Rise and Rise Again Until Lambs Become Lions

 

Over the past few days the poetic phrase “Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions,” has been the fascination of my subconscious musings. The poetic phrase more specifically comes from the 2010 reboot of Robin Hood starring Russell l Crowe. While I will not get into the specifics of what the phrase is intended to mean in the context of the movie itself, it is instructive to the analysis and conclusions I have preliminarily come to while pondering the phrase. As I thought about the phrase, I could not help but assess the symbolic meanings underlying the phrase as a whole, including its theological, metaphorical, and literal implications. I am just going to list some of the thoughts and connections that I have made in regard to the words and the symbols underlying them. First, the concept of “rising” has obvious and literal physical meanings, like for example, physically rising after falling down, or rising from a chair, but its use in poetic form suggests a deeper meaning than a simple pragmatic rendition of the words. Rising, in the context of the theological and liturgical has deep meta-physical (spiritual) connotations. In both the Eastern and Western traditions, rising refers to the liturgical concept of “ascension,” or “rebirth.” The concept of rising, ascension, and rebirth permeate metaphysical thematic depictions in art, religion, and the existential. These concepts are generally understood on a qualitative level of understanding, that is, we tend to “feel” or “experience” the meanings on a personal and collective level. In the religious context, ascension is a fundamental tenant of the eastern mystery religions, represented in the notions of attaining an enlightened state whether classified as achieving a state of Nirvana, or Moksa. However, one should not automatically equate the notions of ascension based on the outward similarities of the concept as they do indeed vary accordingly. In the Western tradition generally speaking, ascension is a product of and based on the condescension of divinity to the individual and collective rather than a strictly relative notion that Eastern traditions generally devolve to. In the Western tradition ascension, rebirth, and rising, have specific referents in and to the life of the Divine Master who makes it possible that his disciples can follow the same path to enlightenment. In the context of the Western tradition there are two literal fulfillments of the idea of rising and ascension. In the scriptural narrative the Lord rose from death following his crucifixion, in the same way as the eastern traditions mythology tells of the phoenix rising from the ashes of its own death, of its own power and will. This particular instance of rising, for the believer has specific and general implications of the deepest magnitude, that is that power over death resides in and with the Lord, and that death is a necessary step in the process of ascension.  After delivering the most profound mysteries (the gnosis) to his disciples during his 40 day ministry we read that the Lord ascended to the right hand of the Father. One of my favorite chapters of scripture has always been John 6. In that chapter the Lord feeds the multitude and teaches by way of analogy to both reveal and conceal the secrets of eternal life. He does so by way of metaphor, and analogy, referring to the Old Covenant made to the Israelites, and tying those modern Israelites to the fulfillment of prophecy. Further, he ties himself to the cosmic narrative as the author of life itself.

John 6: 58: “This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
⁵⁹ These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
⁶⁰ Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
⁶¹ When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
⁶² What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
⁶³ It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
⁶⁴ But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
⁶⁵ And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
⁶⁶ From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
⁶⁷ Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
⁶⁸ Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”

 

