There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.
– Douglas H. Everett
Inception is a mind bending thriller that retreads old ground in a unique albeit familiar tone. Movies such as The Matrix and The Truman Show have dramatized humanity’s struggle to find truth and reality in a world that lacks meaning and purpose. Inception continues the narrative of perception vs. reality and how we identify truth in a world of deception.
In Inception, the perceived world is created through shared dreams. Characters try to steal real world information from individuals by convincing them the dream world is the real world. By going deeper and deeper into the subconscious, however, (dreams within dreams) the characters lose grasp of reality and cannot tell the difference between the real world and the dreamworld. In order to identify the difference between the real and perceived worlds, characters create totems for themselves. The totem identifies whether they are in the real or perceived world.
The world we live in today has a similar feel to these movies. With the world’s current political upheaval, moral ambiguities, and increasing physical and psychological dangers; humanity is searching for that totem to anchor them to reality. Many individuals lack an anchor however, and instead place their faith in things that are fleeting such as wealth, power, relationships, and achievements.
The Bible makes it very clear that our totem in this world is the hope we have in Christ.
“So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:17-20 ESV
This physical world can seem as if it is absolute reality. If we are not careful, we will view our 60 or so years on this planet as all there is. Meaning is lost in this temporal existence. Morals become opinions, love and mercy become manipulation, charity becomes an emotion, and life is merely a survival. But if we have an eternal hope in Jesus Christ, we have an anchor to remind us that we are not home yet. How we treat others has eternal ramifications. We are living for more than the moment we are in.
God at the Boxoffice 