Getting Rid of the Safety Rope: Moving Forward in Faith

I recently revisited an inspirational clip from the movie Dark Knight Rises: Bruce Wayne’s escape from the pit. The protagonist finally manages to escape the dark dungeon after several failed attempts aided and, paradoxically, constrained by a safety rope.

In the early part of the clip, the viewers can see clearly that before the promising, upward leap, the hero tries unsuccessfully to create more slack in the rope that was to spare his life a few seconds later. Unfortunately, and painfully, the safety rope is too tight. The rope, literally and metaphorically, while saving Batman’s life, it also impedes our hero from reaching the ledge in the wall of the cave. This painful experience repeats several times.

However, Bruce Wayne finally manages to break free from the hellish prison. How? By breaking free from the mental and physical obstructions of the safety rope. He is counseled by an old, wise fellow prisoner to follow the example of the antagonist who decades earlier escaped the same pit as a humble child unaided and, especially, unhindered by mental and physical ropes.

What are the applications and life lessons to be extracted from this movie segment?

What safety ropes do we need to get rid of? What are the fake securities that impede our progress towards reaching LIGHT, embracing TRUTH, experiencing FREEDOM, and living LIFE to the fullest?

Is it a familiar and comfortable relationship that needs to end or at least be re-formulated on different terms? Is is a cogitative hang up that can only be eliminated through sincere repentance in the most classical sense of the word (repentance as change of mind)? Is it the secure “9 to 5” job that prevents entrepreneurial expressions? Is it a deeply ingrained habit or routine? Is it a man-made, religious tradition that provide a false sense of stability while fostering hellish pits of idolatry and false humility? What is your safety rope?

Whatever the answers, may I recommend? Leave it behind. Climb the wall out of the dark pit. Take the leap. Move forward. Without the rope. In FAITH.