{"id":1464,"date":"2022-03-10T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T14:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1464"},"modified":"2022-03-10T09:00:29","modified_gmt":"2022-03-10T14:00:29","slug":"off-to-see-the-wizard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/10\/off-to-see-the-wizard\/","title":{"rendered":"Off to See the Wizard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Many people feel a twinge of disappointment the first time they see The Wizard of Oz.<\/em>
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The heroes have journeyed through one obstacle after another in search of some of life\u2019s best gifts:\u00a0 If I only had a brain.\u00a0 If I only had a heart.\u00a0 If I only had courage.\u00a0 If I only could go home.<\/em>
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But the Wizard has nothing to give Dorothy\u2019s friends except a piece of paper, a ticking clock, and a cheap medal.\u00a0
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Is that it?
\u00a0
But gradually it dawns on us that the reason the Wizard has nothing to give the three companions is that they already have what they have been looking for.\u00a0 The Scarecrow is wise.\u00a0 The Tin Man feels love to the depth of his \u2013 well, where his heart would have been.\u00a0 And the Cowardly Lion is entirely ready and able to act bravely, which he has demonstrated on several occasions.
\u00a0
And what of Dorothy?\u00a0 The Good Witch informs her that the ruby slippers she is wearing have always been capable of taking her home whenever she wanted.\u00a0
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Uh, don\u2019t you think that would have been somewhat helpful information to share at the beginning of the journey?<\/em>
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Actually, no.\u00a0 Dorothy has to learn, all by herself, what she\u2019s really facing and what she can do about it.\u00a0 And that will only happen by taking that trip down the Yellow Brick Road.\u00a0 The same is true for her companions.\u00a0
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Another way of putting it is that they all need a wake-up call, and not just from a field of poppies.
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\u201cWe have to accept that human culture is in a mass hypnotic trance,\u201d writes Father Richard Rohr.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re sleepwalkers.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
That’s why Jesus says on multiple occasions, \u201cBe watchful!\u201d\u00a0 And the apostle Paul pleads, \u201cWake up, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!\u201d (Ephesians 5:14).
\u00a0
We may find ourselves slogging through another day with our own set of wishes.\u00a0 If I only knew God was really there.\u00a0 If I only knew everything was going to be OK.\u00a0 If I only knew that my life mattered.<\/em>
\u00a0
All too often we\u2019re oblivious to the fact that we already have the blessings we\u2019ve been searching for.
\u00a0
Rohr continues: \u201cWe cannot attain the presence of God because we\u2019re already totally in the presence of God.\u00a0 What\u2019s absent is awareness.\u00a0 Little do we realize that God is maintaining us in existence with every breath we take.\u00a0 As we take another it means that God is choosing us now and now and now.\u201d
\u00a0
It\u2019s not that we need to learn something new and amazing to experience a spiritual homecoming with God. \u00a0

It\u2019s always been possible to go there.\u00a0 Right now.\u00a0 Just as we are<\/em>.
\u00a0
Even a swarm of flying monkeys won\u2019t be able to stand in our way.

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Many people feel a twinge of disappointment the first time they see The Wizard of Oz.\u00a0The heroes have journeyed through one obstacle after another in search of some of life\u2019s best gifts:\u00a0 If I only had a brain.\u00a0 If I only had a heart.\u00a0 If I only had courage.\u00a0 If I only could go home.\u00a0But the Wizard has nothing to… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1466,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1464\/revisions\/1466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}