Here Be Dragons

Attribution:  Photographic Reproduction of a Detail of Carta Marina by Olaus Magnus, Wikimedia

I loved adventure stories when I was a kid.  King Arthur and Merlin, Johnny Swift, Robin Hood, Star Wars, White Fang, Red Dog, and John Wayne.  The heroes of these stories were my idols.  Their tales were how I imagined my own story.  There were few problems in the world that couldn't be solved by strength, endurance, a keen mind, a good sword, a fast draw, or just a solid right hook.  I spent summer days innumerable in the halls of my imagination slaying dragons and foiling dastardly villains.  Of course at the end of it all were accolades and the fair maiden's hand, and all was well.  

Among one of my absolute favorite heroes, was Saint George.  I remember encountering Saint George in the Fairbury Public Library.  On the wall was a print depicting Saint George’s valiant fight with the Dragon.  The scene took place far above the ground as the Dragon soared over the English countryside with George, then known as the Red Cross Knight, and his faithful steed locked in its massive claws.  The Dragon was a terrifying sight, all sinew and scales with enormous bat wings stretched against the sky and its rows of dagger teeth barely concealing the fire in its belly.  George, however, remained steadfast.  Horse and rider in the beasts clutches soaring higher and higher from the surefooted ground, he drove his lance at the creature’s brassy scales.  

Is it any wonder that Saint George and the Dragon as told by Margaret Hodges and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman was my most oft borrowed book as a little reader?    

I didn’t realize it of course, but that book introduced me to archetypes I would pursue most of my life.  In my imagined journeys, I was the Red Cross Knight, noble and true.  Princess Una, who crossed dragon ravaged lands to lead a brave champion to her people, became my first love.  And ever in the shadows of my imagination lurked the Dragon, looming and malevolent in the smoke-shrouded dark.  The story was so ingrained in my childhood that I decided to track down The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser a few years ago.  Saint George and the Dragon was adapted from this classic tale, and reading the original work as an adult was like coming home.

All the familiar characters were there.  Still pure and noble, they fought back against the dark places of the world with devotion, truth, and righteousness.  But as I read one of my favorite childhood tales from the cynical outlook that age can offer, I had to wonder...  life isn’t quite as simple as those youthful adventurous tales of derring-do, is it?  

Very few adult problems are solved by swordplay.  A strong back and a true spirit may still be admirable traits, but it does little to pay those student loan bills.  Questing is rarely a wise career choice, nor an effective courting practice.  In today’s world, a horsed figure with gleaming armor and a sharp lance is likely to draw comparisons to foolish Don Quixote rather than admirable King Arthur.  

And then the Dragons...  Is our world devoid of monsters?  Are there no evils which prey upon the weak and devour the land?  

Maps of the Ancient World would have dragons and sea serpents drawn in along the edges along with the bold warning, “Here Be Dragons”.  For the ancients, the monsters lived in the margins.  There were dangers if you ventured from home into the wilds and waste.  You could face Dragons at the edges of the map.  

Similarly, we believe we are safe.  As long as we can stay securely within the status quo, as long as we can remain numb from the too common tragedies around us, the modern world seems like a more or less safe place, but there are Dragons lurking below the surface and along the margins.  

Paul says in Ephesians, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  According to Paul, there are very real dangers at work in the world.  The modern monsters may not have slavering fangs and massive claws, but they will devour the innocents just as in stories of old.  Today’s monsters are harder to illustrate in children’s storybooks:  slavery, violence against women, extreme inequality in wealth distribution, infant mortality, inadequate access to clean water, child hunger, the use of child soldiers, natural disasters, and environmental degradation.  Yet, regardless of what they are called each of these “monsters” and many, many others devour resources and destroy human lives.  

If we pay attention to what’s going on at the margins of society, and in the darkest corners of our own lives, we will see Dragons there, but its also possible that we will find shining knights.  Later in Ephesians, Paul encourages the Church to “put on the whole armor of God.., and after having done everything, to stand”.  In Christ, we have within us the strength to stand against the “powers of this dark world”, but not with Excalibur or as a gun-toting, wise-cracking John McClane.  No, the Dragons that we face in this world are spiritual evils and they require that, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”  

These weapons are described metaphorically by Paul as such things as truth, righteousness, salvation, willingness, and the Word of God.  These are the “weapons” modern Knights use to fight the Dragons of the world.  Some of their stories may have even inspired you.  Mother Theresa poured out her life in service to India’s neglected.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer literally lost his life in fighting the evils of the Third Reich.  And Martin Luther King, Jr was killed for having done all to stand against the evils of racism and discrimination.  

But there are hundreds of thousands of stories out there of warriors engaged in this battle.  Blood: Water Mission is one example.  Award-winning band, Jars of Clay, were moved to use their celebrity to actively work against the HIV and water crises in Africa through this grassroots organization.  Or Kiva, an organization focussed on microfinance to empower the world’s impoverished.  In Half the Sky, Nicolas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn said that “microfinance has done more to bolster the status of women, and to protect them from abuse, than any laws could accomplish.”  Through all manner of creative activism, Shane Claiborne tries to show people the possibilities of living into a new Kingdom, one that denies war and imperialism and embraces peace, love, community, and the environment.  

But you don’t have to fight on a global stage to take to battle the Dragons of our world.   Anthony Cymerys fights Dragons every week at 82 years young, when he offers the poor of his neighborhood a haircut for the price of a hug.  Sen.  Amanda McGill used her position in the Nebraska Legislature to champion a bill which strengthened Nebraska’s anti-trafficking laws.  Mike Smith of Lincoln, NE uses skateboarding to draw together a community that aids the needy and protects the marginalized.  My friend, Abby Hasselbring, is taking the fight on the road where she’ll be Cycling Against Slavery.  

All over the world normal people are taking up arms.  The Dragons are big and dangerous, but we serve a God who is King of Kings.  Not everyone needs to be on the front lines by skating across a state or biking halfway across a country, but we all need to take up that armor and do all to stand.  We can support those individuals who are doing the “crazy” things we can’t imagine.  Pray for them, give them a pat on the back, and donate to their causes.  Fight the Dragons in the corners of your world by showing love to an enemy, give your time and presence to the forgotten, offer a smile and kind words to the downtrodden.  Through even these simple acts, each of us has a Dragon Slayer within.