I remember going to the AMC on 86th Street with Laura + Casey to see Frozen II for the first time. If memory serves me correctly, we went for a matinee. Laura sat in the middle with tissues, and Casey + I cried the entire movie. For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, do me a favor and GO WATCH IT. It’s one of the best Disney movies I think I’ve ever seen it’s so good.
This morning, I listened to a message on transformation of the heart. Throughout the entire sermon, I couldn’t get this movie out of my mind. For those of you familiar with this iconic film, you’ll remember how the gang heads to the enchanted forest to find the voice calling out to Elsa. Olaf says to the group: “Did you know that an enchanted forest is a place of transformation? I have no idea what that means but I can’t wait to see what it does to each one of us.”
I’ve written regularly this year about how difficult of a year it’s been. I’ve referenced this season as a wilderness experience and I can also understand it as an “enchanted forest” experience: one full of confusion and unanswered questions and confrontation of pain. Much like Elsa at the beginning of the movie, I’ve felt a serious discontentment and confusion around identity and beliefs, even when things on the outside appear to be going according to plan.
Trans-for-ma-tion: a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance.
I would like to add “not for the faint of heart” to that definition. I am not one who enjoys change (does anyone?) and transformation doesn’t sound all that appealing of a process even when the end goal is what I want. Transformation is hard.
We’ve all been through seasons, wilderness-like times in our lives that permanently shape us from that point on. We’ve been transformed by events, experiences, emotional moments, knowledge, you name it. When I think about faith and transformation, the first thought that pops into my head is the verse in Romans 12 that says:
‘And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values + customs], but be transformed + progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values + ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good + acceptable + perfect [in His plan + purpose for you].’
ROMANS 12:2 AMP
Side note: I read the Amplified version of this passage for the first time tonight, and I love how it adds in ‘progressively changed.’ I sighed a deep sigh of relief after that reminder that this kind of change isn’t a one-and-done type of situation.
My church is walking through transformation holistically, based on the passage from Mark 12. A teacher of the law approaches Jesus and asks which commandment is most important. Jesus responds by saying, “The most important one is this: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31). The type of transformation Jesus taught about includes our mind, our hearts/souls, and our hands/actions. Our entire being is made new.
Okay so with that in mind, back to the enchanted forest.
Elsa has everything expected from her – a loving community, the Queendom. Things seem to be settling. BUT she can’t shake the voice calling to her from the unknown (cue “Into the Unknown”). She firmly believes that something has called her into this forest. She has to confront each of the four elements, face the reality of her parents’ death, and battle her way to answers. There’s a scene towards the end of the movie where Elsa is so close the source of the voice. She’s running on water where she is confronted with the final element in a pretty epic animated fight. She’s so close to finding the answer. All that separates her from it is the sea.
Elsa makes it (spoiler alert) to the frozen island, and her uncertainty hits the climax of the story. She’s finally going to find answers. So naturally, in true Disney form, she sings the emotional song “Show Yourself.” It starts with these words:
“Every inch of me is trembling
But not from the cold
Something is familiar
Like a dream, I can reach but not quite hold
I can sense you there
Like a friend I’ve always known
I’m arriving
And it feels like I am home”
She gets to this pivotal moment in her transformation story, and I weep every time. She is not the same from this point on. The story doesn’t end here for her. She doesn’t just find the Voice calling out to her, she rediscovers her own identity. Without giving the whole story away (but seriously if you have not seen this movie, have you lived under a rock?), Elsa didn’t get to the end of transformation on her own. She needs her community to be a part of her story. It’s not just a personal transformation, but one that includes the people closest to her.
I mean just look at her transformed glow.
It’s been a very long journey through my own enchanted forest. The discomfort and discontentment and discouragement and confusion. But there are some things I know for sure.
I know for sure that there is a voice calling out to me in the midst of it. Like Elsa follows this fifth spirit in the enchanted forest, I am sensing with more and more clarity the voice of the Holy Spirit calling out to me. Throughout the past several months, I know that I know that I know that God is in active pursuit of His people (read: you, me, us). In the deepest of doubts, I fell back on that promise. And if that was true, then my questions were not too scary for Him, even when they were for me.
I know for sure that in the presence of the Holy Spirit, my identity is found. And that it’s in His presence that my very being is redeemed and restored and transformed.
I know for sure that I cannot do this alone – that I need community who can pull me out of the hole when I’ve gone too far.
The transformed heart is confident in her identity in Christ. It’s accepting and aware of emotions instead of dismissive and overlooking. It sees redemption and lives in community. It allows us to live loved instead of living for love.
Like Elsa, a transformed heart can live confidently out of her gifting and calling in the community. Elsa no longer lives in fear or lives based on what is expected of her (conceal don’t feel, anyone?). She gets to explore the beauty of the newness of her own self.
I’m feeling hopeful that one day soon, I too will live confidently out of a transformed heart. But in the meantime, I will continue following the Voice that promises to pursue me. Even when I don’t see it or feel it or believe I deserve it. The Voice in the forest that calls me to Himself. Because that’s the beauty of Christ-like transformation – it’s purely invitational. And I’m relearning the beauty of saying ‘yes’.