Fairy Tale God

“I don’t want my daughter to listen to fairy tales,” I’ve heard mothers say.  “I don’t want her to think that she’s some helpless girl who needs to get rescued by a man.”  Perhaps that’s what fairy tales appear to teach if you look at them on the surface.  But is there more we can learn from these age-old stories – and is that why they persist decade after decade, century after century?

If we a look a little more deeply into these stories, perhaps we’ll see that Cinderella is not just some girl with problems – and that Prince Charming is not merely a capable man who frees her from her oppressed life.

From a Christian perspective, Cinderella is all of us, male and female.  Through no fault of her own, she is an overworked human being trapped in the earthly bindings of her circumstances, with never enough time, never enough money, and no end in sight.  Who cannot relate to her?  Many characters in fairy tales, including the films we love so much, find themselves caught under spells brought on by others’ greed, envy, ambitions, unsparing family members and more. 

I would ask you to look at the stories this way:  Cinderella’s life is not transformed by the love of a prince; Cinderella is in fact restored to her true nature through her faith and the kiss of True Love.  There is only one True Love, here expressed by the Prince:  that is the love of God.

Death and resurrection play major roles in fairy tales.  Sleeping Beauty is seemingly dead, as is Snow White.  And these two are raised up again by the True Love that seeks them out, as Christ seeks us.  In the original story, The Little Mermaid does in fact die in an act of self-sacrifice – and she too resurrects as a kind of angel because of her faith.

This death and resurrection is not reserved for women.  Beauty and the Beast is a dazzling example of a man whose inner life goes astray, imprisoning him in a worldly spell that can only be broken by Princess Charming.  This powerful story touches many hearts.  Who hasn’t known someone caught in the trappings of ambition, or an addiction, or the illusions of this world, defining himself by job title or bank account?  Or a person made a lonely beast because of a lack of gratitude in their life?  Through Belle’s love the Beast is transformed, radiant, resplendent – a new creation resurrected before our eyes.

Don't give up on fairy tales.  I do not believe that they’re by-gone stories outdated for today’s progressive kids.  Rather, look at them for guidance, for role models.  By all means, read them to your children, boys and girls, and ask them if they can see where Jesus is in the story… and how His love works to make all things new.