03-10-2010
The Imprisonment of Icarus and Daedalus
According to Greek mythology many scholars believed that Icarus had drowned in the Aegean sea because he flew to close to the water while others contest this myth saying that he had fell to his death because he flew to close to the sun. The heat of the sun had softened the wax that held his wings of feathers in place because he disobeyed his fathers’ warnings when the giddiness that the freedom of flying had created, took control and the wax melted off the wings, his father Daedalus had invented and fell to his death and drowned in the Aegean ocean. Either way I look at it Icarus had ‘DROWNED’ as a result of disobeying his father’s warnings and his own ambitions.
Whether flying too high or too low ignoring the balance between the two had one outcome then and is still suffered in modern times which are an untimely premature death!
Why were Icarus and Daedalus imprisoned?
Daedalus was an inventor by trade and employed by king Minos of Sicily. King Minos had asked Daedalus to invent and build a maize or labyrinth as was known then where to he had condemned his bastard son for all eternity. This bastard son of his was called the Minotaur- it had the head of a bull and the body of a man because King Minos’ wife conceived a son by a bull given as a gift by Poseidon, the god of the seas to King Minos and his wife Pasiphae. Naturally being enraged by this sacrilege King Minos had condemned this creature to the labyrinth designed and built by Daedalus the father of Icarus. In the meantime however the King had a contender. Theseus, King of Athens had plotted to take the throne from Minos and by so doing would end human sacrifice. All offenders had been condemned to the labyrinth as a tribute to his own fallen son Androgenous to be killed by the beast, the Minotaur. Unfortunately Theseus did not know how to escape the labyrinth since he did not have the secret. His wife on the other hand managed to get Daedalus to divulge the information and by so doing managed to enrage King Minos even more.
King Minos had Daedalus and Icarus condemned to his own labyrinth to be slain by the Minotaur which gave birth to the invention that aided their escape- wings constructed of feathers and wax.
Psalm 23
The LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide and shield me], I shall not lack. 2- He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters. 3- He refreshes and restores my life (myself); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him]- [not for my earning it, but] for His name's sake. 4- Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for you are with me; Your rod [to protect and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me. 5- You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my [brimming] cup runs over. 6- Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.
Flying high like Icarus- When the giddiness of flying overcame Icarus completely, he forgot his father’s warning not to fly too close to the sun or too close to the sea lest his wings became wet or burned and would drown, while Christianity tells us that 'ALL things are possible, as long as we believe'- So then, what went wrong? Are we as mere human beings able to fly so high that we forget the warning our forefathers uttered as they taught us to live a well-balanced life?
And NO, diet has nothing at all to do with it! Except perhaps be careful as to what the physical world are feeding us? Become picky eaters so as to prevent ‘spiritual obesity’ and an untimely demise like the son of Daedalus, Icarus, a mere human being that flew like the eagles of the skies. Like overhead billboards alongside our highways are easily ignored only because we have seen them too often but tend to forget what they advertise, the ultimate message it contains. For some it may advertise a superficial financial release and for others maybe even a curse? Others may find a message alongside the R21 to Kempton Park which read; ‘Turn to the Lord for He will comfort you’ and it did when I once passed it too. Often still I read those words of encouragement as I have to see a therapist. At first I was miss-diagnosed as a bi-polar depressed sufferer and over medicated as result. It almost ended badly for me too but was soon pulled back from the edge of darkness after having been for a second opinion. The result came back as being chronically depressed but could neither be determined whether it was bi-polar in nature or manic. Reduced medication was the answer and was on the road to recovery. I also managed to burn myself out due to business responsibilities, home life and marital obligations which gave rise to an uncontrollable fear. I had a grave fear of flying, growing old and slowly dying. I had to say good bye to two dear friend both in the month of July, which as you know is the seventh and perfect month- the one, my spiritual son aged 24, 2009 and then a year later my spiritual mother, Elsie 2010. Still, to me there was nothing perfect about their passing yet I still took a chance on life- I refused to be slain by the ‘Minotaur’ of my circumstances, the beast that stalks the children of God while trapped in the maze of life.
Where does this spiral dive into the devil’s liar begin? In one word- AMBITION! A word of warning: Ambition is blind and it can’t drive! Living a physical life in a spiritual world is an almost impossible task unless YOU believe in a power greater than us dweebs here on earth.
Ambition drives us to become better than the best, and the best is the human physical drive that teaches us to commit a grave sin against the Creator and dies as result because Faith was stuck in their back pockets. It got crushed and smothered.
Question remains however: Did Icarus’ faith fail him, or was his determination directed toward the physical escape of enemy imprisonment which I was experiencing at the time as well?
