Dealing with dragons

I am a reader. I love to read and often have several books going at once. My favorite genre is fantasy and I've encountered many dragons over the years. As a student of metaphysics I have also spent a fair amount of time reading and studying the Bible. There are dragons in the Bible. Here is a poem that I saved when it appeared in one of the Christian Science periodicals. It was written by Lona Ingwerwson.

DRAGONS FOR UNREAL
That serpent was so little,
so suble, I hardly noticed it,
but now it's a virtual dragon!
So?

Dragons aren't real,
only easier to see than serpents,
easier to see through,
ready for destruction!
(Not my destruction -
theirs!)

The idea is to deal with problems when they are small. If you ignore it, or wait for it to go away on its own, it's feeds on your apathy. It gets bigger and seems more real and formidable. But, we can refuse to be impressed by its size or power. After all, it is still unreal. If you dreamed you were being chased by a dragon you wouldn't pray for the dragon to disappear, you would pray to awaken so that you could see that it had only been a dream. That dragon was never present, you were never really in danger.

I think it was C.S. Lewis who said something to the effect that it is not wise to ignore dragons if there is one living in your neighborhood. The world would be a little less colorful without dragons but the important thing is to know the difference between the real and the unreal. And not to let your unhealed problems drag-on.

Go in peace.