Of Tanks and Towns

[peter_mary]

A few years ago, my wife and I tossed around a metaphor, likening the Church to an aquarium plunked down out in the middle of the ocean. It was a brightly lit aquarium, and the fish inside worked hard to keep the glass clean, the gravel raked, the bubble-maker always making perky little bubbles. There was a great deal of effort to keep it brightly lit, inviting, cozy...but outside the glass it seemed dark, and the big fish in the middle always told the little fish that outside the tank lurked horrible, unspeakable evils that would consume them the moment they flopped out of the tank. Every once in a while, a dark shadow would pass by, a stark reminder of the evil that awaits. To make it even worse, every time one of the little fish DID jump out, they never came back. The tank was clearly the only safe place in the whole ocean.

What the tank-dwellers didn't know was that the little fish who escaped weren't eaten (well, most of them anyhow...every now and again one really was devoured). No, in reality, those fish learned that they could swim the seven seas, the four corners of the earth, exploring and learning and really living...a privlege they were not actually afforded in the tank. What seemed like their safe refuge was really their tomb.

Tonight I watched "The Village." (I know, I know, I'm about 12 months behind the rest of the world in most other things, too :rolleyes: ...). Turns out M. Night Shyalanman (sp?) had the same idea running around in his mind.

Plato did too, in his allegory of the cave...

Must be an archtype...

Paul

[Born Free]

What the tank-dwellers didn't know was that the little fish who escaped weren't eaten (well, most of them anyhow...every now and again one really was devoured).

Must be an archtype...

Paul

Paul,

In relating this parable, you appeared to baulk at the reality of the occasional shark 'out there'.

You overlooked that the aquarium is not the lighted little haven it appears at first glance.

It contains a variety if sealife that is unknown on the outside or at least better dealt with there. I speak of the sharks that use a dolphin-like-disquise to facilitate their predatory attacks on the unsuspecting, and powerless; to say in effect "I am a higher life form, who has a greater understanding of all the big questions of life. I have been appointed and annointed by the Big Fish in the Sky to protect and guide you. Now come sit on my lap".

[peter_mary]

Paul,

In relating this parable, you appeared to baulk at the reality of the occasional shark 'out there'.

You overlooked that the aquarium is not the lighted little haven it appears at first glance.



Of course, you're right, but in my defense :) (I seem to be especially irritating lately...) I was trying to break with my own tradition and keep my story short, and in so doing, short-changed the parable.

I actually mentioned that some of the little fish who escape the tidy little tank are devoured, and it was the "sharks" that I had in mind. As you so eloquently described in your post responding to "What are the Traps," we often are not really prepared when we find ourselves out of the tank...we may not even have intended to get out in the first place! That does make us vulnerable, and I know of people who lose their families, who succumb to addictions or other self-destructive behaviors, or who land in another tank. Some have a "near miss" with a shark, and learn some valuable lessons (I'm guessing you can attest to that...I know I can), others are naturally street-smart (wave-smart?) and navigate the dark waters of the sea pretty well right from the start.

The key to this part of the parable though was simply this. Those who left the relative safety of the aquarium and have encountered the risks STILL would choose the risks in order to enjoy the freedom. The potential for real happiness in the journey is worth the risk to many of us who leave our safe, tidy little tanks.

And of course, tanks are artificial environments, and as such, they are always on the brink of disaster. It requires a great deal of energy to keep that disaster at bay, but chaos often has its way and the little haven becomes diseased, covered in algae, and the big fish start eating their young.

The single point here is that it is an illusion. I don't know if you've seen the movie "The Village," but one of the most poignant lines in the film was when the "Elders" (isn't that interesting?) have an impromptu meeting, and learn that Mr. Walker has given his daughter Ivy permission to go to the towns (leave the tank). The Elders are upset because he let the secret out, and he argued that it was the only sane thing to do. In a moment of introspection, one of the Elders says, to paraphrase, "I lost my wife to murder in the towns. Everyone else in my family died here in the Village." Bingo! It is always an illussion that things are better in the tank, but when you don't know what's outside, you don't have anything to compare it to. Furthermore, when the Elders are always telling you how bad it is out there, and you've grown up with that, you have no way of knowing any differently.

The incidence of abuse, of neglect, of suicide, of divorce, of disease, of death...all are the same inside the tank as they are outside. The only difference is what the tank-dwellers BELIEVE about their life inside the tank. And what the escapees learn about life once they're gone.

And that's what I was trying to say. Sorry if I kept it too short. :)

Paul

[Born Free]

Of course, you're right, but in my defense :) (I seem to be especially irritating lately...) I was trying to break with my own tradition and keep my story short, and in so doing, short-changed the parable.

The single point here is that it is an illusion. I don't know if you've seen the movie "The Village,"

And that's what I was trying to say. Sorry if I kept it too short. :)

Paul

Paul,

I haven't seen The Village, but will keep my eyes open. That is two movies I have to watch just from this site this week. I am also on the lookout for Remember Lenin, reviewed on the Magazine page. It looks great.

Thansk for the recommendation, and love your posts!

Daryl