In Disney Pixar’s movie Inside Out, we peek inside the emotional network of a young girl named Riley. Memories – represented by small spheres – are coded in different colours, thus compartmentalizing them into distinct emotional categories.
These categories are managed by the movie’s digitally animated characters of the same names: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger. As Riley experiences changes in her life, the emotions associated with her memories begin to blur. For instance, after Sadness touches some of her happy memories, experiences once governed by Joy begin to make Riley cry.
As adults, we recognize that combination of joy and sadness as the feeling of nostalgia; Riley and the figures in her emotional network need to learn this is a normal part of growing up. Characters Joy and Sadness end up working together to save Riley’s memories and acknowledge that memories can arouse an array of emotions.
In realizing emotions do not always exist in isolation, the movie reminds viewers it’s perfectly normal to cry when happy, or to feel sad remembering something or someone from the past which once brought us joy.
I thought of this film when a friend recently described a moving scene from the home of a Syrian refugee family she has been assisting. Since arriving in Canada, the young couple and their two children have received significant support from my friend’s community. People have arranged living accommodations, school registrations, health care for the pregnant mother, allowances for food purchases, English classes, and chauffeur services for appointments.
Life for this family has been overwhelming and stressful: moving to a new place, being surrounded by a different language, adjusting to new health care and school systems, doing without luxury items to which they may have been accustomed at some point in the past, and spending money given to them by others, which puts limits on their choices.
All of these changes come on the heels of difficult and probably traumatic experiences in their home country that we may not be able to even imagine. They have received help which I’m sure they appreciate. However, since they have lost their independence and some of their dignity, I can empathize with the feelings of helplessness the situation must arouse, especially for the parents.
A few weeks ago, some volunteers helped the family decorate their home for Christmas. Upon seeing a lovely Nativity scene displayed in his living room, the young father began to weep. Joy and sadness linked in that moment. After all he has endured, the happiness of recognizing something familiar and comforting was more than the man could bear.
Without words, that Nativity set linked two groups of people from completely different backgrounds and experiences. Quite probably it reminded the Syrian family that Christ and the hope of His birth are constants in this time of upheaval and transition. In the face of so much uncertainty, this family is clinging to faith.
God’s love knows no bounds. Christ’s humble birth in less-than-ideal circumstances reminds us all He is for everyone, regardless of our experiences, our language or our financial state. He brings love and joy, even in times of hardship, distress and sadness.
At Christmas many of us experience the collision of “Joy” and “Sadness.” We miss loved ones, whether they are departed, separated by distance, or even estranged. We remember people and shared experiences as we hang ornaments on our tree, as we look at old photos, and as we attend gatherings and church celebrations. We mourn the fact our children grow up, and we fear the financial and time restraints of a coming new year.
Yet, at the centre of Christmas is what life is about: God joining us and meeting us, right where we are. These feelings are summarized beautifully in the song All is Well, by Michael W. Smith and Wayne Kirkpatrick: All is well. All is well. Angels and men rejoice, for tonight, darkness fell into the dawn of love’s light … Lift up your voice. Lift voices and sing. Born is now Emmanuel. Born is our Lord and Saviour.
Through tears of sadness, through tears of joy, “Christ is come.”
Indeed, all is well.
