IDOLS

"Birds of Pray", oil,
by Tom Brown

If an idol can be defined as an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship, then some of us, myself included, have probably been occasional idol worshippers. Perhaps, for instance, we have sometimes worshipped the weather, as though it were a god. Perhaps, in our hearts, we have said to an approaching storm, “O storm, you have so much power. Please spare our town and our house.” Maybe, in a sense, we knelt before the storm’s power, like supplicants beseeching it for clemency, as though the storm was far more powerful than our small, defenseless selves. And what about illness? Haven’t some of us, myself included, bowed before an illness, as if it were a golden icon or a statue in a sanctuary, as if it somehow ruled our lives and just might, if humbly entreated, treat us lightly and leave us alone?

I guess I’m tired of worshipping these idols. They are not gods, and their power can’t come close to matching the limitless power all of us have inside us – the power, for instance, of courage and calmness and perseverance and kindness. I hope I can refuse to pay homage to future storms and illnesses and other “idols”. I hope I can say to them, “Would you like to see real power? Just look inside my mind and heart.”