"The forge needs more wind, Oorgo."
The small boy jumped on the bellows again, puffing out his breath just as heavily. Thurgod struck the molten metal with his hammer again. The metal formed perfectly, and Thurgod smiled.
"Why do we have to do this?"
Thurgod pointed his face at the child, aiming a foot above the belt buckle. "You must learn smithcraft."
"Why?"
"Because you are my apprentice, Oorgo. The fire needs more wind, child."
Oorgo jumped again, catching the top of the bellows and pulling it down with his weight.
"You should reach with your arms, child. You must grow in strength."
"But my arms are tired."
"Tired is when you begin to exercise. Exercise is when you get strong."
"But why do we have to do this at all?"
Thurgod set his project back into the forge. "The Fourth Mine needs parts for one of the machines. We must make it. We are the great smiths."
"But you don't need fire for that."
"Eh? Don't need fire? I can bend steel in my arms, but you cannot. And..."
"Not your arms, master. You can just tell it to bend and it does. Why do we need a forge at all? I saw you melt the chain."
Thurgod squatted down, putting his weight on the balls of his feet. He tried to keep his face pointed at the boy's face, but he could never be sure. "Pushing metal by command is a hard thing." Thurgod tapped the metal square that rimmed in his head and blocked his eyes. "I cannot do that all the time. And there is more. You cannot move metal that way. No man can move metal that way. So I forge it, that you may learn smithcraft."
The god and the boy instantly turned their faces towards the door as a tremendous crash thundered outside. Oorgo began to run towards the door, but Thurgod stuck his immovable arm in the way. "Oorgo. Let us play Find Me If You Can. The rule is that you must stay in this forge."
"But it's hot..." Oorgo was torn between his love of the game and his desire to escape the forge.
"The rule is the rule. We agreed that I get to make a rule when we play. Now you should stay."
Thurgod allowed no more disagreement, and stepped past the boy, slamming the door behind him. He reached with his mind and slid the locks shut. Oorgo could not reach the upper deadbolt. Then Thurgod moved his mind's eye in front of him.
A god was here. A demi-god. Thurgod sniffed.
"I can't imagine being blind so long."
"Ah. It is you."
"Indeed, thrall-god."
"What do you call yourself now?"
"I have always been called Gilgod."
Thurgod twitched mildly at the neck. "Welcome to my compound, Gilgod. Why have you broken down the door?"
"Wasn't that a neat trick? I did it by sheer will."
"Is it so much greater to do a thing by power than by your own body?"
The two deities stood in a courtyard of Thurgod's compound, facing one another, in silence for a few seconds.
"I am here for the boy."
"What boy?"
Gilgod smiled."Is that how it is going to be, Thurgod?"
Thurgod smiled. "I do not seem to recall any boys here. Something inhibits my mind."
The visitor laughed. "Very well. You sit right there, and I'll see if I can't refresh your memory."
Gilgod walked over immediately to the smithy from which Thurgod had emerged. "You locked this with your powers, did you? Well, I'll open it by mine." Gilgod placed his hands on the door, then a sharp sound exploded from the spot, and the door flew in.
Irly Scribblings of David J Hartung
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Beauty and the Beast and the Tale as Old as Time
What Beauty and the
Beast Can Teach Us
I am a Christian, and that affects how I do everything,
including how I watch movies. Watching Beauty and the Beast, I was floored by
how it illustrates, subtly and beautifully, some beliefs that I hold dear. When
I saw Disney’s 2017 Beauty and the Beast,
I was reminded of how God, perfect and beautiful, has lifted a curse off all of
us, beastly humans as we are.
The Beast
The Bible teaches that all people are under a curse, a curse
which we received as a consequence of our own actions. This curse caused us to
lose the beauty we once had as perfect creatures, what the Bible calls being,
“made in the image of God.” In Beauty and
the Beast, the prince lives in a castle filled with riches, and ample
resources to spare. When an old woman comes to him, seeking shelter from a
storm and offering him a gift in respect, he spurns her, and dismisses her out
of his castle, because he finds her ugly. If there is anything everyone can
agree is morally wrong, throwing an old woman out into a cold storm is on that
list. Intuitively, we agree that the prince should be punished. Later, Beast
sings of how he, “never needed anyone.” Mrs. Potts informs us that while still
human he lived very selfishly. Really, the curse only serves to make him look
on the outside like he was on the inside all along: a Beast.
Left alone in his castle, Beast devolves into savagery. As
he lives apart from true beauty, he grows only worse, dressing in rags and
lapping up soup form his bowl. Left to his own ends, he does not improve. While
we may not think our crimes as cruel as Beast’s, we know that we often behave
selfishly, even at the expense of others. Though we do not have the horns and
fangs, really, we are Beasts. This does not mean we are worthless or scum; it
just means that we, at the last, have some bad built into who we are.
