My Faith and Little Ponies

I’ve given a lot of thought these past few seasons on what it was exactly that made me like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic so much.  It is a well-made animated show, but it’s not alone in this respect.  Yet, of all the gems of children’s entertainment, nothing resonated so much with as this one little show about colorful equines.  And now, I think I know why.

The conclusion I’ve come to is this: that it, in many ways, mirrors my own Faith and worldview.  If I had to explain how my belief in Christ affected my view of the world, I could use MLP:FiM as an effective object lesson.

The central concept of the show is Friendship, that is, of making and cultivating a meaningful relationship with someone else.  That idea of a relationship is also central to the Universe, and of God Himself.  He, being three Persons in One God, knew that Love, that comradeship, which was central to all true joy, and wished to make beings that he could share it with.  We, as humans, were made to be the Friends of God!

It is a hard idea to comprehend, that, especially when we have so much trouble with our relations to other people.  The truth is, we are Luna; jealousy, meanness, and all manner of general rottenness of temperament and character have ruined our relationship with God, and continue to wreak havoc whenever we try to deal with our fellow human beings.  This miasma, often called sin, has made us from what we were mean to be into something worse, a Nightmare.

But though we are fallen, though we are banished even farther than from the Earth to the Moon, God no more hates us than Celestia hated Luna.  All He wants is to have us back, to return us to what we were meant to be.  What had to be done to accomplish this, of course, differs between the show and reality.  Here, we are made new by God the Son, Jesus’, own blood and sacrifice; but the purpose is parallel.  He wants to forgive us, if we will accept; He wants to give us the chance to know Him, His Friendship.

I feel that I could, if I continued in this vein, trace other parallels.  How each “special talent,” unique but held equal in esteem and importance, parallel the idea of Spiritual Gifts.  How the coming together of Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies as equals under one banner parallels the fact that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither Slave nor Free in Christ.”  The brony community itself, standing against cultural mores of the world, is even one; Christianity also grew, and perhaps was never so pure in its faith, as when it the entire Roman world against it.

Well, the bronies now know what a schism is; what disputes and arguments and pettiness and divisiveness can do to spoil a community.  Pretty much the same stuff has corrupted the Church as an institution, to the point where it could take lessons from the show.  Ah, but none of us are perfect; like the Mane Six, we have our faults and fatal flaws, and all need to learn, and be reminded, of what’s really important.  Thank God that He is a Faithful teacher!