Storybook Land Month: Cinderella’s Choices
This week we continue our series in honor of Disneyland’s anniversary (on July 17), devoting this month’s posts to the attraction that I consider the most quintessentially “Disney”: Storybook Land Canal Boats.
The village and castle from Cinderella dominates its section of the ride. And that’s as it should be. After all, Cinderella has her own castle as the centerpiece of the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. At least she gets something permanent here in the Original Magic kingdom.
Often considered just another one of the princesses, Cinderella has some special character qualities that make her stand out as a role model.
A Choice of Attitude
Cinderella is treated cruelly by her stepmother and stepsisters. they are unfair to her, unkind to her, even mean to her (vile may be a more apt description). She could become sullen or respond hatefully. But she doesn’t. Instead, Cinderella choose to be kind and polite. She serves—not always entirely by choice, but still ,she did it even though she had other options. At the very least, she could have tried to run away, or harm those who were treating her so terribly.
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:17-18)
A Choice of Work Ethic
Cinderella has every reason to complain about here circumstances and refuse to do anything. Her tasks are dirty and demeaning. You may not know this, but in the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale, her given name wasn’t even Cinderella. As the story goes, “Besides this, the sisters did her every imaginable injury—they mocked her and emptied her peas and lentils into the ashes, so that she was forced to sit and pick them out again. In the evening when she had worked till she was weary she had no bed to go to, but had to sleep by the fireside in the ashes. And as on that account she always looked dusty and dirty, they called her Cinderella.”
Instead of refusing to do work that was “beneath her” or not wanting to work for people who were unkind to her, she did her work constructively and often even cheerfully.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23-24)
A Choice of “Destiny”
With all the odds that were against her, Cinderella could easily have given up hope. When the announcement was made that a ball was being held so the Prince could choose his Princess, she wanted to go, just as every other eligible lady in the kingdom did. But she had every reason to ignore her dream. Her family would never let her go. She had no dress (especially after they destroyed it). She had no time. Why would he choose a scullery maid anyway?
But she chose hope, and stepped up to pursue her dream. She tried to dress for the ball. When she was shoved down she got some help from a new friend—her Fairy Godmother. Even then she could have declined the Fairy Godmother’s offer, but she didn’t. She accepted—not knowing how it was possible or what would happen—and went to the ball. When the Prince came looking for the woman whose foot fit the glass slipper, she stepped forward and claimed what she had dreamed of.
There’s no Bible verse I know of that says this explicitly (if you can think of one, put it in the Comments below!), but Nehemiah is a great example. After an extended time of prayer seeking God’s will and his own role in it, this is is the last line of his prayer before going to the King:
“O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of this Your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering Your Name. Give Your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” (Nehemiah 1:11)
Then he went to the King, made his requests, and when they were granted (which was by no means a sure thing), he acted!
Question: In which of these 3 ways do you need to be more like Cinderella? Talk about it in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.
Randy Crane is passionate about helping Christians, especially those with a Disney affinity, to discover and connect to their GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE AND VALUE, to build their lives to achieve TRUE SUCCESS AND MEANING, and to POSITIVELY IMPACT their world. For more than two decades, Randy has been leading individuals and teams into a greater joy and child-like appreciation of the world around them, equipping them to reach beyond what they have previously experienced and build a God-given identity and purpose. Ready to experience that for yourself? Tell us where to send SIX free videos all created to help answer the 3 questions you need to experience PEACE, FREEDOM, and PURPOSE!