It may still be surprising to think of ourselves like the
Beast. We think we are not so bad as that. And most likely, you have never done
a thing so obviously terrible as he did when he threw the old woman out. But
this is just another way we are like the Beast. When Belle objects that her
father should not be given a life sentence for a rose, Beast counters, “I was.”
But he is mistaken. He thinks he was given his curse because of that once
incident, and particularly the part about the rose. But he was cursed for his
extreme selfishness, which flowed through his whole life in many ways he didn’t
think of. We, like the Beast, often imagine our misdeeds as fewer and smaller
than they are.
Belle
Beast is not left in this miserable condition. The story
picks up when he meets Belle. When she sacrifices for her father, getting him
out of prison, Beast cannot understand this kind of unselfish behavior. He
calls her foolish and shuts her away. However, he knows she might be the only
way out of his curse. He begrudgingly commands her to come to dinner, which she
refuses. He commands that she get no food unless she eats with him.
In some ways, Belle’s relationship to Beast parallels God in
his relationship to us. Many people try to approach God the way Beast
Approaches Belle. They know they need something from Him. They are not
interested in changing their behavior; they just want out from under a curse.
When God refuses to meet them on these terms, they think to make demands on
God. They offer an exchange. Beast offers food; many people offer a change in
some of their worse habits, or money, or church attendance, or lip service. One
thing that is different about God is that he does not need anything from us;
the whole exchange idea will not work.
Before things get better for Beast, they get worse. Belle
flees the castle because she cannot stand to be around Beast and his rage. But
when Beast wounds himself protecting her from the wolves, she recognizes his
unselfish act and his attempt to change. Again, here there is a difference. God
would not be in any danger apart from us; the wolves are no problem for him.
The parallel is in how Belle’s return is voluntary. She could have left Beast
to freeze. In fact, when she is dressing his wounds, and Belle graciously
thanks him for protecting her, Beast tries to leave the blame on her for
running off. She sets the record straight, that the whole thing is the result
of his bad temper. He ceases to defend himself, accepts thanks, and even thanks
Belle.
Belle and the Beast now get on the right foot. Belle catches
him reading the equivalent of a romance novel; belying his rugged and beastly
character. Beast admits to being moved by the poetry Belle is reading. Some
people have difficulty relating to God because they will not allow their
facades to fall away. For some, they hide behind cynicism, and others hide
behind skepticism. Before Beast can begin to grow, he must drop his façade of
rugged, individualist, cynical thinking.
It is worth noting that these characteristics only become
facades as he is changed by Belle’s presence. He spent years in the castle
sullen, angry, and bitter. But even a little exposure to Belle proves that
these traits are not really him; they are as much results of the curse as his
horns and fangs. Similarly, some (though not all) of the bad about us has been
added on. We explain this when we apologize after an outburst by saying, “I
don’t know what came over me.”
Beast gives Belle the library. He shows her the magic book
that takes them away to Paris. Beast learns to drink his soup in as civilized a
method as his features allow. Notably; Belle does not change. She is already
beautiful, but is now helping Beast to become less ugly. They dance, and the
song Tale as Old as Time always hits me right in the feels, but more on that
later. At last, Beast allows Belle into the sanctum of his curse, where he
hides away and nurses the wound that has made him who he is. He lets her see
the magic mirror. All is well until…
Belle spoils the moment. She says, “It’s hard to be happy
when you aren’t free.” What’s more, Belle’s father is in trouble. Beast knows
what he should do; he lets Belle leave to protect her father. It is a beautiful
reversal of his crime. He was cursed for keeping an ugly old woman out of his
house, and now he releases a beautiful young woman. What’s more, this beauty
was his one chance to cease to be a beast. He knows she won’t come back; he
knows she shouldn’t. He is ugly; she is beautiful.
Evermore
Then, in my second favorite song, Beast tells us what it is
like to see the beauty and hope go away. He recalls the entirety of this story
so far. Let’s take it verse by verse.
I was the one who had
it all / I was the master of my fate / I never needed anybody in my life / I
learned the truth too late.
Beast says he had it all, was the master of his fate, and never needed anyone. But he knows these are lies. The story tells us so: He did not have a mother, an enchantress ruined his fate, and he needed a huge staff to take care of him and a town’s economy to support him. He learns the truth, as Belle changes his way of thinking.
Beast says he had it all, was the master of his fate, and never needed anyone. But he knows these are lies. The story tells us so: He did not have a mother, an enchantress ruined his fate, and he needed a huge staff to take care of him and a town’s economy to support him. He learns the truth, as Belle changes his way of thinking.
