I asked them what they were doing going to the mall (which was my destination as well), and they replied that they were planning to see the movie and invited me to go along. At first I was tempted to decline; this would equivocal to social suicide, or at the very least a few months of hard teasing from a number of my friends, after all. However, my desire to do something exciting with my night won out, and I quickly agreed to go along with them. I figured I would at the very least learn something relatively culturally relevant out of going, even if it was a culture most people chose to despise. What I found in the movie I was pleasantly surprised with.
For those who don't know, the movie is actually a documentary about Beiber, and more than hearing only about the rise of a musical sensation, I saw a fun loving kid who had been blessed with a musical talent and love from a very young age. The home videos of this child touched me deeply in many ways. One of the ways that they touched me was by moving my desire to have a child or children whom God blesses. It may seem weird, but watching young Beiber grow up to be a sensation got me thinking about when I have kids, I want them to be liked and to find something that they love doing and are good at. I don't know how much more there is to write on this; the desire is so deeply personal that I probably couldn't do it justice.
But the fun loving Beiber also encouraged me in the way he and those around him live life. They want to be a blessing to others and to point others towards hope. Before shows one of the managers typically goes out to hand out free tickets to girls (typically; that is the fan basis), and these aren't back seat ones either. Typically they are in the front row. On top of that, one of his traditions with one of his songs, the title of which is escaping me right now (I've just started listening to his music), is to bring up a girl to the stage and serenade her with it. You can see the joy expressed on the faces of those whom he blesses in such an unbridled way. They can't contain it.
When you combine their actions into his music you can hear the same heart. It may sound like shallow teenage relationship music, and on some level it is, but there is a reason we struggle with such things as young people; our interpersonal relationships with others are important. We forget how far encouraging words and actions go. We forget that inside peoples facades of confidence and self-dependance, we all want to be enjoyed and noticed. In our younger teenage years this is expressed in trying to find a member of the opposite gender to fill the gap, but I saw in Beiber's documentary just how far having a loving and supportive family and cast got him. They were people that believed he could do great things and encouraged him to reach for them rather than stifling him with doubts.
I dunno, I'm sounding kinda rambly, and that's because it's past midnight here, but it's also because there were so many things that this movie caused me to think about and ways that it encouraged me to be encouraging and to love life and those around me living it. I've determined to write a commitment to myself to work towards my own hopes and desires in faith in the Lord, and one of those desires is to provide encouragement to others. Much like Beiber, I would like to do it through music and entertainment. Rather than contributing to discouragement in the world through criticism, though I admit there is place for criticism, I want to build up. If you're wondering what I'm talking about because, as I've said, I've been a bit rambly, just go see the movie. You won't likely regret it. Shalom.
