 

There are many truths and insights in this movie for parents and followers of Christ. I’ll share a few of mine in this blog and again next week. 

Our identity and value is found in God and his unconditional love. Like the sisters who are struggling, so many today feel the pressure to be more or different than who they are. We live in a world in which people are considered better or worse, weaker or stronger, valuable or not valuable based on what they do. God’s way of valuing people is different, based on the truth that each person is created in the image of God and loved unconditionally by God. This is the love that motivated God to send his Son into the world, not to condemn but to save us and give us an eternal and abundant life that is found in a relationship with him (John 3:16-17).  

Because we are loved by God we do not have to give in to fear, anxiety, or a compulsion to prove ourselves or to play a role. We are free to receive and experience a life of love in our relationship with God and our relationships with each other knowing who we are and whose we are. We are God’s beloved children. 

Our true spiritual home is found in Jesus and his grace. While the movie Encanto uses the language of magic symbolized by the light of a candle, we know that Jesus is the light of the world. He is the presence and power of God with us. Life itself, salvation, being a part of the family of God are not things we earn but gifts we receive. This is grace—Jesus doing for us what we can’t do for ourselves.   

Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. We belong to God and the household of faith by grace alone. And we are given gifts of grace that we might participate in God’s work.  

Our gifts are to be used to build God’s kingdom in the power of the Holy Spirit.Each of has been given spiritual gifts, passions, and abilities to do God’s work. It is important to discover how God has made us and gifted us so we can live out our calling in the body of Christ and in the world. We can’t do everything, so our gifts and abilities give direction as to how we spend our time and energy for the glory of God and the good of others.  

But again, it’s not something we do by our own self-effort. This is God’s work in and through us. As we rely on the Holy Spirit and use our gifts, God builds his spiritual, grace-filled home through us. We are the church—the people of God filled and empowered by the Spirit. It will involve sacrifice and humility as we follow the example of our Lord. This home is not just for us to enjoy. We are to love our neighbors and invite and welcome others to find their home in God and to enjoy life in the family of God.   

There is so much more to be said, so next week I will share more reflections on the movie Encanto and our study of Nehemiah as we think about rebuilding, restoring and renewing. There is a lot that can get in the way of living an abundant life of love, joy, and peace, a life that Jesus has already given us.