Look It Straight In The Eye

My daughter-in-love decided to watch a movie.
She and my son and my granddaughter have been with us for the past few days.
She wanted to watch Disney’s, Lion King.
It was a bit of nostalgia with songs that she loves.

They are a musical family.
Their music tastes are wonderfully varied.
I trust my son for music suggestions.
I have many of his playlists saved in my library.

Hearing the Lion King music brought back so many memories.
I remember my own children watching that movie.
They laughed at certain parts.
The younger ones were a bit afraid of Scar and his hyenas.

It was one scene in particular that always resonated with me.
I have thought of it often, especially now in our present cultural climate.
I have pondered that scene in my mind.
There is so much truth in those few minutes of film.

I am certain that the writers did not foresee that this scene would explain our current times.
However, the beauty of art, film, and story is that hearts will be touched.
Lessons will be learned.
We will carry the story with us and apply it to situations in which we find ourselves.

The scene takes place after Simba runs away, believing he was instrumental in his father’s death.
His Uncle Scar desperately wants to be king.
With his brother, Mufasa, out of the way, it is possible for Scar to take the throne.
However, one thing stands in his way: his nephew Simba.

In his distress, Simba forgets who he is: the son of the king.
He is the next true king.
When he runs away, he makes two friends: Timon, a meerkat and Pumbaa, a warthog.
The friends live by a simple statement: Hakuna Matata, which means, no worries.

It is a scene with Rafiki that I have never forgotten.
Rafiki is a mandrill.
He was a close friend of Mufasa and his chief adviser.
Believing Simba to be dead, he was thrilled to catch a scent of Simba on the breeze one night.

He finds Simba and begins to teach him a lesson in order to bring him home.
He is sad and disappointed that Simba ran away from his responsibility.
Rafiki talks to Simba, telling him who he is, and whose son he is.
During the conversation, in order to make a point, he hits Simba on the head with a stick.

As Simba rubs his sore head, he asks Rafiki why he hit him.
Rafiki continues to talk.
He takes his stick and tries to hit Simba on the head again.
This time Simba ducks so Rafiki’s stick will not hit him.

Simba learned to duck.
It’s in the past, Rafiki says.
You can either run from it or learn from it.
I have been tumbling that statement in my mind quite a lot lately.

It saddens me that people are hurting so badly.
Anger and violence overflows into the streets; people are divided into us and them.
Statues are being defaced and torn down.
It is as if by tearing down those statues, history can be erased right along with it.

However, if we don’t talk about the past and look it straight in the eye, how will we learn?
How will we ever know when to duck?
If we don’t know when to duck, we will make the same mistakes and hurt others again and again.
We will not have learned a thing.

A neighbor and I were talking about this the other morning.
She and I have different color skin.
She said that the offending statues, rather than being destroyed, should be placed in a museum.
In that museum, the statues can be displayed, with their history explained.

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

Do we want to run away from our past or do we want to learn from it?
Do we want to get hit on the head over and over or have we learned to duck?
We can’t erase where we have been, no matter how wrong the path might have been.
We can only hope that by looking history straight in the eye, we will not repeat our mistakes.

Look it straight in the eye and see it for what it is.
Look it straight in the eye and call it what it is, without sugar coating.
Look it straight in the eye and vow not to repeat it again.
Look it straight in the eye and know that it is our hearts that need to change.

Erasing history never works.
It will come back to rear its ugly head.
It will come back with a bigger stick.
We will not be ready to duck.

(Rafiki) What was that? The weather is very peculiar.
(Simba) Looks like the winds are changing.
(Rafiki) Change is good.
(Simba) Yeah, but it’s not easy. I know what I have to do but going back means I’ll have to face my past. I’ve been running from it for so long.
(Rafiki hits Simba with a stick)
(Simba) What was that for?
(Rafiki) It doesn’t matter. It is in the past.
(Simba) Yeah, but it still hurts!
(Rafiki) Yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.
(Rafiki tries to hit Simba again, but this time he ducks)

Can we look our history straight in the eye?
Will we learn from it?
The past can hurt but we must go back and see it for what it is.
We must go back so that we can move forward.

https://youtu.be/lQd22F5onyM?t=230