our resident sensei, mr. myagi, is all about having a foundation. he is all about not giving into fear. as mr. miyagi has expoused, one must conquer their fear and remember their roots which will lead to success.
a pivotal moment in the ten commandments’ story was all about fear.
moses was preparing the jewish people to re-enter into their ancestral land, canaan. canaan was the land their patriarchs abraham, isaac, and jacob resided. during due to famine, jacob took his family and relocated to egypt. the relocation eventually led to generations of servitude.
the torah’s book of numbers tells of moses, after the exodus from egypt, arranging for the “best of the best” of each tribe to scout on canaan for the purposes of their repatriation.
the scouting episode profoundly impacted most of these leaders. they appeared to be succumbed by fear. it is noted that “the men who went up with him said [to moses], “we are unable to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”
these leaders took this matter further. they “spread an [evil] report about the land which they had scouted, telling the children of israel, “the land we passed through to explore is a land that consumes its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of stature. ” there were two scouts, joshua and caleb, however, who objected to what these individuals reported.
the end result of their actions led to a possible mutiny. there were calls to choose a new leader and return to egypt.
these actions upset for god, moses, and aaron.
to resolve this matter, god decreed that “your children shall wander in the desert for forty years and bear your defection until the last of your corpses has fallen in the desert.”
there would be no “promised land” for these individuals.
the episode represents a large population lacking faith, giving into fear and giving up the desire for freedom. they feared failure. they feared the truth. they feared freedom.
the feared to take steps to make themselves free people in control of their own destiny.
the emotion of fear is a value survival tool. fear, however, can operate to destroy one’s life. thus, fear, at times, must be overcome in order to succeed.
thus, it can be said that there are people that have “promised land syndrome.” these are people that are overwhelmed by fear, willing to lie, and in denial of reality that has been presented to them.” in this instance, they could not accept that they had god on their side. their god who had already shown the ability to perform miracles and signs.
thus, mr. miyagi, unfortunately, our great sensei, would have been unable to give one of his inspirational speeches of “not giving into fear” to get them off of the mat.
“promised land syndrome” is worthy of societal debate. while there are individuals of all shapes, forms and abilities show a willingness to participate in society, there are other individuals who are succumbed by fear and embrace falsehoods and lies as a means to avoid societal participation.
is it time for honest discussion on this topic?
be well!!
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