About "Thor: God of Thunder"

THIS WEEK has been long and busy. Right now I'm blogging at 11:32 PM the night before my Physics AP, because that's a great decision. Actually, it's because I haven't had a spare minute all day, but that's fine.

This was the week I started taking my senior year AP and IB tests, each of which last several hours. They're not fun, but I have a strategy: Study, Pray, Win. This strategy really works.

For example, in my Latin AP test on Thursday, a real miracle occurred. My phone, which was off in my purse on the far side of the school gym, sounded an alarm at 4:00 DURING my test. This alarm was to remind me to call my grandma and read her a Bible passage. I was horrified, because when phones make sounds during AP tests, people's tests get invalidated. I looked at my proctor, the strictest faculty member in the school, and then back down at my essays. I prayed and prayed that she wouldn't hear it, that she wouldn't do anything. The alarm got louder and longer. But she just sat there. It went off nine minutes later, and again nine minutes after that. And I kept praying, trusting God that He saw I was depending on Him. And she never seemed to notice. The fear had made my hand move so fast that I finished my test five minutes early. I don't know whether she couldn't hear it or whether she didn't care, but either way it is a miracle as far as I'm concerned, and I thank God for it.

This week hasn't all been work, though. Today I cooled off from volunteering at the Art Festival in Ponte Vedra by going to my cousin's birthday party. In a way, I guess I did as my English teacher advised: she said not to cram the night before a test, but just do something to relax. I'm glad I did. After the party we watched a movie called "Thor: God of Thunder," which, as you may have guessed, does not sound like a movie I'd like to see. I was pretty positive I didn't want to see it. But it was funny and interesting, and I'm actually glad I went.

There was one scene in this movie that really got my attention. It's one of the many climaxes, when Thor has told all of his friends to go at a distance while he confronts a monster by himself. I couldn't help but notice the Christian imagery that made its way into this scene.

Thor confronts this monster, sent by his jealous brother, meaning to give himself in the place of the people of the city the monster was destroying. Reasoning with his brother, he seems for a moment to have turned aside his wrath as the flame inside the monster suddenly cools. But then the metal beast backhands him in the face, sending him hundreds of feet away, and he dies. From galaxies away, his half-conscious father, king of the immortals, sees what he has done and the hammer of Thor is suddenly returned to its owner, restoring both his life and his power, so that he is able to destroy the monster before returning to his home realm.

Now that I type it out, it seems really weird. But think about it for a minute. Take away all the Nordic mythology and legendary splendor, and you get a story pretty similar to that of Jesus' sacrifice.

Jesus knew that if He laid His own life down, it would save countless lives. So He died to save us from our sins (the monster in the story). But death could not contain Him. After His sacrifice had been made, God resurrected Jesus, His humanly form, to conquer sin, the monster, entirely. Soon after, He rose up into heaven, promising to return.

There are a lot of differences between Thor and Jesus. A lot. Like the fact that Jesus is God in Man, and Thor is just a strong prince from a far away realm. Jesus is completely righteous, and Thor is cocky and proud. Jesus dies to save criminals (everyone), and Thor died to save innocents.

It's something to think about. Maybe there is, buried inside the plotline of "Thor: God of Thunder," a greater story to be told, one that is more than a legend.