Gerda's Love 2

Thoughts on "The Snow Queen", part 2 September 6, 2010
J. C. Verdin



We left off last night with the devil and his broken mirror, what it does, and all that. Well, that's only the first part. Our victim, a little boy named Kai, and our heroine, a little girl named Gerda, are introduced in the second part. And here's what happened:
"One afternoon as Kai and Gerda sat looking at a picture book with animals and flowers in it--it was exactly five o'clock, for the bells in the church tower had just struck the hour--Kai said, 'Ouch, ouch! Something pricked my heart!' And then again, 'Ouch, something sharp is in my eye.'
"The little girl put her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes but there was nothing to be seen. Still, it hurt and little Gerda cried out of sympathy.
"'I think it is gone now," said Kai. But he was wrong, two of the splinters from the devil's mirror had hit him: one his entered his heart and the other his eyes....But the pain, that would disappear."
Kai loses interest in the simplicity of life. He made fun of people, including Gerda. But she still played with him.


And then Kai is taken by the Snow Queen. Winter passes and there is no sign of him. When spring comes, Gerda puts on her new red shoes, shoes Kai had never seen, and walks down to the river to ask it a question.


When she asks the river if it had taken him, she bargains her new red shoes. She throws them into the river and the river returns them.


Thinking she hadn't thrown them far enough, she gets into a boat and tosses the shoes again. The boat wasn't fastened to the shore and she was off!


Eventually, the boat washed ashore, near an old woman's home. The old woman knew magic and made her rose bushes disappear. Gerda wouldn't see them and she wouldn't remember Kai and she wouldn't run away.


Needless to say, this plan didn't work.


Gerda goes through a lot of trouble looking for Kai. After she escapes the old witch, she meets a two crows, a prince and princess, a band of robbers, a Finnish woman, and a Lapp woman. Even though Kai was mean to her, she still loved him enough to look for him. Once the river took her away, did she try to return home? No. Her only thought was, "Maybe the river will lead me to him."


How many people do you know would go through all that? Who comes to mind first?


I seem to like talking about Jesus' sacrifice, because His comes to mind first. He came to Earth, died for us all, even though we spite Him, even though some of us hate Him, even though some of us don't even believe in Him, He came and died.


I talked about that reckless love God has for us last night. Well, seeking and saving what was lost was Jesus' purpose here on earth.


Gerda loses her best friend emotionally, then physically, and goes find him. What an example for all of us. There was nothing special about her, other than her love. But perhaps there was.


Coming soon, the last part of "The Snow Queen." And we find out what happens with Kai and Gerda. Good evening and God bless.


*All quotes from "The Snow Queen" are taken from Hans Christian Andersen: The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories, Translated from the Danish by Erik Christian Haugaard, published 1983 by Anchor Books