Monday, September 7, 2009

Be Mice to Elephants



Be Mice to Elephants

This is one of my acrylic paintings It was was based on one of my ink drawings, and it is different in some ways. The ink drawing is above my painting.

The symbolism is simple. Elephants are supposes to be afraid of mice, but I think that mice are afraid of elephants because they are huge and powerful. Still, if we use the other idea, something interesting happens. The little mouse stands up to the huge elephant, confronts what he is afraid of and conquers his fears.

There are people that believe that the elephant would just step on the mouse, and the mouse should avoid elephants. If we were talking abut cats and foxes, I would have to concede that point. When you use symbols, you have to refrain from adding too much stuff. I say, "Stick to elephants and mice!"

That allows us to learn something. We can stand up to our fears and do something about them. Can we actually make friends with our fears. When we reach the point when we are no longer afraid, we can live with whatever we were afraid of.

Perhaps we may learn from the mouse. Our strength and our size do not have to be equal to or greater than what we fear. We conquer our fears when we draw on something inside of us. If we have the faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains, and elephants, and other things. Find the verse in the bible and look up, "With faith, all things are possible."

You remember the phrase, "Are you mice or men!" If we accept the meaning of our metaphor, mice deserve a better reputation. Something small can overcome something great and powerful.

Bear

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