OK, so if you haven’t seen Encanto, that title is very random! But I can’t put him off any longer.
Bruno is Abuela’s son and Mirabel’s uncle. He is absent for the first half of the film. His gift is having visions of the future. People don’t always want to hear his visions.
Bruno loves his family dearly, and he doesn’t think his gift is helping his family or the town. In fact, he gets a reputation of making bad things happen. So he leaves, he disappears.
Bruno thinks his family are better off with him out of the picture. But he so wants to belong. He ends up living in the secret passages, so no one sees him but he still sees his family. He has a song (which is the one that gets stuck in your head) called ‘We don’t talk about Bruno’ where the family outline all the scary and bad things about Bruno. That’s the reputation he has. That’s the reason he disappears. Shame, guilt, fear… He counts himself out thinking he has nothing to offer, thinking his gift is hurting his family. But we also see that he loves his family, we see he cares as he patches up the cracks, we see his has a sense of humour. He is so much more than the visions he has. And when Mirabel needs help, he comes to her aid.
I wonder if we ever count ourselves out? Do we ever think that what we bring to the table isn’t good enough, that it does more harm than good? Are we ever so ashamed that all we want to do is run away? Because that’s what I see in Bruno. I see a good person who let’s the words of others shape the way he views himself to the point of thinking he’s not a good person.
And I think that’s also very real. We can let the words of others affect the way we view ourselves to the point that we carry labels, which leads to shame and counting ourselves out sometimes.
But just like Bruno is not a bad person, neither are we. Bruno is more than the visions. He is a son/brother/uncle, a joker, a caretaker. He’s also misunderstood. And when it matters, he’s the one that tries to speak up for Mirabel, even though he has been in hiding for years. He puts her needs before his own fears. He’s brave.
We are more than the labels we’ve been given. Often, they are given by people who only see part of the story. When God is choosing a king for his people (1 Samuel 16 if you want to check it out) he doesn’t look at the outward or the obvious, he looks at the heart. Labels given by people don’t need to stick because they are not the truth. They are someone’s perception, but they do not define us. If in doubt, read psalm 139. God does know you. All of you. And he loves you. It’s not conditional. The only label he gives is a label of identity. He calls you child (1 John 3).
Don’t let shame or fear or the opinions of others stop you from believing that truth. When Bruno came out of hiding his family was just glad to have him back. God does not want you to hide, he wants you back in the family (parable of the prodigal son). You just need to come out of hiding, he’ll do the rest.
The Reason for my Hope Blog 