And we’re all getting older…
That’s why I rely on certain certainties
Yes, some things never change
Like the feel of your hand in mine
Some things stay the same
Like how we get along just fine
Like an old stone wall that’ll never fall
Some things are always true…
Yeah, some things never change
Like the love that I feel for her…
We’ll always live in the kingdom of plenty
That stands for the good of the many
And I promise you the flag of Arendelle will always fly
~ Robert Lopez and Kristen Jane Anderson, “Some Things Never Change”
I’m not a Disney boycotter, clearly. I do deliberately put a check on my kids’ absorption of deceptive Disney values (ie, “Follow your heart”) by purposeful conversation and the kind of insertion of parental commentary during movies that every kid loves (“Well that was a stupid thing to do. Realistically, that wouldn’t turn out well, would it?”).
But I do really like Frozen.
Admittedly, Frozen II is pretty weird with its elemental spirits and complicated secret-magical-revenge storyline. But Olaf! And Sven! So cute. And the original Frozen has a fantastic ending.
And more than one song will get stuck in your head for the rest of your life.
So I enjoy the sweetness of Anna singing to Olaf and Kristoff resolving to propose. And it’s a lovely tune. And I’ll cheerfully hum it around the house.
But my goodness, those lyrics are dumb if you think about it.
Olaf and Anna agree that the season is changing into fall, but declare that “some things never change”—and proceed to list a bunch of things that do change. “The feel of your hand in mine”—but with age comes stiffness, wrinkles, and arthritis, changing the way our hands feel. “How we get along just fine”—if you haven’t had a fallout with a friend, or certainly with a spouse, you haven’t been together very long. “Old stone walls” are actually known for crumbling and falling into mossy dust. “The love that I feel for her”—Kristoff, if you think marriage means you always feel love for each other, you seriously need to sign up for some good premarital counseling.
And that last part, “We’ll always live in the kingdom of plenty / That stands for the good of the many / And I promise you the flag of Arendelle will always fly”? That’s as charming-sounding and stupid as Lee Melvin Greenwood in “God Bless the USA” singing, “’Cause the flag still stands for freedom / And they can’t take that away.” Freedom is about the easiest thing to take away, and the trajectory of nations, I assure you, Elsa, is not toward “the good of the many.”
How grateful I am that I rely on certain other certainties.
Come, behold the wondrous mystery:
Slain by death, the God of life;
But no grave could e’er restrain Him,
Praise the Lord, He is alive!
What a foretaste of deliverance;
How unwavering our hope:
Christ in power resurrected;
As we will be when He comes.
~ Matt Papa, Matt Boswell, and Michael Bleecker, “Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery”
Even my experience of hope is not unwavering; the object of my hope is. My hope is unwavering because I don’t rely on my friends always liking me or my country being virtuous (hahaha). My hope is unwavering because nothing will ever change the fact that Jesus rose from the grave as a foretaste of my own deliverance. Praise the Lord, He is alive. Some things never change.
