By G. P. Avants

 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 didn’t skip a beat right from the start. It laid down a sound track that made you want to get up and dance. (That is if course if you are the type who dances.)

 

As Star Lord and crew prepares to defend a power station for a race known as the Sentinels, Baby Groot cranks up the ELO song. Mr. Blue Sky. He dances in complete oblivion to the battle and carnage happening around him. Groot is innocent to the horrors in life. That happy innocence reminds his adopted family that a baby radically changes the way we do business as usual. His dis-functional family will do everything to shelter him from a what could wilt and hurt his little plant-self. And Baby Groot does know two things: these four people are his family and wherever they are, “We are Groot.” Yes, this little creature knows nothing about deception, hatred, or bitterness in the wild universe battling around him.

That protective bubble doesn’t last forever. The family is soon separated and Baby Groot is exposed to people, to the Renegade Ravengers, who taunt, torment, and attempt to dress him up as one of their own. Groot learns that in this imperfect life people can be cruel and have no regard for family or respect for others. Baring his teeth, Groot learned how to grow some thicker skin in order to protect the sanctity of family.  Maybe his taste of folks without the love of a family made him appreciate the imperfect one he had. One of the most touching scenes was when Baby Groot was able to hold, embrace, and show his love for his family. Even though Quill, Zamora, Drax, and Rocket regret what forced Groot to grow in ways that seem unfair, they know it is preparing him for taking on the realities of life ahead.

Talk about a topic that slices to the heart. This week my fifteen-year-old baby girl learned that life can be just at unfair. She was glossed over for a leadership roll in her Senior year that she was looking forward to. She was the natural choice, but favoritism and politics decided that position. Her innocence and heart could have hardened by this rejection. Or she could see this is part of this imperfect life. Just because you are trying to do good and love others like Jesus tells us to, we can still get the shaft. Well, the truth is, so did He.

If you think about it, in a high-technology, mechanically-dependent society, the beauty and life found in God’s creation is easily passed by dancing to the tune of other things. Groot really embodies that reminder that if we need to protect the real life sprouting up around us and inside of our lives. Get back to the dance that once made our hearts want to sing. Because the real life in Christ will not roll over and die when things get tough. This is when we see what love is truly capable of in the midst of our worst times.

 

The question is do you let life turn you blue or do you see it as a way to grow and stay green?