Lions, and Tigers, and Bears

This morning I am thinking about the part in the movie “The Wizard of Oz” when Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man are in the haunted forest.  Dorothy nervously asks about the possibility that they might encounter wild animals as they pass through.  Once the Tin man introduces the notion of lions, and tigers, and bears, it’s as though she becomes fixated on the idea.  She says it out loud.  “Lions, and tigers, and bears!  Oh my!”  She even begins to repeat it, with her companions joining in.  Interestingly, it is within only a few moments that the Lion appears.  I’m really curious if that scene carries an intentional metaphor for calling forth into being that which one chooses to believe, focus on, and speak.  Perhaps.  In any case, the message this carries for me today is not lost.  For better or worse, that scene—or something like it—has certainly played itself out in my life on occasion.  At times, I’d become obsessed with unsettling thoughts and questions about what I might encounter within a given situation or relationship.  I wasn’t worried so much about actual lions, and tigers, and bears.  I did, however, anxiously wonder about some of their metaphorical counterparts…things that, for me, were genuinely frightening.  Rejection, and loss, and pain.  Encompassed in a dark forest of fear and doubt, I’d find myself talking out loud about the very things I dreaded.  It never really dawned on me how I was actually invoking those things through the verses of the pitiful song I’d play over and over in my mind: “What If?”  What if I make a fool of myself?  What if it doesn’t work?  What if I make a really bad mistake?  What if I get hurt again?  By God’s grace, I was not completely consumed!  I’m so thankful that I have learned I can also call forth good and beautiful things to my life.  It’s wholly a matter of my choice.  Time and time again, I have seen the wonderful manifestation of blessings declared.  So, I am learning to sing a new song:  “Wisdom, and favor, and grace!  All mine!”  Wherever I go, I want this to be my glorious refrain.  I want to speak it out loud.  And, who knows?  Maybe those around me will join in.