of manic pixie dream girls and faith

i learnt a new term recently - “manic pixie dream girls” - defined as characters in movies who have this ever positive outlook on life, who gracefully sweep into the protagonists’ life, showing them the beauty of life.

the term originated with a review on Kirsten Dunst’s character in Elizabethtown and i still remember being inspired by her style in the movie about 8 or 9 years back. as a true blue chick flick fangirl, i can think of a handful of MPDGs who inspire us to such a life. i personally love chick flicks starring Kate Hudson or Reese Witherspoon.

to a large extent, i think this ideology, where “normal life” is eternally bright and full of sunshine, has perpetrated our views on faith. lately, some conversations i’ve had with friends around faith have a hint of this perspective. this hope.

it’s normal for human beings to hope - for a world without anything negative and only everything positive. separation in death is painful, conflicts are nasty and no one in their right mind would want to go through any of that.

so there are those who view faith as this fluffy belief for a life with no challenges and whatever we want *poof* we receive. like we don’t need to study or put in that much effort for anything.

there are some people who really have this unique “eternal sunshine” quality about them. but perhaps for others, we use it as a cover to hide how imperfect our lives really are. and unfortunately, when we do that, no one gets helped and those who search for authenticity will leave.

those of us who have our worlds smashed with reality, can no longer believe it so simply. how do we believe in a loving Saviour yet deal with all the negative stuff that happen in this world? does God not see all the pain and problems in this world?

after months of searching for an answer, i found so much encouragement in this verse:

John 16:33 NLT

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

for those of us who have gone through the trials and sorrows, Jesus recognises that in this imperfect world, we will experience these things. but we are also not left without an answer.

because in Christ Jesus we can find peace. and we can take heart because Jesus has overcome the world.

so does God see all this negativity? yes. does He have a solution? yes.

our answer is in Christ Jesus. amen.