I woke up in the morning recently thinking about Pier Gynt and the Hall of the Mountain King, the Wizard of Oz, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and drinking tea with a monster. Yes, I recognize that is a wild bunch, but allow me to relate them to one another.
The Wizard of Oz is behind a curtain spewing out endless computer sequence chains. The Sorcerer’s Apprentices are feverishly scrambling to find ways to appease a monster. Words are reverberating in the Hall of the Mountain King. Masses are so fearful that they’re unable to think straight and are willingly making great, increasingly more severe, sacrifices to the Mountain King. Many have gone along with the demands from the Mountain King, even though they believe things are somehow not right. Those who resist, or even dare to speak out, are blamed for causing the Mountain KIng’s wrath, so are targeted through censure or ridicule to join the masses.
This story is not new. Many have been and continue to be labeled as heretics under monstrous situations. I’ll name a few: Jesus of Nazareth, Socrates, Hildegard von Bingen, Dr.Semmelweis, Chief Tecumseh, Harriet Tubman, Patrick Henry, Susan Anthony, Nelson Mandela, Vandana Shiva, Robert Kennedy, Al Gore, Dr, Mehmet Oz, Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, Mattias Desmet, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King. Based upon your persuasion, I’m certain you could develop a list and it would never be complete. Nevertheless, all of them have walked or are walking with us here on our planet and know how difficult it is to drink tea with a monster.
Pier Gynt had to face the monstrous Mountain King in order to acknowledge his own flaws and assume responsibility for them. As with the people listed above, the act of drinking tea with a monster challenges a soul’s convictions, while actively recognizing those of the opposition. I have no doubt they would say, paraphrasing what JFK said in his inaugural speech, “Ask not what _________ can do for you; ask what you can do for ___________.”