Yes, I'm a grown woman and I just listed an animated movie about fish as my favorite movie. Another confession: I even named my pet Chihuahua Dory, after the name of my favorite character in the movie, the bright Regal Blue Tang fish that helps Marlin find Nemo.Did you know this film can be interpreted as a spiritual lesson for us to learn from? I didn't either the first dozen or so times I watched it. I thought it was finally just a clean movie without a bunch of stupid witchcraft and needless violence for kids (and kids at heart) to enjoy. But there are a few lessons within this animation with insights we can apply to our own lives!
I'll try to keep this as brief and summarized as possible, but I'd like to share some of what I have learned from this animated favorite of mine!
The movie pretty much begins with Marlin and his wife, Coral, enjoying their own underwater garden. There were beautiful views, no limits, nothing but playfulness and love between them as they admire the eggs of their future children, snuggled below in a mini cave. Fairly quickly though, Marlin and Coral spot a barracuda hovering in the distance. Marlin warns Coral not to move, but she feels she knows best, and she dives down toward them anyway, losing her life and the eggs to the barracuda.
In a way this reminds me of Adam and Eve. They had it all in the Garden of Eden. A freedom within perfection that God designed for them to cherish and enjoy. Then the serpent hovered, tempted, and because Eve trusted in herself instead of God's direction, before they realized what hit them, life as Adam and Eve knew it was lost.
Marlin, in the process, was knocked out, and when he comes to he's all alone... all except the one surviving egg, Nemo. Marlin vows to never let anything happen to him, naming him Nemo because it was the only name his wife had thought of for their children before the attack. Marlin becomes overly protective and scared of everything around them. What didn't help Nemo's situation in this, was being born with one fin smaller than the other (which Nemo refers to as his "lucky fin").
You see, Marlin's heart was broken, and the only vow he can make from that broken heart is one based on hurt and lies. He can't honestly vow not to let anything happen to him, that's out of his control. He just harbors Nemo within his own prison of fear. Marlin had constant fear. He worried that something would happen to Nemo... and in turn, everything he tried so hard to avoid, happened anyway.
Nemo saw no fear or limitations to what he could do, learn, explore and achieve. Drowning in the fear of his dad, rebellion kicks in when Nemo is challenged to go touch a boat. He tells his dad he hates him, he rebels, then because of his disobedience he was captured by a diver in the reef.
We do that don't we? We draw so many negative circumstances into our own lives because of our own expectations... that we blindingly wrap those expectations in fear from past situations, preparing ourselves for ultimate failure, whether it comes or not. Our ego's often get in the way because we unknowingly allow our ego's to me motivated, energized, if you will, by fear. We think we know what's best for ourselves and those around us (family, friends, co-workers, etc), because of things that have happened to us. But that was our situation for that moment... it doesn't dictate how a path will unfold for someone else.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
(I John 4:18)
Love kicks in. Not possessive, fear obsessed control, but love. Marlin realizes his love is stronger than any fear hovering from his past. He calls out for help in his moment of need. While it is the Lord we call out to in desperation, in this scenario it is Dory that comes along.
Here's an ironic tidbit. The name given to Dory in this movie is actually significant to the role of this little blue fish. Dory is a variant, a nickname, for Dorothy. The name Dorothy primarily means "gift of God", as well as "Contributor" and "Comforter". The first thing Dory says to Marlin is "It'll be alright, it'll be okay". She was comforting him, telling him she would contribute herself to help find Nemo.
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.
(John 14:16)
Marlin had called out for help, and he was sent a comforter. She has a faith, determination, love, and a hope that will never give up. Although the character is given a funny quirk of forgetfulness, she endures with Marlin through the process. She proves to Marlin the qualities of love described in I Corinthians 13:4-7. She's willing to help him, but in order to accept her help, Marlin has to let go of the fears and hauntings of his past.
They go through trials and obstacles along their way. A song Dory seems to sing through different parts of the movie is "Just keep swimming...". Her faith doesn't dry up. Regardless of the trials, problems, signs of defeat, and endless obstacles that they face... she "just keeps swimming", keeping her focus on the end goal, the finish line, the ultimate purpose for the journey, moving forward with faith. Dory helps Marlin through a number of moments, and after a meaningful triumph of Marlin facing a fear against a dangerous fish that was originally disguised as a deceptive light, Marlin thinks he no longer needs Dory, that he can do it on his own, his way.
Isn't that just like us sometimes? We call out to God for help when things get discouraging, tough, and trying. He faithfully sends His Comforter to give us peace, to show us a love that only He could provide... one that endures forever. He helps us through, and God's glory is lost as we stand puffed up atop of what has been overcome. Sometimes without realization, the Lord is pushed aside as we soar over the mountain top he brought us to out of the valley. It's all going good again, and we forget about our source of triumph through the storm.
So here's Marlin, the all-knowing clown fish that is set and determined to do things his way. Dory stops a school of fish to get accurate directions, but Marlin does things his way and swims over the trench rather than through it, taking them right through an encampment of jellyfish, and Dory is stung by the jellyfish venom that Marlin has a tolerance for, and he swims right through leaving Dory behind.
Ah, again, we let sin creep into our lives, and we build up a tolerance to it. Starting with little things that we convince ourselves surely won't effect a walk with the Lord. Those small things build up a tolerance level that hurts God, and leads us away from him. We, little by little, leave Him behind as we dart through acts of sin that have blinded us as we unknowingly leave God out of our lives and the decisions we make.
Suddenly Marlin sees what he has done, realizing that Dory is a vital part of him and his mission, and he swims back into the mass of jellyfish to find her. They are both stung badly by the jellyfish, and Marlin wakes up to find himself in a different place. In this place, the EAC (East Australian Current), he meets a wise turtle that stops him in his tracks when he reacts out of fear and gives him a lesson on trust and overcoming fear.
The wisdom was shared with Marlin and it begins to sink in. His time of healing and restoration takes place, and he tells his story about losing Nemo and his plight to find him, no matter what. The testimony is spread, starting with the young turtles, passed along through to the fish, sharks, dolphins, and beyond into the ocean. The news is spread about a dedicated father and his son.
Marlin and Dory continue on the journey to find Nemo. When Dory asks for directions from a whale, they are swallowed up. Wearing himself out trying to escape his circumstance, he comes close to giving up. He lashes out at Dory in anger, unable to understand how it could come to this after going and going, facing trial after trial... finally making it that far, just to get swallowed up by a whale. Something Dory says snaps in him though, that the empty promise he gave his son, telling him he would never let anything happen to him, was an impossible promise for him to make. Dory holds onto faith as she keeps an optimistic look into their situation. She doesn't mislead by saying that nothing bad would happen to them, but she assures Marlin that in the end, it will be okay. Marlin trusts in that faith in the end, and they are freed from the whale.
Toward the end, when Nemo gets out of the fish tank the diver had him in, they must all work together one more time. They spread the news to all the fish captured in the net on how to be freed, and what they must do to make it happen. Nemo, Dory, and Marlin all work together toward a common goal, and although it took faith and sacrifice on Marlin's part to let Nemo go to spread the word to the other fish in the net, the end result was a freedom for them all.
We have such a fleshly need to control people, situations, and happenings in our lives... making life for ourselves so much more difficult than it has to be. Working together for the common goal, through faith, sacrifice and overcoming fears, spreading the word to others by what we say and do, can be a powerful witness to achieving the freedom of everlasting life that Jesus provided for us long ago on Calvary.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
(Hebrews 11:1)
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
(Isaiah 41:10)
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 4:6-7)
