Today, Discovery Channel let me travel with Sir Anthony Hopkins to the inner realms of Africa, on a quest to find the King and Queens of the animal world - Lions. As I was enchanted with the raw power and grace these big cats possessed, I was also given the sight of a lion held in captivity. It growled, and roared, and walked in his cage, daring the outside world to meet him on his own terms, without iron bars keeping him in captivity. This magnificent creature was being fed by a man, that held a piece of raw meat on a stick, just outside the cage. The lion raised himself on his hind legs, and used both his paws to grab his dinner, and as I watched that, my heart nearly broke. Seeing this magnificent creature, reduced to a caged animal, humbling himself in order to be able to catch his meal. And as I watched that, I suddenly realized that we humans, are no different. We posses so many great qualities, so many opportunities, changes are just there for the take. we dream of so many things, we wish for so many things, and most of the times the cage that is holding us back is made of fear. Fear of losing our securities, fear of failure. We have build our own cages and too often we fail to see we have build them in the first place. Our dreams vanish without being followed. When we are old and grey, will we discover we haven't even lived? Okay, ignore me, I'm having one of those days... ;)
Are we caged lions.
by Vivamus 6 Replies latest jw friends
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SixofNine
*smiling condescendingly at Viv as I chew my steak tartar*
Btw, I make my Discovery channel debut this Wed, feb 26th, 9 eastern: Unsolved Histories.. did SixofNine shoot JFK ('s picture)? Tune in for my 15 seconds of fame.
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moreisbetter
Viv, I think that's a great analogy of what many are going through. I know I am. For a couple of years I felt like I was finally free and becoming somewhat of a lion. But somewhere in the past 14 months I was caged. I don't know what happened. Right now my cage of fear is one of trust and rejection and the bars are triple strength.
I appreciate you posting your feelings about your day. I truly do wish your tomorrow is much better. Let us know.
Take care and have peace, Theresa
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Vivamus
Mommie Dark posted this poem in response to my post on Mr. Moe's board:
By Rainer Maria Rilke:
The Panther
His tired gaze -from passing endless bars-
has turned into a vacant stare which nothing holds.
To him there seem to be a thousand bars,
and out beyond these bars exists no world.
His supple gait, the smoothness of strong strides
that gently turn in ever smaller circles
perform a dance of strength, centered deep within
a will, stunned, but untamed, indomitable.
But sometimes the curtains of his eyelids part,
the pupils of his eyes dilate as images
of past encounters enter while through his limbs
a tension strains in silence
only to cease to be, to die within his heart. -
Carmel
Viv,
The metaphore is spot on! I know of a family that spent the majority of over 40 years in prison due to the oppression of the Turkish and Iranian Mullas who were threatened by the male members of the family. What was their crime? Simply wishing for the liberation of people from the yoke of fanatical religious leaders. The family, almost to the person, claimed not to feel constrained by the physical limitations and recalled their years of confinement as very liberating as they were there not because of personal shortcoming but because of prejudice.
We are as free as we want to be, regardless of physical circumstance, if we take the steps to be free.
carmel
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kat_newmas
I have often compared my wife and I to that exact thing. Lions. I have patterned my life after them. It may sound mad... but it is, as you say it is. Man is not so far above the animal kingdom, as he would like to believe. Lions.... we have the same basic instinct to have family structure, to have mates, to reproduce.... and to kill.
I guess I have an affinity with kats. I dont know.
(Kat Newmas purrrrrs quietly)
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greven
My God Viv this is deep!
My love for nature led me to study biology. I have seen appalling things how mighty and less mighty creatures are being treated. It breaks my hart! Who are we to cause so much suffering upon animals!
We posses so many great qualities, so many opportunities, changes are just there for the take. we dream of so many things, we wish for so many things, and most of the times the cage that is holding us back is made of fear. Fear of losing our securities, fear of failure. We have build our own cages and too often we fail to see we have build them in the first place. Our dreams vanish without being followed.
Fear is the key indeed: fear of failure, fear of standing out (non-conformity), fear of dipleasing relatives or God (religion). We locked ourselves in and therefore, only we can get ourselves out. You demostrate good insight here!When we are old and grey, will we discover we haven't even lived?
My greatest fear: being old looking back and concluding I have really lived. Greetz, Greven