11.19.09

twilight and the Bible

Posted in Randomness at 10:40 pm by SapphiraAdi

In honor of the newest Twilight movie coming out I thought I’d post this now. It’s been something I’ve been writing since a month or so ago. One night on the way home from driving Makari and Isaiah to Driver’s Ed I was telling Isaiah about the speech I heard at Liberty University about living life loved (see previous post) and somehow got on the topic of Twilight. After talking for a bit Isaiah and I had this profound revelation about how Twilight and the Bible fit together. (: We realized that a lot of the things that happen in Twilight and the love Edward and Bella have for each other is a lot like God and His love for us.

So I re-read Twilight and New Moon looking for all the ways that Edward was like God, and the ways that Bella was like us. Needless to say… there’s a lot. Some of the ways aren’t written out in quotes from the book, a lot are just understood from the ways that Edward and Bella interact, but I found quite a few quotes from those two books that I thought showed the comparison. (:

I know that Edward is not perfect, but Bella believes him to be and she doesn’t understand how someone so perfect could so completely love someone as ordinary as her. “‘I’m absolutely ordinary…and look at you.’ I waved my hand toward him and all his bewildering perfection.” (Twilight 210) It’s like how I sometimes feel when I picture myself with God. How could God, who IS perfect, perfect in love, mercy, compassion, kindness, justice, etc, love such an imperfect person like me? There’s no logical reason for God to love me, certainly not because of anything I’ve done, and yet, for unfathomable reasons, He does. Bella can’t do anything half as good as Edward does, “Edward can do everything, right?” (Twilight 325) and doesn’t see how she can compare to him, but he still loves her because of who she is (and how she smells. lol), not because of what she does. – “Do I dazzle you?” “Frequently,” [Bella] admitted. (Twilight 168)

“It was amazing how instantaneously the choking fear vanished, amazing how suddenly the feeling of security washed over me – even before I was off the street – as soon as I heard his voice.” (Twilight 162) Is that how you feel when you hear God’s voice? When you know that He’s there with you, do you feel your fear vanishing and security washing over you? Because God is more in control of your life and can protect you more then Edward, or any guy, ever could. I think that while we say we believe God’s in control, sometimes we don’t act like it. I’m not saying that you can do whatever you want because God will protect you, “He’s given you a BRAIN, use it.” (Johhnie Moore, Campus Pastor at Liberty), just don’t let fear control you. Fear of things unknown. Fear of failure. Fear of the future. “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” Philippians 4:6-7 (The Message) Something else to think about, what if we felt anxious when we didn’t talk to God for a while? What if when you didn’t read your bible one day, you didn’t like it, it made you anxious, not having had a conversation with God. “I didn’t like it. Not seeing you [Edward]. It makes me anxious, too.” (Twilight 190)

One of my favourite parts of the second book is at the end. For the sake of not giving anything away, the short story is Edward can’t believe that Bella would so easily believe he didn’t love her… and I think we do the same with God. He tells us He loves us over and over and over again, but then someone says “Oh God can’t love you. You’ve sinned too much.” “You’re not worth anything.” “No one could love you.” “[insert other lie here]” And we start to feel unlovable, unworthy of love, worthless. But God’s up in heaven saying the same thing Edward told Bella.

“But how could you believe me? After all the thousand times I’ve told you I love you, how could you let one word break your faith in me?
“I could see it in your eyes, that you honestly believed that I didn’t want you anymore. The most absurd, ridiculous concept – as if there were any way that I could exist without needing you!
“I’m here and I love you. I have always loved you, and I will always love you…
“You don’t believe me do you?” [Edward] whispered, “Why can you believe the lie, but not the truth?”
“It never made sense for you to love me,” [Bella] explained, “I always knew that.” (NM 510-511)

We can’t even begin to comprehend how much God loves us, because in all honesty it doesn’t make sense for Him to love us. But thats the most wonderful part about it. That “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (NIV) There’s nothing that we can do to deserve His love and there is nothing we can do that will take that love away. “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-29 (NIV)

This isn’t about Edward and Bella, but I loved this line. (: “It was Jacob himself. Jacob was simply a perpetually happy person, and he carried that happiness with him like an aura, sharing it with whoever was near him. Like an earthbound sun, whenever someone was within his gravitational pull, Jacob warmed them. It was natural, a part of who he was.” (NM 145) What if we lived like that? What if when people saw us they thought that about us? We should have some sort of “aura” that would attract people to us. People should be able to see a difference in us from the rest of the world. Do you attract people to you? Do people want to be with you?

Last little thing, “But how could I let him give me things when I had nothing to reciprocate with? He, for some unfathomable reason, wanted to be with me. Anything he gave me on top of that just threw us more out of balance.” (NM 13) God loves to bless us and give us good things. But there is nothing we can give God that He doesn’t already have. I sometimes feel like that, God blesses me with all sorts of good, wonderful things and I feel so insignificant because I can’t give Him anything in return. But that’s the beauty of it. He just wants me. He wants me to love Him in return and to be His child. His lover. His bride. To quote my friend Josh, “And that is why He has pursued you, not because you have anything to offer Him but because He has everything to offer you.”
That is the Great Romance.

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