Charlotte's Web: A Question Of Love

Recently, this question of “What is Love?” has been bothering me. Any deed without love profits the doer nothing (1 Cor 13) though God can still use the outcome to His purpose. This led me to ponder – “Am I doing anything without love?” To my surprise, the answer is “Yes and in many things.”

So, what is exactly love? I asked.

Being a logical thinker, I tried to find a logical answer for the above question. An answer that will explain everything in few words, an answer that anyone who read it will understand instantly. Just like the definition for terms used in our textbooks.

Alas, I could not find the answer... until I caught Charlotte's Web.

It is amazing that how the movie moved my heart. Everything in the show is so simple yet it is an amazing story of friendship and love.

Charlotte and Wilbur. Both see each other in a way that others do not see. Charlotte's promise. A promise that comprise of trust and love. The journey that Charlotte and Wilbur shared. A journey that friends lay their lives for one another.

A beautiful story. Charlotte and Wilbur may be just fiction characters but I truly believe that this story of friendship can happen in our lives.

"Don't be naive, you can't find such friend in the world today."

"The story is fiction and meant for little children! You can't take that for real!"

Well, at the very least, I have such a love and friendship from God.

Charlotte and Wilbur.
God and me.

Charlotte’s promise to Wilbur.
God’s covenant with me.

Charlotte sees Wilbur in the way people do not see.
God sees me in the way that even I myself do not see.

Charlotte goes all the way, even to the competition despite her expectancy condition, for Wilbur to make sure he wins the prize. God goes all the way for me, even to the cross, to be a way to life.

This story is about friendship, is about love. What God has done on the cross is the demostration of His love.

Now I see what love is - love is not something words can describe; it is more than some emotional spike feeling. It is a motivation behind our action. If I pray without love, the action of praying is nothing. If I give without love, the act of giving is nothing. How does a heart turn cold? When the thing you do, you do it without love.

If Charlotte has not love, she will not have gone to this far to risk her life for a friend and Wilbur most probably will not live to see the snow. She need not keep her promise, if it is without love.

If God has not love, He will not have gone to this far to put His life down and most probably I will not see life as what it meant to be. He need not keep any covenant, if He is not Love.

Aren't all these actions inspired by love?

I thank God that He has revealed to me how cold I have been. Giving, but not loving. Praying but without love. I think it is part of the lesson I have to learn – doing things in love; reminding myself the motivation behind things.

Let every prayer we pray, be prayers with love in our heart; Let every act of giving, be givings out of the love in us; Let the gospel we share, be shared in love for others.

After all, the ability to feel is what differentiates a man from a robot... Let us love.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." #min#

Charlotte's Web: Revealing What The World Cannot See

Charlotte: Salutations!
Wilbur: Salu-what?
Charlotte: Salutations is my fancy way of saying hello!

I'm not a movie freak and hardly make it to 2-3 movies a year! Honestly, I didn't even know what I was going to watch till I met SM just 30mins before showtime! That's how interested I am with the reel world! But I must say, this is SOME STORY! Oh, I love it! Here's why:

Out of the compassion of one child, Fern, is the lease of life to an innocent Wilbur. She made a pig her pet! Can you beat that?! She dared to be different. She reached out for what she believed. She stood up for the unwanted; cared for it and loved it with all her heart.

Wilbur grasped her love, chasing about the school bus that very first day when he was deposited at Zukerman's farm. When he couldn't catch up, he did not fear. He knew that he knew that he knew that Fern would return for him. He trusted in her love for him and went about making friends, with confidence.

The geese, the sheep, the horse, the cows, the rat, they were all cautious of his friendliness. They had been living together in that barn, each minding their own business. There had been no life in the farm till then. Wilbur came with a different spirit: a free spirit, and introduced the colour of life to these self-respecting creatures. Boy, did he have fun! Playing in the rain; skidding in the mud; unwavering in his getting-to-know efforts.

All these while, Charlotte, up at the corner of the entrance way, was observing it all. She was disdained by the gang but Wilbur made her his friend. He saw in her a beauty that no one else in the farm did. She saw in him a purity and strength of character that others did not. She saw beyond what the naked eye can see, "Terrific is not what you do but who you are." This was the hallmark of the promise of FRIENDship.

