Symbols

The observance functions like a sign on your hands or a symbol on the middle of your forehead: God brought us out of Egypt with a powerful hand." Exodus 13:16 (The Message)

During the standoff in Harney County here in Oregon there have been two predominate flags; Old Glory and one other flag, it is yellow with a rattle snake and the words “Don’t Tread on Me.”  That yellow flag predates Old Glory and was first raised during the Revolutionary War. The rattle snake is indigenous to the eastern seaboard of the United States and symbolizes something uniquely American and common to all the colonies. This is where the known meaning of that flag and its symbols ends. No one knows who coined the inscription “Don’t Tread on Me.” No one is sure what its original purpose or intent was. There are no historical documents that speak to its meaning and usage.  If you search the internet you get a lot about the first time the phrase appears and the first time it was placed on a flag. You also get a lot of speculation about its meaning.

It is obvious to me why groups like the militant occupiers of the Wildlife Refuge use this flag. It comes from the Revolutionary War period and our nations struggle to break free of tyranny. It accompanied the first group of Marines into their first engagement with the British. And the phrase speaks to the idea that the federal government is ignoring the common man and exercising authority where they have none and that doing this will be to their peril. Now I could go into a Musing about this flag, the symbol on it, the phrase it is emblazoned with, etc but what has caught me is the power of symbol.

Why do symbols have such power? Why do people cling to particular symbols like the Confederate Flag, the cross of Christ, the skull of the Grateful Dead, etc? Quite simply, anyone clings to the symbolic world because it shields them from their existential fears and insecurities. Clay Routledge wrote about the psychological power of symbols in Psychology Today, “we invest heavily in the symbolic cultural institutions and identifications, in part, because they help insulate us from basic fears about our mortal predicament.”

University of Arizona psychologist Jeff Greenberg, who helped formalize Terror Management Theory in the ’80s, described the theory: The basic idea is that, from a scientific perspective, each of us humans is just an organism, an animal, that wants to continue to survive but ultimately is no more significant or enduring than any other living creature. But unlike other animals, we are burdened with the knowledge of our mortality. TMT maintains that we cope with this knowledge by viewing ourselves within the context of enduring symbolic systems like political, religious, regional, and national entities. This lets us feel like we’re special beings who exist in a world of meaning, significance, and permanence.

The point here is that symbols provide meaning and permanence especially to groups and individuals that feel themselves, their beliefs or their way of life threatened. And this brings us back around to the recent situation in Harney County and the white militants there. Why did they come? Why do they display the American flag and the “Don’t Tread on Me flag?” Because they perceive that their values, way of life, beliefs and very existence is threaten.  It is the same with the diehard defends of the right to bear arms; they fear a loss of meaning and permanence. Their identity is tied up with their gun just like the identity of the occupiers in Harney County is tied to ranching. In both cases a threat to that identity is a threat to them personally.

The fact is their ways of life are threaten. Gun ownership as it has been will fade away eventually and they know it. Ranching as it has been practiced is a dying endeavor. Mining, logging, fishing, etc are all going to change and change significantly in the future and are already changing and this change threatens those whose identities are tied to these ways of life. The American Christian is experiencing the same thing as the power and influence of our faith decreases, the fear of loss of meaning and permanence increases and we hold tighter and tighter to the symbols of the past that have provided us meaning.

Once again we find a reason for change being so hard. When change is needed or necessary it means symbols and their meanings either are eliminated or altered for the new reality. When the symbols we identify with are threatened or changed we feel our hold on meaning and our very significance is also threatened. Change brings fear and fear is a powerful emotion. Whenever change comes – as it does in everyone’s life – fear accompanies it. How well we address the fear will determine to a large extent how well we will move through the change. Never underestimate the power of a symbol, they provide us with connections that bring meaning, significance and permanence to our lives. They give us something concrete to hold on to when change comes.

Dear God, help me to let go of that which would hold me back from being all you want and need me to be. Help me let go of the symbols that represent what was and to embrace new symbols and new meaning for old symbols that will help me be what I need to be. Be with all those who fear a loss of meaning and significance in life. Help them find those in new and healthy ways. Amen.