What I have learnt over the last forty-two years of my very short-lived life is that to believe, to have faith in the unseen, the seemingly impossible, according to our human limitations. Yet they have no boundaries- what we do not consider at the time of planning a holiday, Christmas dinner or growth of a company: We are to blame for the failures in our lives because it is us that set those boundaries - or shall I say LIMITATIONS! We do not believe that we can actually fly as high as the Airbus that brought us to the great Island of Mauritius yesterday.
Up until Saturday morning the 2nd of October 2010, I had a terrible fear of flying and for the first time I was actually going to travel abroad. Flying domestic airlines between O.R. Thambo International and KZN and Cape Town International airport was frightening enough.
As I sat in this gigantic steel bird while it slowly taxied onto the runway readying for takeoff, bumping as it ran across a roughened tarmac, my heart pounded like an African Drum. Hands sweaty from a typical nervousness caused by the realization that we surrender all human control the second we boarded Flight 521 heading for idyllic Mauritius, an Island and paradise-like destination. Easily swept away by this tropical enigma the message became crystal clear.
Surrender All!
No billboards or highways only a clear blue sky pattern matched splotches of white puffy clouds.
I quickly adjusted the volume on my iPod, while winding turbines prepared for final take-off, to dim the frightful noise. Over the tunes of Abba’s ‘I believe in angels’ from the Mama Mia soundtrack, I could still feel the vibrating of this monstrous aircraft taking to flight. I was crossing the stream bringing a lifelong dream to fulfillment. Running my own business that had seemed a mere fairytale for as long as I can remember but for the latter part of the new millennium this dream had come to pass. Now was the time to grow the business and spirit alike, creating equal balance - both physical and spiritual hence the trip to Mauritius. Strangely though, this time around, flying high above the physical earth seemed sleek and unrestrained. Then I realized something changed- taking to the skies was smoother, less noisy, less frightening even though I held my breath in anticipation- hearing blocked by musical sounds singing in my ears like the angels of heaven I believe to be more than a reality. It is a gift, like the gift of music; a song and dance of joy- only I am not the girl with the golden hair- heaven knows, I can’t even sing!
At first the aircraft lifted at a gut wrenching steep accent; a similar feeling, gut-throttling as though one would speed through a dip in the road. Leveling out every couple thousand feet, humming and buzzing as the wings adjust, followed by another and again it would climb another few thousand feet humming and buzzing until we were surrounded by the clouds of heaven- to me, ‘the House of the Lord and His dwelling place’ at the time. The only place I felt safe and comforted while babies aboard this airship cried while altitude climbs hurts their immature ears.
To all the mamma’s out there…LOLLIPOPS girls, cherry flavored lollipops!
I have surrendered all control placing my own fate in the hands of the Lord, being the pilot of my life, and this aircraft alike accepting The Lords will for my life and then scripture once again reminded me.
4- Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for you are with me; Your rod [to protect and Your staff to guide], they comfort me.
For me this experience was indeed like walking through the deep sunless valley of the shadow of death not realizing what ‘flying high’ really meant for us at the time. It held growth, maturity and self- sufficiency in spiritual context which means that we need to FLY like an Icarus if we are to grow both in business and in spirit. Beware however, flying to close to the sun means that we come too close to God’s judgment that would burn our wings since we too tend to forget our Fathers warnings. We need no investors because we have the Lord! It is He that prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies- it is He that provides the brimming cup that runs over- it is also He that protects and guides us every day of our lives. It is His dwelling place that we will dwell in for the rest of our lives. The very heights of heaven that is usually veiled by the cabin window screen because the sun is also symbolic of it being the Lord, hurts our eyes and disturbs our restful ‘slumber and the folding of the hands to sleep’ as Solomon once lamented.
It’s the highest heights of heaven therefore that a fear of flying actually fetters our very own spiritual growth because it is US that set those limitations due to a fear of flying high.
At the end of our business trip to this magical Island of Mauritius, concluding our business, I actually insisted on being seated at a window seat overlooking the very same wing that houses those large noisy turbines creating the ‘G-force’ on take-off that would shake the world and blow it away .
This is the voice of an Almighty God and we still take it for granted!
- Scripture References –
Amplified Large Print -Old Testament and Amplified New Testament Published by the Zondervan Corporation and the Lockman Foundation 1987-Copyright Reserved
- Other references-
I the Shoe Fits, Written by Carol Erasmus- Published by Reach Publishers May 2009-Copyright Reserved-
Lyrics Referenced- Mamma Mia Soundtrack-Original Artists – AbbA- Copyright Reserved-
