Polar Bear Moonwalk

Yesterday we took my two small children to the Oregon Zoo. It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time.

As we were watching the polar bears, something strange became evident right away. We noticed the polar bear doing a very nice ‘moonwalk’ around one of its rock outcroppings. We thought it was so cool. Until we noticed it doing it again…and again…and again…in the exact same place, at the exact same speed, in the exact same steps that it had before. It did the moonwalk, slowly turned around, walked around the backside of the outcropping, turned around again, then walked backwards (aka the moonwalk). It went from being entertaining to being sad. We realized that this polar bear had developed a habit, or a behavior, that it repeated over and over again- probably as a direct result of being in the same small pen for its entire life.

Now I could go into how it is cruel to keep wild animals penned up in a zoo for the superior human being to look in on them with amusement; or how ‘zoo-keeping’  is necessary to keep animals for future preservation, awareness, and education, etc….but that’s not the point of this post.

What reckoned on me today as I thought about my trip to the zoo was that we can become a lot like the caged polar bear. We get so used to doing the same thing, thinking the same way, going the same places, and seeing the same people that we might as well be in a cage ourselves. Even though we may not be doing the same polar-bear-moonwalk around and around a rock outcropping, we certainly get stuck in ruts within our life: Wake up, shower, eat breakfast, go to work, eat a ham sandwich for lunch, stop on the way home at one of three restaurants you frequent for dinner, arrive at home, watch one of five shows that you watch weekly, have a snack, and go to bed, repeat….

What about spiritually? Pray once a day every day (if I remember or have a pressing need); read my Bible once or twice a week; go to church on Sunday morning; repeat…

If only we could realize that we are not in a cage and that there is vast tundra, oceans, and ice shelfs all around us so that we freely can wonder about. If only we could see that the self-imposed barriers we have set up around our lives are meant to be broken down so that we can flourish and accomplish mighty things to the glory of God, the advancement of His Kingdom, the betterment of mankind, and even for our own personal joy (which brings glory back to God)! Even though the bears in our cages may be doing the same things over and over again’ we don’t have to! We can break the cycles of addiction, crisis, lust, unhealthiness, apathy, and spiritual stagnation in our families, our cities, and our generation.

Live! Be free! Be adventurous! Take risks! Advance! Move Forward! Breathe! Flourish! You get one life! make the most of it.

So are you like the polar bear in the cage, monotonously going through the same motions in the same rut day in and day  out? The answer is probably yes. What can you do to get out of your rut and start moving in new directions and experiencing new things. Don’t die in the cage you were born in. No matter how much you are fed, no matter how perfect the temperature is, and no matter how many plastic jugs they throw in for you to play with; don’t settle- leave.

One Responseto “Polar Bear Moonwalk”

1. pete says:

   June 8, 2010 at 7:35 pm

   That’s a great analogy. Good wake-up for those of us who get stuck in that “rut” you referred to. Always like reading your posts Anthony!