Specifically, the Lord states that a time will come that he will ascend to his Father, and in fact he did, after completing the tasks of his earthly ministry. This same thematic narrative can be found in almost all forms of popular media. More recently, I have noticed this thematic symbolism in the movie, the Dark Knight Rises. It is particularly blatant as the concept of ascension is contained in the title itself. Looking at the narrative of the movie, it caused me to ask how in the context of the film is the Batman “rising.” For those who have ears to hear probably have already noticed that the Dark Knight Trilogy itself is an apocalyptic analogy ripped straight from the narrative of the Gospels. Bruce Wayne/Batman is ultimately the sacrificial savior of the people of Gotham city, and in effect “gives everything” to the people. The three major villains of the trilogy present themselves in the form of the biblical unholy trinity of Revelations, Daniel, and Ezekiel. Ras Al Ghul (the Demons Head) is representative of the head of the organization that is seeking to destroy the world (Gotham). He is the ultimate mastermind, the great manipulator and underlying cause of destruction in the fictional world of Batman. In the comics his symbol is that of the goat, which is the scriptural representative of Satan during the Day of Atonement ritual. The Joker represents the false prophet, more of a spiritual force of nature, rather than a physical threat. He is characterized as an unstoppable force, an agent of chaos, and the primary spiritual force that plays upon the soul and character of the city of Gotham. Bane and Talia Al Ghul from the Dark Knight Rises, round out the unholy trinity as the Beast and the Whore, the daughter of the Demons head, who rides upon (is supported by, foreshadowed by) the Beast. Bane comes to Gotham as a political and physical force, arising as it were from the depths of an abyss as the remnant of the league of shadows. He wreaks physical, and financial, havoc on the city of Gotham, and implements its overthrow and descent into chaos, lawlessness, and disorder, under the guise of egalitarianism. He represents a false system of governance, lawlessness, and brute physical force in implementing such a system, which is purportedly for the benefit of the people, but ultimately focused on their destruction. However, it isn’t until the end that it is revealed that Bane is not the mastermind behind the plot, but simply the hired muscle, indeed truly the beast. The true mastermind is Talia Al Ghul who represents the Whore of Babylon the true power behind the scenes whose ultimate goal is the destruction of the world in the name of her father. More tellingly, however are the forces that stand in opposition and with the savior/messianic character in Bruce Wayne. Alfred represents the Father, the moral force behind Bruce, his ultimate support and the voice that persuades him to “endure” the tragedies and hardships to save the city. Further, in the most perilous moment of the story, Alfred withdraws from Bruce and he is forced to fight the fight on his own. However, he is not ultimately alone as he has the help of Peter Foley, the police chief, who is brash and momentarily doubts until he sees the sign of the “savior” burning like a fire in the sky and leads the police force (believers) with courage until his death in the cause. Additionally, he has James Gordon, one of his most faithful partners engaged in the cause until the end, and one of the privileged few to witness the final sacrifice of Batman. Further, he has John Blake, arguably his most favorite and the most intuitive of his followers whose zeal for the cause of Batman leads him to abandon his work and stay behind and continue the work of the Batman. Also, he has in the end a faithful adversary turned follower in Selina Kyle (Catwoman) whom he trusts and gives a second chance despite her various sins and misdeeds, and who ultimately is blessed with direct and intimate knowledge of the rebirth of Bruce in the hereafter of the movie. Finally, last but certainly not least, is Lucius Fox, Bruce Wayne’s trusted CEO of Wayne Enterprises. He is charged with delivering and representing the message of Wayne Enterprises as a direct agent of Bruce Wayne and through his technological developments delivering the message of Batman. In the climax of the film, Bruce/Batman the son of Thomas Wayne the philanthropist and savior of Gotham before him, sacrifices himself to save the city. In the end we learn that Bruce is not dead, but alive, and through his sacrifice ascended to state of peace. This is what is meant by the Dark Knight Rising. It is a direct metaphor for the spiritual message of the sacrifice required to achieve immortality, ascension, and rebirth into a higher order.

Lambs

In art and metaphysical symbolism, animals are generally used as representations of their natural traits. These traits tell imply a deeper meaning concerning the subject of their application. In the Western tradition animals have been used as representatives as sacrificial instrumentalities, as clean or unclean, or as representative of positive or negative traits to emulate or discern.

Lambs are generally represented as being clean animals and as possessing the qualities of faithfulness, timidity, gentleness, compassion, and discipleship. Further they have been used to depict the characteristics of innocence, meekness, purity, patience, and humility. In a liturgical sense they are also indicative of sacrifice, obedience, and martyrdom. Moses referred to lambs and sheep as being clean animals (acceptable) is because they chewed their own cud and had cloven hooves. Cud chewing is symbolic of meditation on the words of Christ, continual study and pondering on the teachings of the prophets and man’s dependence on the divine will. Cloven hooves are symbolic of the concept that everything has its opposite and that there are always two paths, one leading to vice and one to virtue which require ethical distinction and proper actions. In a negative sense the symbolic representation of sheep is characterized as those who are unthinking, followers, blind, dumb, and simpleminded. While this distinction often might seem fitting it relies upon an unfounded assumption of rationalism, that is, that man without God can arrive at truth. This ignores the reality that man’s reasoning is limited by context, education, disobedience, false traditions, and his very own imperfections. Lambs therefore are more properly understood as those who are intellectually humble and look to the source of truth in all their endeavors.

