Sure They're Talking Animals...

But They Make Good Points

Friday the 10th marked my Brother Mat’s birthday, another year without him present for a birthday celebration. I didn’t want the day to go by with just business as usual so I asked Dad if he wanted to go to the theater and see a movie together. Mat was a huge movie buff and he, myself and Dad always agreed that going to the theater sometimes no matter how large the at home screens got is still a worthwhile outing.

Mufasa: The Lion King

A little surprisingly, we settled on seeing the new Lion King. Dad and I were excited to go and see a “cartoon” together and honestly we both may have felt slightly slighted by the fact that it really wasn’t a cartoon in the sense of the animation we remembered the original Lion King being. Don’t get me wrong, this one is a stunner visually however it’s almost too much. I like animation and the new CGI stuff is so advanced that sometimes it makes me want old quality animation just for art sake. I mean, I am okay with my talking animals not looking 100% real cuz, you know, even a three year old knows a lion can’t talk, but I digress. I do find that movies have gotten so visually heightened for every single frame that I find myself longing for the visual simplicity of older films or films less visually crowded but maybe I’m alone on that take. There is much to be said for space to breathe. But, can’t have us feeling space to really think now can we?

There were some timely reminders in the message of the film especially in light of the fires that were raging on as we sat in the dark theater. There is a scene where Mufasa tries to rally the animals in the serene place where everything is in harmony but a horde of evil lions are about to change that. The animals are angry that Mufasa, by being in “their” space, has subjected them to outside evils and tell him the issue is not with them. Mufasa tells them that if they don’t ban together the blood thirsty lions will dominate and they will then be coming for them after they take out he and his small band of lions as they will only prove to be an appetizer for the kind of power they seek. The animals say that they are not equipt to be fierce fighters like the lions and offer little in the way of aiding this show down. Mufasa debunks the very lies they tell themselves such as comparing themselves to lions. He reminds the giraffes of their ability to see far into the horizon and above all other animals as if they were live watch towers, he reminds the gazelles of their incredible speed and agility, the birds who can run recon and report back from their unapproachable sky positions, the elephants with their massive power in their mere footsteps and their already awesome ability to band together as a large unit. They can make quite a stampede, blockade and like live bulldozers can be very intimidating to any other animal. This reminder to the animals of their very uniqueness causes quite the stir in the animals as they begin to see the light in being better together.

Photo by Birger Strahl on Unsplash

I caught myself with a few tears running down my face as I realized of course this would never be the case for the outcome for animals in the wild but Mufasa made a great point for humans to take note of. While evil forces have been working in the dark since the beginning of time through the age old divide and conquer methods we have been busy pushing the lie that some types of people are better suited for leadership and strength; forgetting that we are all of one kind and that like the animals have been given differences that have kept us from being I Robots. Somewhere along the line more and more humans have subdued their own voice, opinions and belief systems around the notion that there are so many divisions among us that we feel disconnected to anyone outside of our core tribes and even then there is discord much of the time. We have slowly become an every man, woman and child for himself culture and most don’t speak out for fear of pissing someone off about a plethora of choice in the landmines of automated triggered responses. And then……..

Disaster Strikes

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Disasters; the great human equalizers. In the midst of a flood or a fire in the moment of complete loss nothing matters except banning together, needing help, asking for help, people helping and people saving people. For in the darkest moments light comes through and one is elevated to react as a raw human; not a rich one, a poor one, a drunk one, a gay one, a sick one, a professional one or a deadbeat one. Who you are in that moment with your fellow man becomes everything and it’s only sad that our memories run so short much of the time. The questions of blame, embarrassment and the glaring reality of power hungry lions is second to survival and immediate human relations towards each other. The time however must not be dismissed through this darkness for individuals. For I doubt there could be any stronger power than a massive amount of individuals going through something dark together. The lions could be put on notice with ease should all the people bring together their unique gifts. The power hungry lions should feel a healthy dose of humility and trust from the people should be removed immediately and not a one should care about their sorrowful finger pointing. But that is my vision and what I feel deeply could be real progress, real awakening, real search of meaning. For darkness is only the absence of light.

The Need To Create

I walked into Dad’s room a couple of days ago and he was laid back in his recliner with the sounds of 60’s country music blaring. A pretty regular daytime activity for Dad is listening to music several hours a day but this scene brought an added visual of him having his Nebraska Huskers cane across his lap as his hands and fingers pretended to be playing guitar on it. I loved it. It was both a funny and adorable scene. I began to do one of my silly dances of the day to the music, like I do and for just a second Dad and I were the band. Dad says to me, “Maybe I should have Mark start to look for a guitar for me.” Curious why Mark but then dismissed it quick as another one of Dads own Dewey decimal mind system he has on which kid gets which assignment based on factors we cannot understand. Anyway, I said, “Dad, we have guitars here already but do you remember the last time you picked up a guitar and declared that your fingers and grip cannot work for guitar playing?” I saw that incident and it was sad. Sure maybe now he could manage it but honestly, doubtful. I quickly followed up with, “Dad, I still think a keyboard could be a great instrument for you to play.” I have brought this idea up several times and I almost bought one for Christmas but didn’t. Anyway, he continued cane jamming and I danced and we moved on.

Photo by James Owen on Unsplash

Later that day Dad said, “I’m serious about the keyboard thing so will you look into getting one?” I had to laugh, “of course I will Dad.” I discussed some of the features that can be found on them but suggested I find a model he likes then try to find one used if possible. He thought that was a good idea and he said he wants it to have drum sounds. No problem Dad. He told me he needs something to do. I know he does but I am so happy he still tries to eventually come around to ideas within his limitations. The fact that these trying times for Dad boils down to creative expression is a very important point about us humans we tend to ignore far too often.

Not sure where this came from but I came across it this morning written in my hand but with no credit to someone or any reference or context but here is what it said…

Social connection and creativity are woven into our very DNA. They are not like air or water where we would die without them but suffering most certainly will occur in their absence and we mistaken their absence many times for something else within us that we think is broken…

How true that seemed to me as I read that this morning. Somehow my finding that brought together a lot of my thoughts regarding writing today. I have been very saddened by the loss and grief of people going through some bad times. I think of the people in the mountains of NC and TN still displaced, still going through it. I see the greedy lions and I pray people would stop falling for the division of one another that we are spoon fed to believe that our fellow man cannot be trusted, that we should be more afraid of the looters grabbing TV’s then of the looters grabbing our very lives via their selfish greedy policies, decisions and products. It seems hard to fathom some days but free will does still exist.

I feel like we are in a very interesting and dark time in history regarding deceptions layered upon deception keeping us in a constant state of confusion by design. I will remain seeing the glimmers and shining the light on the areas devoid of light because I know the darker it gets it is leading to the ultimate light. Now is a good time to be of a clear mind and a healthy body. Now is a good time to know what you really hang on to as your belief in matters of life and death. Now is a good time to understand the Bible should you be dismissing it because someone else said to. Now is a good time to love your neighbor and quit believing in the voices telling you who you should not love. Divide and conquer. It works like a charm if we let it. Now is a great time to be alive and you were called to be here now.

So here is to creating more and consuming less, sobriety over muddled minds, dancing over slumping, cane guitaring over sitting still, health over illness and always light over dark. You matter. We matter. Better together.

Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash