An Amazing Creation Sequence With a Surprising Twist
I have not yet seen the film The Tree of Life although the title alone draws my interest. This particular sequence depicts the creation in a manner that is very similar to the creation sequence in the presentation of the LDS temple endowment. In both instances, we see the earth being organized and life appearing.
In this Hollywood version, we see the process of evolution being depicted and I realize that some people might have a problem with that. Personally, I do not have any problems with evolution being part of the creation process (that’s a whole other subject) but if you do, I invite you to focus on the symbolism, the principles and overall beauty of the story being told here and the surprising little gem towards the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EEIeH7ymwA
At 12 minutes in you have this really powerful and thought-provoking scene that seems to be symbolically depicting the first act of grace or mercy where one dinosaur decides to not kill another one that is evidently injured or dying. What makes the scene striking is how such a thing does not fit within the law of the jungle.
In a creative twist, showing an act of mercy coming from a dinosaur rather than a human is making a bold statement. It is unexpected and makes the principle stand out even more.
It is a moment where compassion, this sense of caring and love enters the scene of creation for the first time. Like the temple video, I think we can pause on being literalistic and appreciate the principles being symbolically illustrated. Indeed, if we are to be instructed by symbolic teaching at all, we must suspend literalism and learn to view things from many facets.
All in all, I absolutely love this entire sequence and was quite amazed to find something of this nature coming out of Hollywood.
That is cool! Among the thoughts that came to mind watching that is just how important our time in mortality actually is. Vast amounts of time have past in preparation of the environment we find ourselves in in mortality. The plan of salvation is not just some whim of Heavely Father’s. It is His work and His glory! For the most part, we haven’t learned who we really are, and when we are show glimpses of it, we don’t want to believe it. Thanks for sharing this. It has started a line of pondering thought that I am excited to see where it leads.
Please share here if you have any cool insights that you feel would be appropriate for a public audience.