The Cage

I'm no scientist, but I think everyone has a dream at some point in which they are trapped. I remember one dream in which I was trying to escape from a prison camp. I think people in general would prefer not to be in a prison camp or some other equivalent, but I know that I personally hate the idea of being trapped. I can't stand knowing you are meant for/capable of something more, but for whatever reason are unable to fulfill that purpose. One of the feelings I hate the most: felling like you are in a cage.

Not too long ago, I found myself stuck at home with not much to do (a.ka. feeling trapped). Wanting to avoid cabin fever, my sister and I went to the zoo. I have never been all too fond of zoos, but going provided the opportunity for two things: 1) people watching, one of my favorite pastimes and 2) some relief from sheer and utter boredom. Both of these opportunities were realized as my sister and I made fun of several people at the zoo via twitter. One such person was a rather loud woman, who should have thought more about her words before she let them out. This particular woman wondered aloud if the animal we were looking at was extinct. Then later she asked if the sleeping animals in a certain exhibit were dead. Not the most intelligent comments. After that there were several old people and small children who provided plenty of laughs.

I don't like zoos because typically they are boring. The animals don't really do anything. They just sit in their cages and stare at you, or sleep. In fact I would take staring over sleeping any day. At least then I could have a contest with an animal. I don't like zoos because I feel like I get jipped. I pay money to see vicious creatures who are not vicious in any way. In fact I could probably just go stand outside and see something more entertaining. I am in no way an animal rights activist, so I don't really care that the animals are trapped in cages. I just wish the animals acted a little more like...animals.

I understand liability plays a factor. Wild animals tend to be just that, wild, unpredictable, crazy, dangerous. I understand that the zookeepers are just trying to protect people from what is in the cage, or maybe to protect what is in the cage from the people. Both are examples of protection, not really trusting what is outside the cage. Keeping things inside the cage, separate from everything else is just safer, easier to control, more predictable.

Recently I have been thinking about cages in a new way. Instead of feeling trapped inside a cage, I wonder what I put in a cage and what that even means.

You see here is the problem: As a follower of Jesus I am called to lay down my life, every part of it, in order to actually follow Christ. If I claim Jesus as Lord, then that means I place him as sovereign over my life; every part of my life. That is not the problem. The problem is actually doing this. You see there are some areas of life in which it is easy to give up control, and some where it is not as easy. There are some areas we tend to keep in the cage (metaphorically of course). It could be anything. Sometimes its money or the stuff we own. I know for me it tends to be my relationships with other people. It really could be anything. Whatever it may be, so often there is a part of our lives that we would rather God just stay out of. This area is just so important to us, that it can be hard to trust someone else, even if it is the creator of the universe, to have final say in how it goes. So we put it in a cage. Not for liability's sake, but to protect what we have in there from getting changed or even messed up from the way we like it to be. And so it is kept from harm...or so we think.

The more I think about cages in this way, the more relevant the loud woman's comments are. In the zoo the animals are limited in what they can do, limited from being what they were made to do. So most of the time they lay around and they do in fact appear to be dead. Its the same with our lives. By keeping some areas in cages we place limits on truly experiencing it the way it was intended. By locking things away in a cage, we distort our perception of our lives and slowly kill what is inside the bars. If we take an honest look at what is in the cage, does it look alive, or dead?

We have to be brave and unlock the cage. Its a scary thing to do because once its out we don't have the same control anymore. Outside the cage things can run away or turn on you, but they are also fully alive. We have to unlock the cage for two reasons. The first is we can not keep God from parts of our lives. We need to invite the creator in to bring newness and fullness to every area of our life. And the second reason to unlock the cage, is for the sake of saving what is inside. If we know what it feels like to be trapped, how can we subject something we care about to the torture of that feeling and experience? Maybe I'm on to something, or maybe its just another musing of a modern-day sasquatch