Inception - an idea that shapes everything

“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 is fully formed – fully understood – that sticks; right in there somewhere.” - Dom Cobb, Inception

I know I’m late, so very late but I finally saw Inception. What a fantastic movie.

As I lay in bed that night I was struck by the driving premise of the movie. ‘Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it’s almost impossible to eradicate.’ This concept lead to Moll’s death and Cobb’s plight of being separated from his children. This concept drove the plot forward as Cobb and his accomplices seek to sow a new idea deep in the mind of Fischer.

After the movie I couldn’t help coming back to just how true it was that ideas stick and shape our lives. Once an idea takes hold it can be impossible to eradicate and can, if big enough or central enough, shape everything about us.

For me, the idea that took hold quite a few years ago is that Jesus was not a myth or a legend but a real person who lived and walked and talked. It was startling to stop and contemplate the possibility that Jesus did indeed live and speak and die. It was startling to contemplate the historical claim that he rose from the dead.

This contemplation wasn’t an idea fully formed. However, it lead me to investigate the historical basis of the claims about Jesus and the reliability of the New Testament records. This in turn lead to reading the New Testament of the Bible very carefully. After this an idea was fully formed that has been impossible to eradicate.

Jesus is who he says he is, God in the flesh, who came to bring people back to God the Father.

Will you contemplate and investigate this idea or are you afraid you might not be able to eradicate it?