Absolutely Alice

Last night I watched the "new" Alice in Wonderland. It was weird, definitely, but it made me think, which is a sign of a good movie. It took me a long time to figure out that it was more of a sequel to the original than a remake. But anyway, this post is not meant to be a review of the movie, but more of my insights from watching it.

I love the line that Charles Kingsly tells Alice and Alice shares with the Mad Hatter: "I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are." As Catholics, we are called to live our lives in a way that makes no sense to those who do not know Christ. Some are called to live lives in vocations that the world will never understand, to give up everything the world calls good. We are seen as completely mad, but that is a good sign.
"You used to be much more..."muchier." You've lost your muchness." After the Mad Hatter tells Alice this, she tries to prove she still has her "muchness." She starts taking risks again and standing her ground. Children take so many more risks than adults, they trust that they won't make mistakes or that their mistakes will be fixable. That "muchness" is important. You can't succeed without taking risks.
"Who's to say what is "proper"? What if it was agreed that "proper" was wearing a codfish on your head? Would you wear it?" I can't really explain my impression of this, so I'll just share it.

But most of all what struck me was the caterpillar, Absolem's remarks to Alice through out the movie. First he says she is "hardly Alice," then "almost Alice." By the end of the movie, he declares that she is "absolutely Alice." This seems to me to fit our ideas as Catholics. We believe that as we grow in our faith we become more of who we are called to be. So as we start our journey, we are like Alice, not very sure of who we are. Remarks from others can easily confuse us, such as the people who told her she wasn't Alice. The closer we grow to Jesus and knowing the Father's will for us, makes us more certain of who we are in His eyes, more certain of our true self. Then, when we are really living as Christ, like the saints did, we are absolutely true selves, who Christ called us to be. This lent I'm really striving to become absolutely who He wants me to be.

Pax Christi!