Baker: Cages and keys

My words to you this month were inspired by the following quote, written in the fourteenth century by the great Persian poet and mystic, Hafez: “The small man builds cages for everyone he knows. While the sage, who has to duck her head when the moon is low, keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful, rowdy prisoners.”

These two simple sentences remind me of a certain man who had great power, but also a very fragile ego. Under his direction, terrible injustices were perpetrated upon innocent people. A man small in intellect, a very fearful man, he saw threats to his power on all sides. What he feared most was a realization of his own insignificance.

I’m referring to Herod, the king of biblical notoriety who, we are told, ordered the murder of all male babies under the age of two in the vicinity of Bethlehem, because he felt so very threatened by an infant recently born there. Luckily, that child and his family had already fled to Egypt, where they lived in safety for several years, though it must be said that they were probably illegal immigrants.

Applying Hafez’s words to Herod, it’s easy to see that the king himself was a prisoner. He lived in a cage; the one within his own heart. He was tortured day and night, fearing threats to his power. He dealt with this by imprisoning or killing many innocent people during his reign— all to prove to himself that he was in control, that he was the most powerful.

I’m sad to say that none of Herod’s efforts made him feel any better. That’s because no amount of praise from the court of public opinion will compensate for how we see ourselves. Our own views of ourselves are the only true validation. Poor Herod never realized this. He didn’t understand that seeking to control other people only makes one feel small.

I see this in myself, when I’m tempted to divide people, issues and circumstances into “good” or “bad.” When what I want matters more than what others may need or want. When I feel threatened by people whose beliefs don’t match mine. When I see the world through a lens of scarcity or fear.

And what about the sage, who “drops keys all night long for the beautiful, rowdy prisoners.” Perhaps she did this at night because there are fewer distractions at night. Perhaps we are softer, more open to inner messages at such times. I know I am.

And why, I wonder, did the sage (whom I call “Wisdom”) drop the keys all around, rather than simply unlocking the cages herself? Perhaps she wanted to make the point that we have a choice: to stay in a cage of our own making, or to unlock that door. If you’re like me, there may be times when you can see only darkness within yourself, and in the world around you. Somehow, we allow the darkness to hide the light, which makes us, in the immortal words of that old Eagles song, “prisoners of our own device.” Wisdom points the way to freedom, which is hidden within our hearts and minds.

Why does Hafez refer to the occupants of the cages as “rowdy” prisoners? I think we are rowdy when we spend so much time reaching out between the bars, loud and unruly, demanding freedom, demanding peace, yet failing to search for it within ourselves, which is where it resides. We want someone outside ourselves to free us, but it doesn’t work that way. The answers are already within us, if we align ourselves with Wisdom.

Hafez also refers to the prisoners as “beautiful.” Why? I think it’s because each of us is beautiful, in the eyes of Wisdom, and in the eyes of those who love us.

I invite you to pick up the key, unlock the cage and step out into the sunshine. Accept your birthright, which is to love and be loved. You’ll feel a lot bigger. And the world will be better for that.