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Strength
Walking alongside the lion
Sometimes you can’t get through a day without having to draw on strength. We are everyday heroes and heroines facing the heroic task of overcoming our trepidations and our imagined limitations. In art and in life, we are called to dig deep within the well of our being to be brave — to act even if our legs shake. To show up and risk failure. To be original even if it invites ridicule. To go against the grain of peer pressure and societal norms, to do what is right.
Remember The Wizard of Oz and the cowardly lion walking the path, the journey, on the Yellow Brick Road to Oz. He thought the liquid courage given to him by the Wizard was the source of his strength — he even argued for his limitations — but we see the lion rise to the occasion in pivotal acts of strength and courage. The lion thinks if he feels fear it must mean he isn’t brave. But despite his self-doubt, when the time comes, he rises up and behaves bravely.
“Put ’em up, put ’em up! Which one of you first? I’ll fight you both together if you want. I’ll fight you with one paw tied behind my back. I’ll fight you standing on one foot. I’ll fight you with my eyes closed… ohh, pullin’ an axe on me, eh? Sneaking up on me, eh? Why, I’ll… Ruff!”
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, 1939 film, quote from Kidadl
