Flying with wings of wax

Icarus and his father were prisoners on the island of Crete. Daedalus, the father, was an innovator and builder. He designed wings, large wings out of feathers and beeswax that would hoist both himself and Icarus over the walls of the prison to freedom.

Young Icarus was cautioned, “do not fly too close to the sun.” But Icarus was a prideful young man who would not listen to his father’s advice. He was over-confident and denied any danger that might come from exceeding his limitations.

In his arrogance, Icarus took off toward the sun. Alas, the beeswax wings melted. Icarus fell into the sea and drowned.

Myth bears eternal truth, making sense of the human condition. Myth tells us things about ourselves that we might not enjoy hearing. We see one another in myth. We see the ills of the world in myth.

The myth of Icarus is a cautionary tale for our time.

Pride spills out everywhere. From the highest positions in government to the lowest. Unbridled pride leads us to dangerous decisions. Nobody likes to take advice, we see ourselves indestructible. Overconfidence leads to the danger of outrunning our headlights.

Disobedience is never a pretty thing. It is a playground-level action that serves no one. Sometimes our disobedience, like failure to follow law, costs us plenty. For Icarus, it cost him his life.

There is enough truth in this myth to apply up and down the elected leadership ladder, beginning at the White House. Disregard of law, due process, and human rights signals overreach. It endangers our constitutional democracy one rung at a time.

The path of disobedience and disregard of advice and law will lead to increasingly dark places. When it all gets overheated, what will melt?

The events of the past few days speak to flying with wings of wax. A million or so protesters filled the streets of this country last week in the “No Kings Rally.” The silent majority is beginning to raise its voice against the policies enacted by executive action.

The more the people speak against what is happening in the country regarding immigrants, the more riled people on the radical right become. This is evidenced by the cold-blooded murder of a Minnesota Speaker of the House and her husband, and the shooting of a second Democratic legislator and his wife. And did you see the video of Senator Padilla being handcuffed? Politically motivated violence is rising.

Is anybody raising the question about who is actually running the government? Is Stephen Miller running the West Wing? Why would we let this happen?

At the “No Kings Rally” on Saturday, thousands of people lined a major highway coming into Raleigh. The spirit of the crowd was resolve. It was energetic. Colorful. It felt like Democracy in action. I told a woman standing next to me, “I learned how to protest in the 60s. I never thought we would be in this place again.” Peter, Paul and Mary were correct, “when will they ever learn?”

The cautionary story of Icarus should teach us to know and respect limitations. Some laws of physics are set. Pride goeth before the fall. Gravity wins.

High-flying disregard of all ilk will come back and bite us. Cleaning up the mess will be a welcome but difficult work.

The Resistance is heating up. The people are more and more disgusted. Non-violent protesting gets under Trump’s wax and feathers.

Ambition, recklessness, and failure to listen pave the road to disaster. But the voices of reason and calm are all around us. Pope Leo is speaking into the darkness. Others in mainline churches are too.

Sadly, radicalization has blossomed in the Better-Than-Thou Church. When Christian people do not champion care of creation, care of the least and the lost, when they don’t work against poverty and marginalization of anyone who is “different,” when people flock to the throne of a tyrant president, the Lord must surely cringe. The puffed up and self-righteous will be brought low and the lowly will rise in God’s economy. This is why we sing, “People get ready.”

The sun is hot. Much that we fear around us will melt in the heat. Wax will drip down the chinks in our bravado. Our pride will be molded into kindness. The chaos of wing building and puffed uppery is tiring and old.

A new story, a new dream and a new vision will lead us from this darkness.

The heat is on.  

Lib Campbell is a retired Methodist pastor, retreat leader, columnist and host of the blogsite www.avirtualchurch.com. She can be contacted at libcam05@gmail.com