Finding God In A Pixar Movie – Josh Journal
I was listening to the chief creative officer of Pixar, Peter Docter’s interview on the podcast, People I (Mostly) Admire.
In his conversation with Steven Levitt, he made a lot of interesting points. Of all these, the one that stuck with me the most was when he mentioned rediscovering and reaffirming his faith while working on Pixar’s new movie, Soul.
I have not seen the movie, but based on that one point, you can be sure that I’ll be seeing it soon.
The fact that Jon Batiste, the bandleader on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert was involved in the music composition and performance makes me even more interested.
Hearing Peter Docter talk about his faith reminded me of other celebs I’ve seen do the same.
For a few years now, being an atheist or replacing God with the Universe has become the new cool. People who have professed to be Christians for years, suddenly realign their faith and subtract God from it is worrying.
This is one of the reasons I love and respect Steven Colbert. He is not shy about his faith. He is never hesitant to bring it up, discuss it, or defend it.
The fact that he is respectful of other’s choices, yet defend his faith intelligently is admirable to me.
I’ve seen him engage with famous atheists like Ricky Gervais and Neil deGrasse Tyson. In fact, they are probably his favourite guests.
Their conversations are usually long, insightful, explosive, yet friendly. And he is always ready to welcome them again.
This has not stopped him from speaking up against abuse and misuse of the Christian religion. He is as vocal in its criticism as he is in its defence.
The fact that his show has been within the top nightly talk show in America since he took over, reassures me that you can be in Hollywood and still be a believing and practising Christian.
Watching Letitia Wright navigate her new found faith has also been encouraging. She would acknowledge that she hasn’t been the definition of perfection, but that hasn’t stopped her from living her faith still.
If one of the topmost Pixar director, TV personality, and actress in Hollywood can keep their careers while being Christian, then you can too.
A more important lesson for me is that as Christians, we have no idea how far God will go to bring one person to Himself.
We all believe God works in mysterious ways, but we don’t think one of such ways could be a Pixar movie. Or an Eminem, DMX, or Macklemore song.
There is a line from one of Macklemore’s song that has stuck with me since I first heard it over five years ago. “I found God in my Walkman.”
In the context of the song, one can pass it off as just a rhyme. Or one can sit with it and realize that God isn’t boxed into only gospel music.
If you open your heart and work diligently, you may not only find God in your handiwork. Others could find God through the work of your hands.
You might not be making the next Pixar movie or Grammy-winning song. But your next product can still direct at least, one soul, to God.
Wilson Joshua is a Video Editor, Content Creator, and Creative Writer.
You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. @IJOSWIL
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