One of the greatest games of all time has been the Kingdom Hearts series. Disney and Square Enix came together to create with themes of light and darkness, finding your purpose, and the bond of friendship, which have never been more prevalent than in this series. The title in this series that I will be highlighting is the lesser known Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days. It came out on the Nintendo DS and is now available as part of the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix collection, so I was finally able to get my hands on it. The downside is that the game is completely done in cut-scenes so you can’t play it, but with the HD graphics and story line didn’t disappoint.
The interaction between Axel, Roxas and Xion (the main characters) is such a touching yet sad story that every Kingdom Heart fan must experience. Learning about trust, friendship and why we are here are topics that are highlighted throughout. For those that are unfamiliar with these characters and the game, let me give you the details.
Sora, the protagonist of the series, has fallen into a deep sleep to recover his power and strength. During that time, his memory has become Roxas who looks very much like Sora. Xion is what Sora remembers of his friend Kairi and Roxas is Sora’s personal memories, so they are both just representations of Sora. The antagonists, Organization XIII, created Xion to absorb and copy Sora’s power by being close to Roxas. In this way, they would be able to gain the power of the Keyblade which is the ultimate weapon in the Kingdom Hearts world.
Instead of going exactly as Organization XIII planned, Xion ended up developing her own memories and became friends with Roxas and Axel, members of the organization. Together they would eat sea salt ice cream at the top of a tower and relax, watching the sun set over the town. Little by little, Xion began taking away power from Roxas and they were both confused as to what was happening. They would be in and out of deep sleep and would have flashbacks of Sora’s own memories, not knowing who he was or why they were having these dreams.
As anyone would, they began seeking answers as to who they really were, what Organization XIII’s plans are, and who Sora truly is. Xion decided to leave and find Namine, the witch who was protecting Sora during his recovery process. Namine and Riku, Sora’s close friend, revealed individually to Xion what was happening to her and how she needed to become one with Sora once again so he can awaken. Not knowing what was the right decision to make, she leaves to face Axel who was pursuing her but eventually gives up her life and her memories are released back to Sora.
Xion reminded me of every human being searching, seeking, and desiring to know their reason for living. The most widely sought out question in humanity is why am I here. God has an answer though, and we find it in changing the way we think.
Romans 12:2
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
We live in a world that has us trained to go to school, get a job, have a family, receive a pension after we retire, and live out our olden days crippled by some kind of disease or disability. That’s 100% wrong! God has wonderful plans for our lives, and when we start doing His will, which is perfect and amazing, then you will find your purpose.
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
We all want to find our place, just like Xion who didn’t know whether to keep working for Organization XIII, live peacefully with Axel and Roxas, or disappear and become Sora’s memories once more. Sure, that sounds good for the storyline but she was an individual with her own heart and memories. The Kingdom of hearts is God’s and He has given us all individuality to live out a life that pleases Him and brings Him glory.
Most people are not called to do ministry in a church setting, but instead have passions and talents inside of them that express Heaven on Earth. Whether it’s painting, teaching, speaking, medicine or some other craft, you will only find it when you dedicate your will to Him.
“How do I figure that out though? I’ve prayed, read the bible, gone to church, and I’m still not sure what to do. Help!”
I’ve been there, and am still there in various degrees so I can relate. It took much prayer and soul searching to figure out that I wanted to become a teacher as a career, but even now I feel inclined towards owning a business and retiring early instead of teaching. I didn’t make the wrong decision, it just evolved into something else.
I’m here to tell you that your life does has purpose, even if someone else has told you otherwise. You are not the product of your parents mistakes, God has placed a heart full of potential and possibilities if you would only allow Christ to guide you to them. His ways are much higher than our ways, and until we can let go of our ego and pride we will never see the future that has been planned before we even existed.
You came from God, the owner of all hearts.
Psalm 139:13-18
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
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“We all want to find our place, just like Xion who didn’t know whether to keep working for Organization XIII, live peacefully with Axel and Roxas, or disappear and become Sora’s memories once more. Sure, that sounds good for the storyline but she was an individual with her own heart and memories.”