Lions

In art and metaphysical symbolism, the Lion is depicted as the most noble of all the creatures almost certainly as a product of its natural divine and regal character. In history the Lion is the symbol of nobility and direct lineal descent of the divine birthright of kings. This no doubt stems from the birthright King of Kings who is the “the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David.” (Rev. 5:5).The biblical tribe of Judah is described from ancient times as possessing the “sceptre” of the “lawgiver.”(Gen. 49:9). This thematic notion permeates modern day symbolism as is evidenced in the movies The Lion King, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Robin Hood. In each of these movies Lions are recognized as rightful rulers with divine birthrights of kingship and power, indeed, “they shall walk after the Lord: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble.” (Hosea 11:10). More specifically, lions anciently were symbolic of resurrection and conversion. This came from the observation of newborn lion pups. Newborn lion pups were once believed to be born dead, and only came alive when the father passed its breath upon the pup. This was symbolic as Christ breathing his essence (spirit) into his followers that awakened their spirits to the light of God. Further symbolic representations highlight the legend that a lion never closes its eyes when it sleeps, indicating intelligence, vigilance, and protection. Finally, lions are generally representative of strength, determination, courage, pride, and authority.

Eternal Progression

While I was thinking about the poem and pondering the symbolic representations of the concepts and traits inherent in the poem another poem came to mind. President Lorenzo Snow, in the spring of 1840, while listening to the explanation of a particular scripture by a friend had a revelation. He stated, “the Spirit of the Lord rested mightily upon me – the eyes of my understanding were opened, and I saw as clear as the sun at noonday, with wonder and astonishment, the pathway of God and man. I formed the following couplet which expresses the revelation, as it was shown me . . . As man now is, God once was; As God now is, man may be.” Herein, lies the meaning of the former poem, that man, as a lamb subjects himself to the will of the father and eternal principles, he may rise beyond his current status and become much more. In particular the trait that I feel that the poem represents is self-mastery and self-government. Lions are the sovereigns of the animal kingdom and are representative of a life of certain divine authority by natural birthright, that is the right and authority to self-government.

Self-Mastery and Self-Government

Leonardo Da Vinci once said: “You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself . . . the height of a man’s success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment . . . and this law is the expression of eternal justice. He who cannot establish dominion over himself will have no dominion over others.”  Da Vinci was speaking primarily about leadership and the necessary prerequisite to leadership is self-mastery. Self-mastery implies moral standards as well as the willpower, determination, and action in support of it. The lamb provides ample symbolic allusion to the type of traits one needs to have to achieve self-mastery, first recognition of moral standards that stand outside of any subjective notion. This requires absolute humility, discipline, and submission of the will to the ultimate lion. This refers to the straight and narrow path which requires self-restraint and self-denial. This recognition stems directly from a lack of self-fulfillment, self-seeking, and self-interest. There is recognition as a sheep that there are limitations that such a worldview entails, but it is also a recognition of the natural state of man in relation to God and others, that is that all men have certain rights and responsibilities.

Rise and Rise Again Until Lambs Become Lions

It is the recognition of these rights and responsibilities that lead to emancipation from falsehood, independence from slavery, and liberty by law. It is from the position of correct principles that man is able to govern himself as taught by Joseph Smith. Self-mastery and self-government therefore are inextricably tied together as natural rights wherein nature’s creator “expects every man to do his duty; and when he fails the law urges him; or should he do too much; the same master rebukes him.” (Joseph Smith). It is in this state of being, the recognition of universal God-given rights, properly understood, submitted to, and adhered to as the lamb submits to its master, that men achieve self-mastery. Self-mastery is no more nor less than proper proactive exercise of moral agency. Men become free as they adhere to universal laws and act on the basis of truth rather than being acted upon and reacting to externalities. In this state of being, man goes from grace to grace (rebirth) until he obtains the mind of Christ and is blessed with enlightenment (ascension) and the mysteries of the kingdom. It is in this exalted state that man, in relation to his fellow man truly become sovereign, independent, and equal, as lambs that have all become lions.