Inception

What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? 

An idea. Resilient...highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that's fully formed...fully understood...that sticks...right in there somewhere. -Inception

The above is a brilliant quote from the 2010 movie Inception. This movie explores the human mind, the human subconscious...the dream world of the mind. It explores the possibility of a dream within a dream within a dream. 


It is ingenious writing. The most complex storyline I've ever heard. It's amazing.


What I want to explore, though, is the truth behind the quote at the beginning of this post. It was spoken by Cobb, the main character in the film. His job was as an extractor of information from people's minds. The whole premise of the film is that if information could be extracted from a subject's mind, that it can also be planted there...Inception. 


Question. How are societies changed? 


How are revolutions started?


How do people attain goals?


How do people change the direction of their lives?


It all starts with an Idea.


How did the United States of America become the United States of America? 


It started with an idea...no taxation without representation. And that idea, along with many others, caught like wild fire, until that fire gave birth to the Revolutionary War, which in turn gave birth to this great nation. 


How was racial segregation brought to an end? How did people of color in this country earn the right to vote? 


It started with an idea. The idea that although we are of African descent, although our skin is a different color, we are Americans too. That we should be able to vote. That we should be able to buy a house in whatever neighborhood we want. That our kids should be able to receive the same class of education as their white counterparts. That a man or woman of color can be president too.


It all started with an idea.


Now everybody take a long hard look at you. A long hard look at you.


What ideas have taken hold in your mind? 


Take a long, long hard look at you.


You see, I know how an idea can take hold of you. And soon, it can change everything about you. It can change the entire course of your life as you work, whether consciously or subconsciously, toward the fulfillment of that idea. 


The big question is: Is it an idea worth working toward?


Is this really an idea worth pursuing? Or is this an idea that is truly as bad and as deadly as virus that propagates unchecked? 


We are what we think about. So what ideas are circulating in your mind?


Are they positive? Negative? Consistent with how God sees you? Or based on what human beings have told you? 


Hmmm. 


Food for thought.