“In this
exhibition, automata sculptures are brought magically to life through a
sequence of cogs, cams, cranks and levers.” The cogs, cams, cranks and
levers from the most part were hidden from sight. I walked around the
exhibition quite amazed at the workmanship – but nothing moved. I hadn’t
realised until I was half way around the room that there were buttons to push
and levers to turn. It was interactive, but I didn’t know. I had been walking
around looking at the sculptures thinking ti would be so much more effective if
things moved!
“Visitors will be
able to turn, push and crank to see many of the pieces in action” – I don’t
always read the instructions!
My favourite exhibit was a row if old men, carved in
wood, sitting behind a long desk with little sheets of paper in front of them.
Pushing the button they all began to move. One man was yawning, another smoking
a cigarette, another scratching his head and so on. It was very inventive. Long before the cinema
took over as entertainment these little mechanical pieces were all the rage.
Push the button or turn the lever and there is an
intended action. For the exhibits there
was just the one action. The man smoking didn’t suddenly begin to scratch his
head. The man appearing to write
something on the paper didn’t suddenly lean back and begin to yawn. Their
individual actions were down to the cogs and cams and cranks assigned to them.
They didn’t get to choose how they behaved.
As I was walking around, pushing buttons, turning levers
the thought came to mind “Just who is pushing my buttons and turning my
levers?”
As much as we say we are free to act as we wish, that’s
not always the way it works out. We have accumulated a whole set of prescribed
actions in response to various stimuli. Someone insults us? We retaliate.
Someone parks in what we consider to be out space in the carpark at work and we
grumble. We have our buttons that people push and we have our actions that
happen as a result.
“So if the Son
sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36
I am not like the automata. I am not wired up to cogs and
levers. I am free to choose how to react when someone pushes my buttons.
The freedom I have isn’t about being given permission to
do what I like. He has dismantled the
lever and the buttons, with my cooperation to be released to love and to serve
Him, not to love and serve my own interests.
When I choose to misuse the freedom given me, too often I end up binding
myself again to the buttons and levers that I was released from in the first
place.
“It is for freedom
that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be
burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1)
No comments:
Post a Comment