Last week, I went and saw “Horton Hears a Who!” in the theatre. I was reminded how much Dr. Seuss reminds me of Biblical themes. So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing about the Seuss series and some of the things we can learn from it.

We’re going to start with Horton Hears a Who. We’re going to use quotes to make our points.

1. Children matter, just like adults.
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

OK, I know I’m kind of preaching to the choir on this one, but it’s something important to never forget. Every child from the youngest baby to the oldest preteen are just as important as the “grownups”. While we can’t use the same approaches with kids as we do adults, they have an amazing ability to understand God and who he is. Remember that they aren’t stupid!

2. Faithfulness to commitments are important. Kids never forget!
“I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful one hundred percent.”

So, you’re not an elephant. However, kids never forget anything you say. ANYTHING. EVER. You could be saying something totally innocent and joking, but those kids will cling to it. Never promise anything to a kid that you don’t intend to follow up. Don’t just tell them, “I’ll talk to you next week,” with the intention of hoping they’ll forget, unless you actually intend to talk to them. They’ll always remember what you say, so don’t go and say anything goofy!

3. Children have VERY active imaginations!
“In my world everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies.”

Throughout the Horton movie, you see Kangaroo constantly trying to quash children’s imaginations and ability to think freely in the name of “protecting them”. You’re not protecting any child by not allowing them to imagine. That’s what makes a kid a kid: a innocent imagination. Give them opportunities to imagine and think. It’s a talent God gave them, so it would only stand to reason that we should allow them to use it, no?

4. God is bigger than us and exists, despite the fact that we can’t sense Him.
“If you can’t see it, feel it, or hear it, it doesn’t exist.”

Sometimes it can be hard for humans to grasp the concept of God because our five senses can’t sense him. However, we need to let our kids know that there are things we can’t sense, but are still there.

Isn’t it amazing how something as simple as a Dr. Seuss story can have so much truth? We’ll see more from him later. In the mean time, here’s my favorite quote from the Horton movie:

“Morton: Horton, the kangaroo has sent Vlad!
Horton: Vlad? Vlad, Vlad… I know two Vlads. There’s the bad Vlad… And then there’s bunny Vlad, the one that makes cookies!
Morton: …Yeah, Horton, she’s sending you a bunny with cookies. I think it’s safe to say it’s the bad Vlad.
Horton: Yeah, good call. ”