Beauty in Being Lost

Hi everyone,

I was amazed and mystified at the films from today's class. Norstein is truly an artist unlike any other. These were films for children, yet they seemed richer and fuller than a lot of the 'adult' stuff we've watched in class, not that everything else was not not good; it was. But walking out of class today, I actually had a deeper appreciation for animation than I did walking in.

In particular, I really liked Hedgehog in the Fog. It was so simple, yet so profound. Children could understand it on every level, yet if fills us 'adults' with the same awe and wonder. I agree with what Professor Leeper said about it being a highly spiritual film, about how it ties into what Jesus said about the necessity of having faith like a child.

Personally, I find it easy to apply this film to faith. So often we get caught up in trying to know the facts of God, to know how he works, to understand Him. But really, who can ever fully understand God? As the little hedgehog showed us, sometimes it's just best to shut up and stop asking questions, and just take in all of the amazing wonder of the world around us. As I'm sitting at my desk typing this, I look outside and see all of the beauty that God has created: the amazing colors of the trees, the fallen leaves, the cute little squirrels. I'm lost for words. It's times like these that I have to force myself to remember that not understanding and not knowing are okay. It's often during the moments of being lost when I have my greatest realizations and epiphanies.

I really hope I'm not symbol-spotting too much, but the visuals in this film were just so relatable, not necessarily in a connect-the-dots kind of way, though. My favorite part was the scene with the tree. It was just breathtaking.

I feel like it's in our moments of not understanding that we see God the most.

There are some seriously dedicated fans of Hedgehog in the Fog.