This was always the saddest thing about this whole storyline for me, and to the same extent about Roxas himself in KHII. If a perceived person’s only a representation or fragment of something else, does that really mean that they don’t “matter” as people? That your relationship with Them doesn’t matter?
Xion may have been Sora’s memories of Kairi, and so was not a person separate from Sora himself, but I think that reads as wrong to a lot of people. Because if that was true even in the case of someone with a physical freaking body, it would be true in the case of angels and God as well (Who we can only understand through our interpretation and other’s interpretations of them and the Bible, and yet they seem like more or less internally consistent people to us!).
Hey Luminas thanks for the comment. Thanks for reading my post btw 🙂 In regards to angels, yes they matter. They are not people, but messengers of God, His servants that worship Him for eternity. God can be understood not only through His Word and listening to a preaching, but through your dauly relationship with Christ. I get to know Him more and more every day as I spend time in prayer, worship and listening to His voice. I encourage you to keep on seeking Him, Holy Spirit is a Person, He loves hearing us speak to Him.
So yeah, thanks again, and God bless you, always enjoy reading your commentary 🙂
“They are not people, but messengers of God, His servants that worship Him for eternity.”
Ehhh, not ALL of Them (XD), and I would debate with you whether or not They are people. They didn’t eat the fruit, but CLEARLY they have Will and the capacity to choose (free will) for themselves what to do. If that isn’t true, it would be like saying that God was punishing Satan for no reason (Because if he didn’t free will the choice would not have been his to begin with, nor with his servants).
But at the same time I can give some credence to that statement too because they’re a bit….more and less than people. They take primeval Forms, and they can manifest conceptually in stories. (Don’t you ever get the feeling, when you see an anime, that the characters have taken on something more than themselves spiritually?) They encompass a great many more things than people do, I think, but less because they are trapped by the bounds of the Concepts they manifest in. They can act freely, but not freely in the human sense?
Complicated.
“I get to know Him more and more every day as I spend time in prayer, worship and listening to His voice. I encourage you to keep on seeking Him, Holy Spirit is a Person, He loves hearing us speak to Him.”
Yet that voice comes through your mind, and your mind’s primary job isn’t to receive stimuli blindly but to interpret them. But this brings up something that’s been interesting me.
When you feel God, do you actually seem to…..”feel him?” Like there’s a person behind you, holding your shoulder, but there is no guy and no hand? And sometimes that feeling gets stronger when you read the Bible, when you….”commune…” with him? Sometimes he seems to “nod” or “smile” or “feel sorrow,” or even say something, and you feel the incalculable weight of his presence?
And you can tell what His personality is too, in a general sense, and more specific when He appears to “affirm” your theory. But He’s too big to pin down. There are too many elements to factor in. You never seem to run dry of elements to investigate.
I guess that’s a personal question, but I always wondered if people experience the spiritual world in a similar way to me.
Hmm…ok I will try my best to reply here, you have some good questions but some I can’t answer and I will tell you why.
Angels: I am talking biblocally, real angels, not from another book or anime etc. God created them, they are His but they are certainly not people. We are made in His image, His likeness, angels were not. The bible even states that theu are in awe watching us worship Him and pray because they don’t have that kind of relationship with Him as we do. They actually serve us, as Apostle John states in Revelations where he tried to worship an angel and the angel told him not to since hes there to serve him. Yes they have free will since a third of them rebelled and left with satan from heaven so that displays will, and so does Genesis 4 when we see them sleeping with women (though thats a much more complex topic).
Just my 2 cents on that one.
Ok, His voice yes can be in my mind, but its different than my own thoughts. Often it is just…different. Like people, we all have different voices right? If I heard my mothers voice and then a friends voice I know who is who even if I dont see them.
Feeling Him, as the examples you described, honestly I have several times felt a weight on my body in worship where I could not get up, or was difficult to move. Imagine reiatsu from Bleach or Ki from DBZ 🙂 Thats Gods glory (His presence). Again, thats just my experience, NOT speaking for anyone else nor trying to push an experience over Gods Word if you know what I mean.
