The Fungibility of Symbols

There is a movie coming out soon called How to Train your Dragon.

Just in the interest of full disclosure, I haven't seen it. I probably will eventually (can't remember the last time I saw a movie in the theater although I LOVE going to movies). I am reasonably sure that it is cute, somewhat clever, and at least mildly entertaining in that Hollywood  *nod nod, *wink wink kind of way.

Having said that, it also troubles me and makes me just a little miffy.

For centuries, possibly millenia, in most civilizations that I know of, dragons are beasts to be taken very seriously. In western civilization, the dragon has been a symbol of wickedness, of sin, of the presence and power and danger of evil. The dragon is a foe and one that must be slain lest it lay waste the kingdom. It is a wily and cunning enemy, skilled in wordplay and deceit. It is powerful and difficult to destroy. It despoils green and fertile and ruins the beautiful and innocent.

Even in Asian culture, where the dragon is not necessarily evil, it is still an exceptionally powerful force, one that must be reckoned with carefully, and not taken lightly.

But...it seems we have become too sophisticated for such symbols. Or rather, too sophisticated for the meaning of the old symbols. So we keep the old symbol and we castrate it. Keep the fangs, the scales, the wings, even the fiery breath. That's all solid comic potential. But let's take away all that danger and all that stuff about evil. Dragons are just reptiles after all, and probably misunderstood.

That's it. They are "misunderstood."

Well, our Christian Fathers did it. They took yule trees and made them into Christmas trees. They completely ripped off the Roman cross, the ultimate symbol of imperialistic power, and co-opted to use as the symbol of the New Kingdom of God. Jesus himself turned the Passover meal on its head, establishing himself as the New Pesach. OK, so such shifts in meaning aren't new.

But each of those cases remade the symbol into something More Powerful, more mystical and more dangerous than before. You might still think the symbol is wrong (as the Jews certainly do regarding Jesus appropriation of Passover), but you can't deny the power of the new thing. But this training your dragon business is just taking a good strong symbol, tearing out all the bones and guts, draining all the blood, stuffing the carcass full of lime jello and making it dance.

What worries me is that we think everything is life is "trainable." When something seems wrong we think the problem is that we aren't educated enough. The bad thing is just some kind of misunderstanding. And we go on thinking that until., just a little too late, we realize that the cute little dickens we laughed at and thought was so cute is about to burn our house, kill our family and grind us to a paste between it's jaws.

There is evil in the world, and to convert every symbol of evil into a cartoon won't make it go away, or make it less dangerous in reality. It just makes us easier to eat.

Well...I'm sure it's a fun movie. I'll try not to grind my teeth too much as I watch it.

Bracing for the Next Blow

There are times when life strips you and empties you and all you can do is stand and wait for whatever is going to happen. It is a labor to acknowledge the reality of reality, yet maintain a firm focus on the best possible outcome. Rather than seeming full of promise and possibility, the future seems to bring one humiliating blow after another. One wonders where providence leads, what God is up to, and how this will all play out. There is a strong sense that it’s out of my control, and that all I can do is continue to work, but mostly just watch God work. It is, I suppose, a measure of the weakness of my faith that my confidence that I’m going to like the outcome is pretty low. It’s more like I’m bracing for the impact. Here is where I acknowledge that “liking it” isn’t really the point.

There has been much praying for strength, wisdom and grace. There has been much praying of the Lord’s Prayer. There has been much praying of Psalm 23. There has been much wondering if it is all being heard. There has been much wondering if any of it is being heard. There has been much wondering whether if it is being heard, what’s being done about it.

This is all cryptic to those of you who don’t know my specific situation. Suffice it for now that it involves loved ones, emergency room visits, medical specialists, lots of medical testing, limited health insurance, uncertain diagnosis and prognosis, a profound shortage of cash, and lots of medical terminology that does not bode well.

Yeah. I really don’t know what to do here. I have been struggling for so long to slay the dragons, but my quest has been confounded at almost every turn. So, I stand stripped and empty and I wait.

First Sortie

Why all this talk about dragons?

Let me explain. I believe strongly in the value of systematic personal development. The crafting of a good life is not accidental. To that end, I am always working to become a more disciplined and focused person. I know that sounds really serious and kind of wonky. So be it.

Nevertheless, as part of this process, I occasionally will take time to meditate on the purpose of my life. This, I believe, is not so much something I impose upon myself, as much as it is something that I discover. Over the years, I have gone through several iterations of purpose statements, most of which have been quite banal -- at least in the choice of language. Lots of ordinary words or phrases you might find in thousands of self help books you would find anywhere. For example, for a long time, I felt that my purpose was to "Inspire others to become their best selves." Isn't that lame? Good in concept, but totally lame in expression. My own purpose statement was decidedly NON inspirational. (yawn)

So I decided to bring a little poetry into the equation. An image. A metaphor. Something that would elicit a more powerful and visceral reaction. As I cast about for the right image, I recalled this paragraph from the book The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck.

Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult - once we truly understand and accept it - then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.

Suddenly the image I needed came to me. My purpose in life is the serve others by Slaying Dragons.

A dragon is any challenge, problem or difficulty in my life. It could be a bad habit, a fear, or a circumstance. It could be a financial problem such as debt, or a sudden expense. It could be a problem with a personal relationship. It could be all manner of internal or external circumstances in my life. A dragon could even be simply a challenge I pose to myself, or decide for myself that I will take on. It need not be imposed upon me by outside forces. I can even create dragons solely for the purpose of killing them. Almost all dragons are by definition created by and arise from my own choices.

What makes this click for me so powerfully is the poetry, the imagery of it. The fear, the sweat, the struggle, the combat, the danger, the courage, the triumph. Not everyone's cup of tea perhaps, but I've always been attracted to and deeply influenced by the heroic.

My life's work then , is to hunt down the dragons of my life, find them and exterminate them. I do this for myself, for my family, and for my community.

If this picture seems overly dramatic to you, that's fine with me. It's not about you. Frankly , it fires me up. This helps me when I am faced with a task that I am not looking forward to. Perhaps it is mundane, monotonous, hard, or just NOT MUCH FUN. When I look at it in light of my purpose Then I get caught up in the excitement of what I am really doing -- killing dragons.

I have since added to that statement. to add a more positive element. I have now come to understand that my purpose is to kill dragons and build castles. It is not enough to destroy the obstacles and enemies that threaten my good life. I must build systems and structures that will protect and help my family.

So I am a warrior, and Lord of the Manor. That's a lot to live up to. God have mercy.