Symbolism of the Easter Story and the Movie Whale Rider

Easter Story

I think the message of the Easter story is “Hope”. In the Gospels, Jesus Christ is the hope that has come into our reality. His light can sparkle in any murkiness in our lives. Easter announces that he has gone through the darkness of the cross, passing itself, to become alive once again. The theme of hope is presented in John 20. Hope is strength, Hope is trust, Hope is patience and encouraging. In times you are struggling or in trouble, we should wait for the Lord who will turn things around. And This wait happened in the Easter story when Mary waited patiently and trusted in the lord and believed that the Lord will not leave his children without an answer.

The theme of hope is explored in John 20:2, “So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” That last statement informs us that they had no idea that they would find an empty tomb, they figured that the religious Jews would have taken the body. Simon Peter was broken because of his denial of the Lord, and now comes words of uncertainty. Even though John does not include the other women in this narrative, we know they are there because of the other gospel accounts and because he uses the word “we” as Mary explains the events that transpired at the tomb site. The darkest day in all of creation gives way to the brightest. And this shows that they had hope of finding Jesus.

A passage written by a student from Columbia high school mentions in her passage that “We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often”. I think that in this generation we should be able to uplift each other and love each other and share more positivity rather than negativity in this world. It shows that we have more hate than love, that we tear each other down, that we don’t love or show love enough, that we talk too much and believe what we want to hear and not listen and understand where the person is coming from. We need to be more mindful of others feelings and show more kindness in this toxic world we live in before it's too late.

Cross Explanation

The cross that I’ve displayed is black with white and red writing, I’ve put a bible verse that I thought was really important to me, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God ( 2 Corinthians 5:21). So, the verse appears to be saying that God made Jesus to be sin for us and that we must accept that somehow God actually made Jesus be sin for us. In my cross, I’ve written a word that not only I but my friends and family experience in their everyday life “racism”. It sucks that you get treated differently because you have a different skin tone because you don’t come from the same place as others and I believe that that’s not what god would’ve wanted, I know that God would’ve wanted everyone to be treated equally with respect for one another.

Another word that also stuck out to me was greed and selfishness. Greed has nothing to do with money. It's our take that we're only greedy for money. But in general, we're greedy for everything. For instance, if you're receiving love and care, you won't be thankful and satisfied instead you'll desire more. You'll never feel content. Today, Ambani is one of the richest men in India. And casually we say, he doesn't need anything, he has more than enough. But still, he is greedy, greedy to be the richest person in the world. So, greed is nothing, but a state of mind. And we need to change this mentality.

Whale Rider

Whale Rider is a dramatic film based on the novel by Witi Ihimaera. Whale Rider is about a girl named after Paikea - who was an ancestor that rode the whales. Paikea had a twin who had died at birth. Her grandfather was disappointed because he needed a boy to lead their tribe. Koro (grandfather) disapproves of Pai as a leader but she does not give up. In the end, Pai shows Koro that she can lead the tribe by riding the whales. Pai has proved that females can lead as well as males. The plot summary is realistic and the film whale rider moves steadily in time & docent use any flashbacks. Told through the eyes of Pai this film tells the classic story of Maori history & Myths.

Pai is a great prime example of what Jesus was like as Jesus was brave, courageous, hopeful and faithful. Jesus didn’t give up on his people and Pai didn’t give up on proving to everyone that you can do just as good as a male leader so the similarities that these two stories show is braveness and hope. Watching this movie helps break any stereotypes or misconceptions of aboriginal practices and perspectives. On the surface, I’ve made my own misconceptions on the meaning behind the symbolic meanings of statues, chants etc. In order to break these misconceptions, I think it's important to integrate a better understanding and respect for the aboriginal practices within schools.