Beauty for Ashes

Beauty for Ashes

My mentee and I recently went to see the new movie, Cinderella.  I enjoyed the new take on this classic tale that is told from one generation of girls to the next.  What is its appeal that draws the female's attention and never seems to get old or outdated?  What is the common thread that weaves itself through the hearts of girls, both young & old?  What is it about the story of an orphaned child left in the care (or lack thereof) of a cruel stepmother that resonates within us?  What makes a young woman subjected to daily beratings, forced servitude, and life among the ashes, with rodents as her only companions, our hero?

Well, I think in short she is US.  She is me, she is you, she is every girl, and every woman since the creation of Eve.  Females with tender hearts living in a cruel, cruel world, often discarded to the ash-heap of life.  We want so terribly for her to win, we want to see her rise from the ashes and claim her rightful inheritance in her father's house.  We long for love to find her, we want adoring eyes to see her value and worth hidden beneath the smudged face, the calloused hands, and the tattered clothing.  This is a story that goes deep to the heart of our feminine wound, the deep soul injury created by our first mother's act of disobedience in reaching for that forbidden fruit. 

Each year I eagerly awaited this Rogers & Hammerstein version to come on TV

One thing I liked about this new movie is that it gives the audience more background information.  We are introduced to the little girl, Ella (her name before life in the cinders), who lives with her wealthy parents on their beautiful estate.  She is a carefree child who is warmly nurtured and loved by her parents.  From her earliest memories, her mother's words to her were to always be "kind" and have "courage."  When Ella is 12-years-old, her idyllic world comes crashing down when her beloved mother dies.  On her death-bed, the mother calls for her child and asks her to promise to always be "kind" and have "courage."  The child, with tears streaming down her cherub face, promises.

As the story progresses, it tells the tale we are all well acquainted with.  There is the wicked stepmother, the evil step-sisters, their cruel behavior, and the humiliating nickname they bestow upon her out of jealousy, Cinderella.   We witness the young Cinderella stay true to her promise.  She remains kind in the face of indignity.  As hard as they try, they are not able to break her spirit.  She courageously continues to believe in goodness, love, and in dreams come true.

During one scene, as the stepmother lashes out at Cinderella in a fit of envious rage, she reveals her own heart wound.  The deep disappointments that she has experienced through the deaths of not one, but two husbands.  She fears her waning beauty and her financial future. She expresses displeasure at the lack of natural beauty and feminine charm in her own two daughters.  As she vents her bitterness, you come to understand that Cinderella represents everything to her that she had hoped for and lost. 

Of course, the ending of this story is a happy one.  Cinderella experiences a transcendent moment with a fairy-godmother and is transformed into the princess who wins the prince's heart.  All the girls and women in the audience let out a collective sigh as they rise from their seats with a smile, all is redeemed and as it should be.

This movie provides us with the portrait of two women, each deeply wounded, and how they respond to the cruel blows life inflicts upon them.  The one becomes full of rage and bitterness.  She is defensive and full of jealousy.  She is hard-hearted and cruel; and in the end, she is never heard of again.  The other responds to her loss with "kindness and courage."  Courage to keep her heart open and to continue to hope, even in the midst of her own suffering.  She is somebody whose own pain enlarges, rather than diminishes her capacity to love and feel compassion.  She lives happily ever after.

On the way home, Markita and I had opportunity to talk about the words, " kindness" and "courage," and how we might apply them to our own lives.  How do we respond to hurt?  What does a vulnerable feminine heart look like?  What of a courageous one? Actually, I think the lesson was more mine than hers.  Life has been tough on my feminine soul and at times I've caught myself raging in response.

This movie serves as a metaphor for the Kingdom of Heaven; and therein lies its appeal.  Written into the very fiber of our DNA, we know something terrible has occurred.  We have lost claim to our inheritance and are living in a world ruled by an evil authority.   We are all longing for the embrace of a true love, for the restoration of all things, and for the dream that really does come true.

"Will love ever find me beneath the soot?" The question that reverberates throughout the hearts of all women throughout all ages.

We long for thy kingdom come ...on earth as it is in heaven.

He has come, the prince has come and all has been restored!

The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me. 

 He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives,  pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace, 

a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—
    and to comfort all who mourn,
To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,
    to give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes....

  

Isaiah 61:1-3:  (The Message Bible)

Oh, come, great Prince

You who sees beauty beneath the soot

Come and quench the longings of our heart

With your great love

Beauty for ashes 

You restore all things.

Musical Inspiration:  Beautiful Things by Gungor