It's not hard to figure out that fairy tales are very popular. In fact, they have been popular for many centuries. Have you ever wondered why?

We are all familiar with the basic formula of the fairy tale: there is an idyllic situation: royal parents give birth to a beautiful baby girl and all is well until disaster strikes; Mama and Papa die or the wicked witch shows up and places a curse on Baby Girl. Sorrow and trouble come into the princess's life. In fact, she often loses the knowledge that she even is a princess. Sometimes she knows that her life is wretched, sometimes not, but she always knows that she's missing something. The prince finally comes into her life, and he loves her immediately. However, he must fight the evil in her life before they can live happily ever after.

When we get to the end of each fairy tale, we know in the back of our minds that "happily ever after" really isn't. We know they'll have kids who cause a ton of trouble, and they will eventually die, and all kinds of other bad things will happen in their lives. But the truth is that they can live "happily ever after" in spite of their troubles because they live with the knowledge that evil has been defeated. It can never again touch their happiness, no matter what circumstances come their way, because their happiness is based on the presence of good, not just the absence of evil.

It's a formula, yes, tried and true, and when it is well told, it can make even a grown man tear up. Why?

Fairy tales touch us deeply because they retell the story of God's relationship with man.

God created the world and it was good! The man and the woman lived in an idyllic garden, but evil came and mankind (the princess) fell into sin, no longer living as the princess, but as a poor wretched creature. Sometimes mankind recognized his wretchedness, sometimes not, but always he knew something was missing. But the prince saw the princess (mankind) and loved her deeply.

The prince came to battle the evil that kept his beloved enchanted. That first Christmas, he was born as a baby; that first Good Friday, it appeared that evil had defeated the prince; but that first Easter, the monster was slain, and happily ever after started.

If Jesus is my savior, I am living in the "happily ever after" part of the fairy tale. And the happy part is not based on the absence of trouble, but on the presence of God. What's keeping us from living "happily ever after"? Jesus waits for us to accept him as our hero, our prince, and to choose to live with him. He's already slain the evil, the rest is up to us. Then I can choose to live not as the poor wretch, but as the "happily ever after" princess.

Cheryl A.F. Okimoto serves as creative director of Island Christian Guide. Expressions of Faith is a column that welcomes submissions from pastors, priests, lay workers and other leaders in faith and spirituality. E-mail faith@honoluluadvertiser.com or call 525-8035. Articles submitted to The Advertiser may be published or distributed in print, electronic or other forms.

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