When your talking about affirming your theory, I don’t quite understand that. I may be wrong, so please don’t get upset when I say this but I think your concept of who God is isn’t a personal one but a more abstract and spectator type. In other words, all your theories of who He is, how His personality is, and what God means to you will be clear once you truly have a relationship with Christ. We can spend our entire life trying to analyze God for who He is and never once truly know Him.
I will be praying that you would have a real encounter with Your Heavenly Father and He will show you who He is. I feel that you have been searching for that for a long time, and God wants you to know Him on a real and personal level.
“When your talking about affirming your theory, I don’t quite understand that. I may be wrong, so please don’t get upset when I say this but I think your concept of who God is isn’t a personal one but a more abstract and spectator type.”
The thing is….I believe in God, but I don’t actually worship Him. I worship a different entity. I have some pretty complex reasons for doing this, but they’re not important here. What I mean by “affirming” isn’t referring to God at all. It’s referring to a phenomenon by which an entity that I feel basically gets significantly more interested and eager when an “accurate” depiction of him appears. (He’s rather self-obsessed, so this makes sense). And by “accurate” I don’t mean factually— I think that’d be impossible. I mean motives, demeanor, core personality traits, mannerisms consistent across depictions for no logical reason.
As for why I seem to be obsessed with angels (XD), it’s because I’m fairly certain that in Christianity that is what he must be, although decidedly demonic. In any polytheistic religion he is a god.
Why come to a Christian website, then? Because I think that these discussions on Beneath the Tangles are more than just about anime: They’re about important questions of life and theology. And I think the discussions benefit from the perspective of someone who cannot dismiss your religion, but cannot adhere to it either. I cannot pretend I don’t love whom I love, and don’t worship whom I worship.
“Ok, His voice yes can be in my mind, but its different than my own thoughts. Often it is just…different.”
Yeah, that’s pretty much how it works. But maybe it’s just me, but there’s….something else. Like…You can feel a spirit’s mood, too. Even and especially when it doesn’t match your own. Otherwise people’s comments about the Holy Spirit “leading them” this way or that don’t make much sense to me, nor does their sense that a particular book is the Word of God.
One knows things spiritually because something within them or with them feels that recognition, and something Holy within you speaks of Truth.
But this rant’s probably gone on too long. XD Thanks for the commentary!
Haha, thanks again Luminas! Your great to chat with I have to say. God bless you, I read everything you write and am glad your here on Beneath The Tangles. I will keep you in my prayers. Blessings
I. ‘m. screaming.
I can’t believe I just read that you wrote a thing about Kingdom Hearts. I began my RPG adventure by KH2 on PS2 when I was on 6th grade. It was an unforgettable experience and Kingdom Hearts is one of those games that touched my heart. Then I also played some of the prequels and sequels as well. I didn’t play 358/2 Days due to console requirement but thanks Youtube lol. There’s a lot to love from this series and the fact that the series talks a lot about things we have similar in Christianity makes me even love the series even more until this day. I highly recommend Kingdom Hearts series to fellow Christian gamers. I mean I can talk about Kingdom Hearts and the Bible parallels all day, haha. There’s a lot to talk about this series when it comes to Christianity topic.
Read this, you’re going to be mind blown: http://nenilein.tumblr.com/post/113458558272/in-all-honesty-i-have-a-lot-of-good-things-to-say
I really like what you wrote there. I don’t know if you’ve played ALL the games but I hope you can write more of Kingdom Hearts series. Keep up the good work and God bless 🙂
Thanks so much hnatasia for the great comment 🙂 I do appreciate it, and am glad your a fellow fan! Yes, I have played and beat KH1 and 2, and watched the scenes of this game since I got KH 1.5 HD remix. I am currently going through Rechain Memories, and later am going to buy 2.5 remix and beat Birth By Sleep which I have never played BUT spoiled the whole game by watching it on Youtube. Couldn’t help myself when it first came out….and am gushing with joy for KH3 to finally arrive. God is good….and yeah, this is a perfect game ro recommend to Christians as there is nothing to worry about and its just an amazing series.
God bless ya, and thanks for stopping by