We need to talk about Bruno
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT by Rev Andrew Barrie, minister of Pulteneytown and Thrumster Church
Recently, there has been a surprise No.1 in the UK charts. We Don’t Talk About Bruno is a classic ear-worm from Disney’s latest movie, Encanto.
Bruno is a member of the magical Madrigal family, shunned because of his disturbing but true visions of the future. The movie’s plot pivots on one of these visions concerning the heroine Mirabel. She is the key to the future of their enchanted house and enigmatic family. But will their destiny be ruin or restoration? I’ll let you watch the film (or guess, it’s a Disney film after all).
Christians are a bit like “Brunos” in our world today. Not only do we insist on believing what the bible says about Jesus Christ – which makes many uncomfortable – an innate part of our faith is to share what Jesus says. Like Bruno, it is precisely because it is true but disturbing that we have to share it.
In the bible we have a message that makes sense of life in our strange world, of us and tells us about God who directs and rules it all. Who, in Jesus, came to this earth and tells us, disturbingly, that we have turned from God and find ourselves deserving of His judgement.
However, his mission was not to condemn but rescue. In coming to die on the cross he paid the punishment we deserved for our sin and offers us a new relationship with God and a power to be transformed, knowing life in the fullness that God intends.
Like Bruno in the film, I recognise that this disturbs us and it may be more comfortable to write off Christians as “crazy” or deluded. But, as Mirabel finds, embracing the hard truth and making her own decisions about her destiny in light of it, can lead to fulfilment and satisfaction.
