Looking at “The Karate Kid” with fresh eyes revealed an amazing perspective I had never considered before, outlined in Wax On, Wax Off. Mr. Miyagi portrays a good father, revealed in his relationship with Daniel as well as his training techniques.
The Revelation for Me
Learning JPII’s masterwork…Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body…took me down a similar road of discovering something new within the familiar. I first heard this message on a series of audio tapes just after graduating college as I was driving to a friend’s bridal shower in Chicago. I remember the message in some ways shocking me in its beauty and positive nature. JPII’s genius (the Holy Spirit working in him) transformed my view of the Church, love, relationships and Jesus himself. For me, it was very similar to Daniel’s moment when he realized Mr. Miyagi’s true intentions, waxing off and on for a “higher purpose.”
Behold Genesis Anew
St. John Paul II was given, by God, a new way to see Genesis, a unique development that no other theologian in history has published. This view of Scripture does not change the Bible or teaching, but takes them to another level and permeates the entire story of salvation history. JPII shared this gift with each of us. For those of us who have learned it in depth, we know it will transform the Church and the world once it is embraced.
Healing Balm for the Current Culture
Too often, God the Father is viewed as a taskmaster with rigid morality and rules. Since the 1960’s, popular culture believes that happiness comes from chucking the rules and authority, especially any guidance or help of God the Father. As a child of the 80’s, I started noticing by the late 90’s that this mentality hasn’t created a happier world. Divorce rates have sky-rocketed and young people are more miserable than ever. Walking away from the “good father” leads to many young people wandering, trying to figure out everything on their own, without the guidance or help available to them.
Can You Imagine?
What if we saw God first as foremost as a good father? What if we saw Christ more like a passionate bridegroom pursuing his Bride (the Church, each of us) at all costs, willing to sacrifice everything for us, including the laying down of his life? What if our relationship was the primary lens through which we saw the Lord? What if the rules of the faith were seen more as “training” for something amazing, rather than a wet-blanket that ruins our fun?
If Daniel Changes the Story
Imagine Danielson quitting everything in the middle of sanding the floor. He just walks out, never to talk to Mr. Miyagi again, refusing to listen if he even tries to explain. Daniel believes the old man requires too much and isn’t training him the way he wants. That’s what most of our world has done to God the Father, trying to make this loving father absent in our lives (even as he never stops pursuing us). In a sad, alternate ending of the story, Daniel would never discover Mr. Miyagi’s ingenious training methods and, most importantly, never enjoy an intimate relationship with a good “father.”
Behold the Story Again
JPII’s masterwork invites us to behold the story of history and Scripture again, with new eyes. Try to see it through the lens of a relationship with a good father who stops at nothing to be with us (similar to “Finding Nemo”). His “training” is part of His desire to see us grow and do things we were not capable of doing before. We do a disservice to the work of JPII and to our relationship with the Lord, however, when we focus solely on morality and rules. This teaching offers us a new way of seeing everything and, if we are open, a new way of experiencing our relationship with Jesus. I invite you to explore and more deeply embrace this reality.
The best thing Danielson ever does is trusting Mr. Miyagi. Will trusting be our story, too?