Our kingdoms lie in ruin. (source: jimmyharris)
The reason for the story
Gotham is overrun by criminals. Narnia is covered in snow and the White Witch reigns. The Dark Lord has sent out the Nine Riders in search of the One Ring. The galaxy bows in fear of Darth Vadar and his Death Star. Bowser has the Princess. The Covenant has invaded Earth.
The kingdom is in ruins.
We are led to suppose that prior to “once upon a time’, things were “happily ever before”. Stories are told because something happened to change that “happily ever before”. Something bad happened and threatened the kingdom.
The story is told because of the ruined kingdom. Without a kingdom in ruin, there is no need for heroic deeds.
Our kingdom
Just like Gotham, Narnia, Middle Earth, and the rest of my examples, our kingdom is threatened.
On a global scale our kingdom experiences wars and riots outside of our control. We are grieved by ecological disasters such as mass fires and months long oil spills. Sickness and disease make nightly appearances in our news broadcasts. We hurt each other with murder, rape, theft, and unknown other ways.
The global kingdom is a wreck.
The smaller kingdoms are often little better. Job loss, recessions, inflation, mortgages, debt. Overeating, under-eating. Poverty, hoarding. Death, suicide, loneliness.
I’m not a pessimist, but the truth of the matter is that most people are not living happily ever after.
We are drawn to these stories for yet another commonality they all share.
The Rescue
We know the names of Batman, Aslan, Frodo, Luke Skywalker, Mario, and the Master Chief for a reason. When things were darkest, they appeared.
When the kingdom was in ruins, their remarkable stories took center stage.
Their actions are remarkable because of what occurred as a result of them. Good defeated evil. Light conquered darkness. The innocent were protected.
This story resonates with us because our story requires a rescue too.
Unfortunately, many will choose to ignore this.
The wisdom of Morpheus
When we encounter Morpheus for the first time, nearly every member of the human race is enslaved, serving as a battery to robotic overlords. He is one of only a small remnant of free people who remain at the center of the planet. Earth lies in utter devastation.
The kingdom has fallen.
Yet Mr. Thomas A. Anderson, like the majority of civilization, is oblivious to the full gravity of the situation. He feels something tugging at him to look beyond what his peers do, yet he can’t put a finger on it. He only knows a name.
Consider the speech that Morpheus gives as he begins to explain the fallen kingdom they are standing in:
The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work…when you go to church…when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.
Oh that the Matrix existed only in the movies.
You were born into bondage
Our Matrix is the Template Life.
Nearly every member of our society has been infected with the belief that their duty is to live the just like the person next door to them. We are trained to work harder and make more money to feed our corporate and governmental overlords. Our lives lie in ruin as we give our best years to the machine in hopes that one day we can enjoy freedom with our remaining frail bodies.
We sacrifice our families for a better rating on annual evaluations in hopes of more money. We work long hours to climb the corporate ladder so that we can be one rung above the next guy.
For large portions of the year, we leave before the sun comes up and arrive at home long after it has set. Our children are raised by people we pay to play parent while we spend our lives with people that aren’t our families.
This is the reason we are drawn to the rescue…because we require one too
What will YOU choose?
I’m not saying that the corporate world is our robotic overlord. I AM saying that the numbness we operate under is no different than the oblivious state Neo was kept in before his rescue.
We are slaves to the status quo. We have handed our freedom of thought over to others so that we can enjoy relaxed lives. Our overlords, not the result of war, are of our own making. Our society is complacent and non-confrontational. We continue to tolerate that which we don’t approve of because the alternative requires intentionality. It requires we be uncomfortable.
The kingdom is in ruin and we’ve chosen to sleep right through it.
The question then is whether or not you will swallow the template life so that you can remain in bed and believe whatever you want?
Or will you choose a different path?
Thankfully, some of you already have.
