Recently, I found myself pondering why it is that people cling onto things that are obsolete and even destructive. It is a tendency that is easily seen across the human experience. There is a difference between respecting the past and clinging onto obsolete or destructive things, in that clinging to that which is outdated or harmful binds and restricts us. In spite of the restrictions of such bondage, it has a certain appeal to people who are not ready to move forward. In order to break free, one has to step out on faith in God's plan for one's future and move forward.
When a child is first learning to ride a bicycle, he or she almost always begins with training wheels. Training wheels allow the child to get the feel of riding a bicycle, while also providing support so that the bicycle (and child) don't fall over when the bicycle isn't moving. They also provide support while the child learns how to balance, turn, and pedal forward.
Because of the physics of angular momentum, notably seen in the actions of spinning tops and gyroscopes, a bicycle rider can generate these powerful-yet-invisible forces to keep the bike upright as long as the wheels are spinning. The process of learning how to ride a bicycle is largely about the child learning to become sensitive to, trust in, and then use and balance these invisible forces so that he/she can not only keep the bicycle upright, but also move forward, and just have fun riding.
Until the child develops the sensitivity to those forces, most are afraid to ride without training wheels. As their training progresses, the parent takes the training wheels off and holds onto the bike. The child immediately feels the increased instability of this setup and, without long enough legs to hold the bike up, the child often complains, expressing a fear of falling (and getting hurt).
Between leaning on the parent, or leaning against a car, the child struggles with achieving balance. Sometimes, they actively resist, preferring to lean on some other stable force, rather than learning to establish their own. However, once the child's friends and peers start learning to ride and begin to leave him/her behind, the child may feel compelled to finally step out on faith and to achieve the mastery that was already there for him/her to grasp.
Let us use this real life example as a metaphor to help us appreciate, and ultimately overcome, the seduction of bondage, both ancient and contemporary, both physical and mental.
As we approach this topic, let us consider two Biblical passages as our foundation. First, from Exodus 20:
[1] And God spake all these words, saying,
[2] I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Let us juxtapose this with Numbers 14:
[2] And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
[3] And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
[4] And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
One of the familiar refrains in the plight of the Israelite people is the murmuring of those who looked so fondly upon Egypt that they wanted to return. We know, of course, that a whole couple of generations of Israel died out in the wilderness because they could not let go of Egypt.
Incidentally, the first things that God gave to Israel when they were finally free of Egypt and had entered the wilderness were bread (i.e. manna), water, and His Word (i.e. the Law). According to Deuteronomy 8:3, Moses taught the people that God did this deliberately:
[3] ...He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Among those vivifying Words was what we know as the First Commandment: "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."
We can concede that life in the wilderness was challenging, even grueling. But, even with its rigor, the Israelites were free. God had given them the freedom that they had so desperately prayed for, and He did so in miraculous fashion. In fact, they were not only free, but the nation that held them was destroyed so that they could not be overtaken in their vulnerable state. It is, thus, ironic that so many murmured to go back to Egypt; for the Egypt that they knew, the Egypt that they sought to return to no longer existed!
What, then, did they really want?
When we consider spiritual heritage of the Israelite people, particularly the time in the Wilderness and the compulsion to be like everyone else, we can begin to appreciate the allure of tangible security. For those who longed to return, I would daresay that they didn't want to return as slaves. However, there was a certain comfort in fitting into an existing societal structure. They spoke about the things in place--infrastructure, processes, commodities, even culture that they wanted and missed. In the Wilderness, and even in the Promised Land, none of these things existed--as yet. The people would have had to build everything from scratch. That's not a bad thing, but it would require them to put forth a lot of effort.
You may be thinking, "Well, they were recently freed slaves. Why would they be averse to such work, especially for themselves in their newly freed state?" This, of course, is a good question; but it highlights the qualitative difference in the effort required. As a slave, the Israelites were told what to do, how to do it, when to do it. They did not have to (and most likely were excluded from) participating in the political process. They probably did not have much in the way of property or material possessions. Although they were slaves, they were afforded some protection, as their labor was very valuable. Now, they would have to exert effort, not just physical labor, but creative (and spiritual) effort to establish a way of life on earth that did not exist. They would have to give up some things they liked to do and to have in order to establish what God wanted for them. They would no longer have an external target for their negative energy; they would have to face themselves and deal with, come to terms with, and ultimately transmute the negative energy coming from within themselves!
But, how does a people who are not accustomed to thinking for themselves set out to establish a holy society? How do they set up a nation that is totally different from everything that they have known? How do they face their fears, their hurts, their anger, their self-consciousness, their envy and jealousy, their shame, their selfishness, and correct it without directing it at their brethren, and without being consumed by it? How do they find the courage to live by faith so strongly until they lose their self-consciousness for being different? How do they become that which is not? How do they create something from nothing?
This is why God gave them His Law! The Law provides eternal guidelines to follow as they attempted to become that which did not yet appear.
Clearly, in this context, we can see why bondage is seductive even to the free man. Further, we can understand why the convict finds it difficult to escape the cycle of recitivism, why it is difficult for the addict to break the habit, why it is difficult for children of dysfunctional families to break the cycle of dysfunction and abuse. It is much easier to lean on an existing structure than it is to stand up on our own.
At first, of course, when we are new or ignorant, we must lean... However, over time, we become familiar with the environment and develop the maturity, strength, skill, wisdom, etc. to manage on our own. We recognize that it is easier to lean on something else (or someone else), even when we have the capacity to stand on our own. Even today, we so-called free people are told what to wear, what to think, what to like, what to do, who to follow, even who and how to worship. To shun today's "modern, civilized society" seems crazy to most people!
This process of growth, discovery, progression, and yes, illumination requires great and prolonged effort and discipline. It requires us to both grab hold onto, then subsequently let go (ideas, traditions, even loved ones). This process of self-development and self-refinement is constant, and indeed is the purpose of life. Nothing of this world that we cling to will last. As God told Isaiah:
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of God shall stand forever."
Ironically, however, by interacting with things of this world, we are able to approach, contemplate, and cling to eternal things. Moses exhorted the Israelites in Deuteronomy 30:19-20:
"...choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."
Those who embrace the Light are not supposed to hide under a bushel, hide in a backward system, hide behind our fears. We are supposed to be a Light to the world... And, in the context of our bicycle example, we are supposed to show the World how to sense, establish, and bring forth (the Light of) those unseen forces that permeate this world. This is certainly challenging. Bishop William S. Crowdy described this process by writing, "Dark and stormy is the desert through which pilgrims make their way (forward)..."*
Just as the cyclist must have faith in the unseen forces of angular momentum, the pilgrims must have faith that there is a greater reality just beyond the veil that creates a vale of sorrow, must have faith in the power of God working in, for, and through us as we struggle to find balance in this desolate wilderness.
The point is not for us to lean on and cling to institutions, mindsets, customs, rituals, and traditions that we have outgrown or which no longer serve us (racism, classism, oppression, mis-education, unchecked law enforcement, political graft, and yes, religion). We are not here, as Paul exhorts, to conform to this world; but indeed, we are here to literally be transformed by the renewing of our minds. But, in order for that to happen, we must constantly resist the seduction of bondage in all forms.
*Excerpt from "Song for Pilgrims--Further On" by Bishop William S. Crowdy ca. 1902