Read More @HJ Reviews: Trailer, Photos, Overview David Bruce, Webmaster When Graces Come to Visit Jacob Sahms

It is no secret that as a human race, our perception can become a bit distorted. We believe we are right; we see only the things that prove us right. We believe we have been wronged; we see only the things that demonstrate how unjustly we have been treated. We believe we know everything there is to know; we don’t even pay attention to anything beyond that. But the thing is, there is always more to the story than what we know and always more to the picture than what we see. Whether that full reality is hidden from us by the works of others or by our own inability to see it, it is still out there. And in many ways, that truth is very much the theme at the center of The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Based on the popular series of young readers’ books, The Spiderwick Chronicles tells the story of three siblings who move to their great aunt’s house in the middle of nowhere and come upon their great-great uncle Arthur Spiderwick’s (David Strathairn) Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. Soon after young Jared (Freddie Highmore) unearths the field guide, the hidden world comes alive around him and his siblings. And as the children suddenly find themselves caught up in a world and a battle they had no idea existed only days before, the story shows us all how much everything can change whenever we allow ourselves to see more of the greater reality around us.

When the story opens, the reality that Jared, Simon (also Freddie Highmore), and Mallory Grace (Sarah Bolger) find themselves in is one defined by their parents’ recent split. It is the reason they have been forced to move from their home to this strange house in the middle of nowhere. It is the reason none of them can get along. And, as Jared sees it, it is all his mother Helen’s (Mary-Louise Parker) fault.

But with Mallory on her mother’s side, Simon refusing to take sides, and Helen just doing her best to move on, to the rest of the family, Jared is the biggest problem. When his mother’s keys disappear, he is the one to blame. When Mallory’s fencing medal goes missing, Jared is told to give it back. And when Jared begins to go on about mysterious creatures living in the house, all they see is him trying to mess up their new life.

The thing is, there is more to story of both the world around the Graces’ new home as well as their own family. And as the movie progresses, it is a path to a better understanding of both on which we follow the entire family.

I found it interesting to watch as each character in the movie gains the ability to see the “fantastical world” described in Spiderwick’s field guide. Filled with fairies and goblins, friends and foes, and a wide array of unseen forces at battle, Spiderwick’s hidden world strikes me as not entirely unlike the spiritual reality that I believe exists around us. And as each character in the movie comes to see the world around them, the story also reminds me of the ways we come to see our world as part of God’s greater reality.

Jared is the first to see this hidden world. And for him, the first step is simply believing that it exists. Moving outside of the reality he has known all his life and reaching out to an entirely new one, he offers his faith and the world begins to reveal itself to him.

But for Jared as well as the rest of the family, moving from a limited ability to see the hidden world to full perception is very much tied to the assistance of others. The first time each character sees any other creatures besides the friendly Thimbletack (Martin Short), they do so through the “lens” of a magic stone Thimbletack gives them to look through. When Mallory finds herself under attack by creatures she cannot yet see, it is through the help of her brothers who can see them that she is able to fight them off. And in a move not unlike the favored sight restoration technique used many times in the Bible, the very thing that gives the siblings the ability to see the entirety of the world around them is the spit of the friendly Hogsqueal (Seth Rogan).

But more than just a tale about believing in the magical reality all around them, The Spiderwick Chronicles is almost more so a story about seeing the truth and magic that is in the reality we already know. And for the Grace family, that truth is all about the value of their family and the connections they share with each other. None of them is perfect. Each of them has let down the others in the past. But as each character realizes, their inability to see past their negative concepts of each other has only disabled their ability to grasp the true value that is inside each of them. And as truth literally surrounds them on all sides and they come together to fight for their survival, they all finally see how much they really do love and need each other.

I admit, I don’t exactly believe in an unseen world of goblins and fairies right outside my backdoor. But I do believe in God and unseen forces and spiritual battles. Like Spiderwick’s world of magical creatures, a spiritual world can also be difficult to believe in. To make that first jump can often seem illogical and silly. But like Jared, sometimes we end up running into things we can explain no other way. Even after that first jump, though, grasping the entire reality of a world in which God exists is not exactly easy. But in the same way that the Grace siblings find help in each other and several magical creatures, we too can count on friends, family, and God himself to open our eyes to more and more of the truth around us. And as our eyes open past our own judgments, preconceptions, and limitations, we too, like the Grace family, will find that our new way of seeing the world changes the way we see everything and everyone in it.

As Arthur Spiderwick says, “Once you see, you will never see the same again.” And when it comes to looking at the world through God’s eyes instead of ours, I believe that’s truer than ever.