I'll never shake away the
pain / I close my eyes but she's still there / I let her steal into my
melancholy heart / It's more than I can bear
His experience with true beauty will never go away. His cynicism and bitterness were ruined, and now his heart is broken as he only now begins to realize the depth of his beastliness all this time.
His experience with true beauty will never go away. His cynicism and bitterness were ruined, and now his heart is broken as he only now begins to realize the depth of his beastliness all this time.
Now I know she'll
never leave me / Even as she runs away / She will still torment me, calm me,
hurt me / Move me, come what may
He knows he can’t go back to how he was. He has seen true beauty. What Belle taught him tormented him as it revealed how ugly his curse was, calmed him as she loved him despite it, hurt him as his pride was sapped, and moved him to admit to all of it. He accepts this, even with its sad results.
He knows he can’t go back to how he was. He has seen true beauty. What Belle taught him tormented him as it revealed how ugly his curse was, calmed him as she loved him despite it, hurt him as his pride was sapped, and moved him to admit to all of it. He accepts this, even with its sad results.
Wasting in my lonely
tower / Waiting by an open door / I'll fool myself she'll walk right in / And
be with me for evermore
He must remain alone, accepting his fate. He desperately wishes she’d come back, but he knows he’s fooling himself. The Beauty has no reason to have anything to do with him, now that he’s let her go.
He must remain alone, accepting his fate. He desperately wishes she’d come back, but he knows he’s fooling himself. The Beauty has no reason to have anything to do with him, now that he’s let her go.
I rage against the
trials of love / I curse the fading of the light / Though she's already flown
so far beyond my reach / She's never out of sight
Love has brought him great pain; he now knows his hopes have faded. But even though the Beauty has departed, he knows he’ll never stop seeing it.
Love has brought him great pain; he now knows his hopes have faded. But even though the Beauty has departed, he knows he’ll never stop seeing it.
Now I know she'll
never leave me / Even as she fades from view / She will still inspire me, be a
part of / Everything I do
The effects of Belle upon his personality will never leave, even though she does. Her sacrifice, love, and unselfishness inspire him. She has elevated him from some of his beastliness, and now everything he does is different.
The effects of Belle upon his personality will never leave, even though she does. Her sacrifice, love, and unselfishness inspire him. She has elevated him from some of his beastliness, and now everything he does is different.
Wasting in my lonely
tower / Waiting by an open door / I'll fool myself she'll walk right in / And
as the long, long nights begin / I'll think of all that might have been / Waiting
here for evermore!
He accepts his lonely fate, but still wishes things might have gone otherwise. He knows he cannot lift the curse, and will remain a beast, forever.
He accepts his lonely fate, but still wishes things might have gone otherwise. He knows he cannot lift the curse, and will remain a beast, forever.
Some people, at least somewhat aware of their own ugliness
and beastliness, try to escape that curse by keeping Beauty prisoner with them.
They try to change their behavior to make Beauty more comfortable to stay with
them. They may try a religion’s rules or doctrines to chain down God and use
him to escape their beastliness. But even as Beast shares the library, the
grounds, the food, and the West Wing, learns good manners and learns to
appreciate poetry, he’s still a Beast. He is now well groomed and rather nice,
but still undeserving of love from Belle. When Beast let’s Belle leave his
castle, it is like admitting that our own codes of ethics and our own good
deeds cannot make us good enough for God. We are beasts; He is not.
The Mob’s Song
When Belle returns to save her father, Gaston recognizes the
threat the Beast poses. He desires Belle, and imagines himself worthy of her.
But what do we know about Gaston? From his own song, we know that he is
especially good at spitting. His other claims to fame are excessive size,
excessive force, and cruelty. He proves himself to be as selfish as can be when
he leaves Maurice to die in the wilderness.
The Bible teaches that God, and humans, have an enemy who
embodies selfishness. We know him today as the Devil, but these days that word
creates a lot of confusion. Many tall tales have featured the devil, and he is
the subject of many jokes. People often picture someone in red tights with a
pitchfork when they think of the devil. But the Bible teaches none of these,
only that the devil is a murderer and a liar, and works through everyone who
does the same.
When I see Gaston whipping the town into a frenzy over tall
tales about the Beast, and convincing them to lock Belle and Maurice away, I am
reminded of how the Bible says the devil blinds the eyes of those who might
otherwise see God. For the townsfolk, the best possible end is that Belle and
the Beast come together. It will mean the reunion of families and the return of
livelihood and prosperity to the poor provincial town. But just when they are
about to get what they really need, Gaston convinces them it is the worst
possible fate.