Who is a friend? From the relationship between Wilbur and Charlotte, a friend is one who:

1. sees the real you before others do
2. unveils the you that others cannot see
3. hears and shares your cares and concerns
4. stands by you to cheer you on and problem-solve
5. sticks by you to the end

"Trust me, Wilbur. People are very gullible. They'll believe anything they see in print."

And this was exactly what Charlotte did. She weaved his character using what she has, her web, so that the world might know who he is. Right to the very end, she was with him at the County Fair, doing what she knew would be her last deed for her friend. Even Templeton, the self-seeking rat, could not help himself by then but to chip in his bit to save Wilbur's life. He combed the Fair for words, adjectives that Charlotte could choose from that best described Wilbur's personal quality. The snippet of paper writes: humble Glory... Remarkable...

"It's got to be REMARKABLE!" I thought. Here's the twist. Charlotte chose to spin HUMBLE. This was the truth. This was what she saw most of her friend. Wilbur's response, "Is that really me?" This speaks volumes for Charlotte's perceptive choice of word. Again, the people were drawn to this miracle. The miracle of an unseen spelling-spider whose work pointed to a pig that could not speak for itself. The outcome: Wilbur was crowned winner and there was glory to the Zukerman farm.

In the meanwhile, Charlotte, who was expecting, laid her eggs and was weak to the point of death. Wilbur was grieved but stood up to his promise of friendship. He could not save Charlotte from death but he did all he could to protect her sac. He wanted her spiderlings to know of her goodness and greatness.

The mark of true friendship couldn't be denied and it went beyond the bonds of two. The entire farm was moved to chip in to see that Charlotte's 514 eggs were safe till they hatched. And the day came, every one of them floating upward into the air, "weeeeeeeee...............eeeeeeee........." Even the horse who could not bear to face Charlotte for her "creepy" look embraced the little ones, against his fear for spiders. He too began to appreciate their beauty because of the beauty he saw in Charlotte!

Only 3 of 514 stayed remained in the farm: Joy, Aranea and Nellie.
1. Joy = Joy (self-explanatory!)
2. Aranea = Spider web (latin)
3. Nellie = Friendly charmer

This is testimony of the work and personality of one that led to a heritage and future for many thereafter. This is the power of one. What was unwelcomed for the longest of times became much loved for all times. Not only did Charlotte save a friend, by her who she is and what she did, she made an impact for her kind. She was the icon of unselfish and everlasting love. Her faithfulness towards Wilbur was the epitome of a true friendship: a covenant relationship.

It all began because she chose to believe in Wilbur. She saw beyond his appearance into his heart and nature. She revealed what the world could not naturally see. How does this speak to you of your relationship with God? Your relationship with man, in particular, the not-so-easy-to-love ones? #nelle#

__________________

Check out these links for more about Charlotte's Web:
1. The Official Trailer and more Trailers: (1) and (2)
2. Some Commentaries: (1) and (2)
3. Quotes Quiz: Who Said What?

The Resurrected Life: Made Alive In Christ

(Ephesians 2:1-10, NIV)

1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

He first loved us that by grace through faith, we are saved. The act of receiving Christ into our hearts is the beginning of new dimension of life. From the realms of our body and mind that deals with sensory feelings, emotions and intellect, the realm of the spirit is open to us from within. What was dead (the spirit man in us) comes alive! By the Holy Spirit, we learn to submit and rise above the lusts of the world, the "cravings of our sinful nature." Though we are not made perfect in that moment, a process of perfecting rolls into action.

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

We are saved by faith to serve in faith. Saving faith is the gift of salvation demarking our change in position from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light; from sons of the world to sons of God. This gift we have in the very instant that we choose to accept Christ into our hearts. Serving faith is the process of persevering in holiness; the working of our salvation. With the position comes responsibilities and a different code of conduct. It is seeking, understanding and following God's Word and appointed ways. In both, we are sustained by the abundant grace of God for He has chosen us and not us who chose Him. Therefore, no one can boast.

10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We are not saved by works but FOR works. You are a person of significance. God has shaped and worked in you to be the person that can fulfill His plan for you. He had prepared for you the There is something that fits your life-in-the-spirit hand in glove; something that you are called to do uniquely. God has thought of you, created, formed and shaped you to be a man/woman with a destiny of greatness!

The greatest quest of our lives is thus to find this calling and to respond to it! The purpose of life is to discover the things that which God has prepared for you to live in and out. Until we what is uniquely us, we live life amiss. A voice inside us tells us, "Everything's good but still... something's missing..."