Inception

What is Inception?  A great movie, to start with.  I loved this movie--it engaged the mind and made me think, as well as being an intense, action-packed drama that I was never sure exactly where it was going to end up.  My expectations were through the roof when I walked into the theater, and it exceeded every one.  It even made me like Ellen Page, which is quite a step for me!

  Inception is the process of planting an idea inside of someone's mind.  The entire movie is based upon dreams, and how one can invade dreams and steal ideas.  Leonardo DiCaprio is the main character, filled with grief for his former wife, longing to see his children, and surrounded by a team that plans to construct dream worlds to plant an idea in their target's mind.

  The debate I've had ever since I saw this movie has been this:  what was true, and what was a dream.  I'm not sure where the line was.  And I believe this is where the movie becomes more than just idle entertainment.

  What is Truth?  Jesus Christ--I am the way, the truth and the life--it's right there in John 14:6.

  So what is the dream?  What is not real?  How do we ensure we are following Christ and not living in some dream world?  That is where the question hits home for me--how much of my life is centered upon the reality of Christ, and how much is a constructed reality, a dream world, in which the object of my worship is not Christ, but rather some carefully substituted idol, but I haven't even noticed the change, and live comfortably unaware of Christ's presence in my life?

  I think the way to ensure that we aren't wandering in some dream world, ignoring the Truth of Christ, is to continue to study the Scriptures.  The best way to know how our life reflects God is to hold up the stories of God to our life and see how they match up.  Do we reflect the love of God, as God has revealed to us throughout our history, throughout the Gospels?  Or are we a poor reflection of what a disciple should be?  In the Bible we see what Truth is--and it lights the path before us.

  We also need to pray.  In our prayers we ask for the strength to continue to fight, to struggle for God.  We confess the times in which we have turned astray, and we set aside some time to be silent and listen.  In prayer, we communicate with God, and we re-align ourselves to God, to Truth.

  Inception is a great movie, but I think it is made richer by the fact that it points me to examine my own life, to see where I am falling for dreams and not pursuing the true reality of life in Jesus Christ.