Swiss Family Robinson

For a number of years Carol and I have hosted a Young Adult Summer BBQ.  It is an annual event attended by many who were young adults about twenty years ago.  Most are now married.  Many have young kids.  All look forward to cheeseburgers, hot dogs and a sunny August day on the lake.  Except, Saturday, August 24th was cold and rainy.

Most came anyway and brought their young kids; seven of them in all from age three to seven years old.  We have a toy room and a basement with carpet ball, ping pong and corn hole.  But I needed something to distract them when they got bored with the games and toys.  The 1960 “Swiss Family Robinson” was recommended.  It is vintage Disney.  It had shipwrecks, sharks, tigers, anacondas, pirates and the coolest tree house!  But all filtered through Disney’s family-oriented eyes.  (Mark 9:37a)

(Cast: John Mills:  Ryan’s Daughter, Great Expectations, Hobson’s Choice.  Dorothy McGuire:  Old Yeller.  Gentlemen’s Agreement.  James MacArthur:  Kidnapped.  Third Man on the Mountain.  Hawaii Five-O [“Book’em, Danno”].  Tommy Kirk:  Old Yeller.  Shaggy Dog.  Absent-Minded Professor.  Keven "Moochie" Corcoran:  Old Yeller.  Toby Tyler.  Pollyanna.)

In the movie, set in the mid-1800’s, their sailing ship is wrecked on rocks.  With an improvised raft, the mother, father and three boys make it to the beach, after fighting rocks, waves and sharks.  After hitting the beach and safely ashore, the mother grabs the hands of her boys and gets down on her knees.  “What are they doing?” asks Tommy.  “I think they are going to pray.  Why do you think they would pray?”  “Because they didn’t get eaten by the sharks!”  “Do you think they are thanking God that they are safe?”  A chorus of “Yeah,” from most.  (Ephesians 1:16)  Just then, they spotted a tiger that was sneaking up on them.

After a while, as with most movies back then, the movie became “boring” with dialog between the actors.  One by one, the kids left looking for something more interesting to do.  So I paused the movie and waited.  It made me think of my own relationship with God and how easily I can get bored and distracted.  Can He just pause the movie of life and wait for me to come back?

About a half hour later, the kids started filtering back in.  “Do you want to see pirates and the big snake?” I asked.  “Yeah, yeah!”  Two of the Robinson boys were trying to make it back to their family.  While wading through a swamp, one of them was attacked by a large anaconda.  It was so exciting!

Then, one of our boys came into the TV room, and wanted us to rewind so he could see it.  For him, it was new.  For the rest of us, it was a rerun.  It irritated me at first.  I usually don’t like to see the same scenes over again.  But then I realized that I might have missed something.  As in life, I often benefit from going over something again, even though I might not like it.  Like reading the same scripture again; or listening to the same sermon or devotion.

After the Robinson boys were safe, there was more dialog, laughing and kissing.  I was losing my audience.  “Let's fast forward through this, okay?”  “Yeah!  Yuck!”  Sometimes I fast forward through important parts of my life.  I hope that I can get a rerun to pick up what I missed.

Then there were the pirates.  They looked pretty tough and scary.  They had swords and knives and mean expressions.  But after all, they were Disney pirates.  Even in the battles, you almost never saw anyone get killed or hurt.  If they fell in the pit with the tiger, they would jump right out.  As they climbed the hill to attack the Robinsons, they would get hit with logs, explosions and large rocks.  But they would get up and keep climbing the hill.  The Robinsons were courageous and fought valiantly but were outnumbered ten to one.  Just when it appeared they would be over run, a British ship shows up with its cannons and scares the pirates away.  This was a Disney battle.

I think about times when I feel alone, overwhelmed, even hopeless.  How many times has God provided what I “needed” at just the right time?  His time. (Psalms 23:1)

After the pirates were defeated and the Robinsons were saved, there were scenes of dialog, hugging and kissing.  We fast forwarded through that.  Important to the movie but not to the kids.  Yet.