'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'

‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ by L. Frank Baum was, without a doubt, my favourite book while growing up and has remained one of my favourites until today, along with the movie version of 1939, and the newer stage play ‘Wicked’. The ‘munchkins’, the ‘flying monkeys’ and visions of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin man and the Cowardly Lion skipping along the yellow brick road singing ‘We’re off to See the Wizard’ will always be part of who I am.

However it is only in the last few years that I have begun to appreciate that my favourite childhood book has theological overtones.

From Wikipedia….

“Originally a Methodist, Baum joined the Episcopal Church in Aberdeen to participate in community theatricals… Baum’s beliefs are often reflected in his writing. The only mention of a church in his Oz books is the porcelain one which the Cowardly Lion breaks in the Dainty China Country in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Baum believed in God, but felt that religious decisions should be made by mature minds and not religious authorities. As a result, they sent their older sons to ‘Ethical Culture Sunday School’ in Chicago which taught morality, not religion. [F.J. Baum, To Please a Child; Michael Patrick Hearn, The Annotated Wizard of Oz, 2^nd edition 2000. pp.7, 271, 328]”

I have come to realized over the years that the Oz books reveal a great deal about organized religion as I have come to see it. The Great Wizard Oz himself is simply another example of a ‘Santa Claus’ or a ‘Sky-god’; someone that we have endowed with power to fulfill our wishes, when all the while we have within us the ability to do so, only needing confidence in that ability. The Tin Man already had a heart; the Cowardly Lion, courage; and the Scarecrow, brains. all that they needed was the belief in themselves that was given to them by Dorothy’s understanding of who they really were.

It tells me that the thing which we yearn passionately for is really right there within us and with the help and insight of others will become a reality for us. That along the way our desires will be thwarted by the wicked witches and flying monkeys of today’s society and institutions, but if we stay true to who we are called to be, we will survive. Perhaps not in the way we envisioned, after all Dorothy didn't make it back to Kansas in the hot-air balloon, but in a way that will preserve the integrity of who we are called to be.

Have you ever wished for something only to find that you had it within you all along?

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