In the same way, the devil has used many false religions,
false churches, and false philosophies to convince everyone that the God
Christians believe in and which the Bible reveals is their worst enemy. Gaston
is right. When threatened, in fear the people will do just what he says, and if
he succeeds, they will miss out on the best possible life.
The angry mob breaks into the castle, but Beast does not go
down to defend them. While earlier the Beast would have happily chased them all
off or killed them, now Beast is different. He knows he is a Beast and the
people are misguided. He does not even defend himself. Just when Gaston would
have got him, Belle returns. She does not return because she needs the Beast to
save her again. Her father and she have escaped on their own. She comes back
only because she wants to save the Beast.
Then Beast has Gaston by the neck, hanging over a deadly
fall. Then Beast proves his change of heart. He refuses to kill Gaston. He has
every right to; he’s already bleeding from the wound Gaston inflicted. He will
not become a murderer himself. He leaps to Belle; she’s all he wanted anyway.
But Gaston is a murderer from the beginning; he makes good on his boast of
sneaking up behind animals in the hunt, and shoots the Beast in the back.
But the Beast breathes his last, and the last petal falls.
The Beast can change, and even learn to love Belle, but this is not enough to
lift the curse. Even his greatest acts of unselfishness, releasing Belle and
releasing Gaston, have not broken the curse. He must be loved by another.
Happily, he is, and the curse is lifted. Even more happily,
so are we. God, the source of all true beauty, has chosen to love us, beasts as
we are. Not only has he loved us, he has pursued us. He has lovingly, slowly,
exposed us to more and more of Him, helping us to change. When we acknowledge
that our own efforts cannot earn his love, he comes back just when we need it
most, and gives to us a whole new life. In receiving his love, the curse comes off,
and we can be made beautiful as well. The Beast is made into the Prince, the
royal love of Beauty itself, and made happier than he has ever been.
Tale as Old as Time
I promised more on the “Tale as Old as Time.” This song
beautifully summarizes what I find deep, beautiful, moving, and true in Beauty and the Beast.
Tale as old as time / True
as it can be / Barely even friends / Then somebody bends / Unexpectedly.
In our beastliness, we are barely aware of God. Our relationship is very forced, like Belle and the Beast. But then somebody moves closer. The Bible tells us God moves first in seeking us, and this is very unexpected.
In our beastliness, we are barely aware of God. Our relationship is very forced, like Belle and the Beast. But then somebody moves closer. The Bible tells us God moves first in seeking us, and this is very unexpected.
Just a little change /
Small to say the least / Both a little scared / Neither one prepared
This change may be gradual at first. The whole gap is not bridged. (Here the song does not parallel the truth. While we may be afraid of God and unprepared to meet him, he is not scared of us, and is ready).
This change may be gradual at first. The whole gap is not bridged. (Here the song does not parallel the truth. While we may be afraid of God and unprepared to meet him, he is not scared of us, and is ready).
Beauty and the Beast.
God is the Beauty, and we are the Beast.
God is the Beauty, and we are the Beast.
Ever just the same / Ever
a surprise / Ever as before / Ever just as sure / As the sun will rise.
Once you are caught in the Beauty’s love, the love never varies, but it is always a surprise to be so loved. Because it is God loving, and he is not sometimes good and sometimes selfish, but always good, the continued beautiful love is as sure as the sunrise.
Once you are caught in the Beauty’s love, the love never varies, but it is always a surprise to be so loved. Because it is God loving, and he is not sometimes good and sometimes selfish, but always good, the continued beautiful love is as sure as the sunrise.
Tale as old as time / Tune
as old as song / Bittersweet and strange / Finding you can change / Learning
you were wrong.
Being caught in God’s beautiful love and pulled away from beastliness is sweet, but also bitter, as we must admit to having the beastliness in us, learning we were wrong.
Being caught in God’s beautiful love and pulled away from beastliness is sweet, but also bitter, as we must admit to having the beastliness in us, learning we were wrong.
Certain as the sun / Rising
in the east / Tale as old as time / Song as old as rhyme / Beauty and the
Beast.
Tale as old as time / Song
as old as rhyme / Beauty and the Beast.
This tale is as old as time itself; God has always been
pursuing every person. For all of time we have told stories of the beautiful
and the ugly, and how the ugly could rejoin the beautiful. We have done this
because deep inside we know it is true, and we wonder how it can be. Beauty and the Beast helps me picture
this just a little, if I look through the outer wrappings for what makes it
such an enduring tale.
This is why I love Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. When I watch this movie or listen to its
songs, I am reminded of how even though I am a Beast, the truest Beauty of them
all has sought me out, is working to change my beastliness every day, has
lifted a curse off of me, and promises me new life, that one day I will walk
right into heaven and be with the Beauty…
Forevermore.
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