My Prince

I can recall as a child watching endless Disney movies about princesses in far, far away places. I'm not sure whether I chose to watch these films or my mother chose for me in an effort to get me to sit still, but regardless, I soon found myself, like every other girl, longing to become a part of a fairytale myself.
My sister and I would dress in long, beautiful dresses (my dad's old t-shirts) and imitate songs from the princess movies about falling in love. I find it quite interesting how at the age of 6 I had a full and complete understanding that I was incomplete and that my heart must wait for her Prince.

This morning in the shower, Cinderella's love song came into my head. Resisting the urge to break out into a full concert presentation of the piece, I hummed the tune as I sang the lyrics in my head.

"So this is love (hum). So this love... so this is what makes life complete."

Wait, what?! Did I just say love makes life complete? Christ's love does. But Cinderella most definitely is not referring to Christ as she waltzes about with the handsome prince.

"My heart has wings (hum) and I can fly. I'll touch every star in the sky. So this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of. So this is love (hum) so this is love."

Wow, and as I recall, there's a line in the song that says, "the key to all Heaven is mine."

Amazing how quickly the world creeps in, huh?

I mean don't get me wrong, I'm not proposing that we ban together and storm Disney. (In a gravely, British voice) "Grab your torch and pitchforks." But the world sure does creep in in unexpected places. Innocent movies about the poor, unloved princesses finding a home and happiness in a beautiful castle may not be portraying the messages that are most beneficial for my ears. Metaphorically you could apply the story of Cinderella to the bride of Christ being united with Christ. Sure, metaphorically you can stretch almost anything to make yourself feel better about entertaining your mind with a message. But in all reality, when a six year old or a four year old sits on the floor and watches story after story about a princess who is completed by her prince, is she really mature enough to understand that human love will never complete her?

Princess stories are fun. Pretending is fun. And one day, our Prince will come, but He will be so much more than any brown haired and blue eyed boy could ever be.

See, I've learned that I must be careful what messages I entertain my mind with. Because as long as I know that it's a fairytale and I monitor just how much time I am devoting to fiction verses reality, then I consider myself to contain the judgment and the wisdom in order to keep from believing ungodly messages. But if I ever grab my hoop-skirt and ascend to the tallest tower to await my prince, I pray that my Prince will come save me from the lies that I can be completed by anything but Himself.