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April
Fools' Macrocosmic Antithesis -- 'Law by Persistence' and Zion
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Review of outstanding movie, 'Grey Owl,' prescriptive easement,
marriage laws, and some parallel principles to the establishment of Zion.
By Sterling D. Allan
Copyright © Greater Things
April 1, 2001 |
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My wife made a clever observation last night. She said,
"[According to Utah law], if a couple lives together for seven years, they are automatically
considered 'married.' But it is illegal to live together. Go figure."
As I typed that in this morning with the intention to use it for 'quote of the day' (certainly
apropos to April fools day), I thought of another legal situation that has the same sort of paradox.
It is the "prescriptive easement" law that says that if private property owners allow
unauthorized access to their property for a certain period of time (20 years in Utah), without
challenging such access such as with "no trespassing" signs, then by default the land
becomes public access, despite future ownership. The key in this law is "unauthorized"
access. No permission has been granted, but personal initiative has been taken anyway.
I have become familiar with this law because of a situation here in Manti in which the petroglyphs
behind the LDS temple, which people have been going to see for decades, are now being fenced in by
the current owners of the land. The campground for which Cheri and I will be serving as managers, is
immediately adjacent to said property, and we have wanted to sponsor tours to the site. This
'prescriptive easement' law works in our favor. [see report]
A third example of this paradoxical principle comes from a video Cheri and I watched last night,
called "Grey Owl,"
based on a true story. It is one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time -- kind of like
"Dances with Wolves" -- and is starred by the guy who plays James Bond in the most recent
007 series. The setting of the film is in the early '30s when Native Americans were treated like
wild animals -- caged in reservations and spurned as freaks of nature. Because of his writing and
speaking talents, Grey Owl ends up becoming a respected world-renowned spokesman for the Native
Americans and for the preservation of the precious irreplaceable resources of the environment. The
irony in the film was that he was not even part Indian, but as a child had a fascination with Native
Americans which spurred him to move into the wilderness of Canada, become a trapper, and hang out
with the Indians as if he were one of them. But because he "chose his dream well," the
Native Americans adopt him as one of their own; so though he was not, he became such by will of
persistence.
That adoption, of course, had no meaning to the white man, so his work was forgotten and his message
shelved for some thirty years. But an extrapolation of the first two white-man laws mentioned above
show that the white man ought to have recognized his virtual Native American status and honored him
as if he were indeed Native American.
There was an irony of persistence actually built in to the circumstances of my wife and I watching
this video. "Grey Owl" was not the video we originally selected for the evening's viewing.
We had seen reviews of "Me, Myself, and Irene," with Jim Carrey, and thought it looked
pretty cute, so we splurged and paid to rent this new release video. But part way into that video,
we came upon a scene which so revolted us that we immediately turned it off, and I went back to the
video store and demanded that we be able to check out another video in its place, and that our
protest be lodged with the video rental people in charge. We wanted to make it very clear that our
money was not going to be going toward supporting such horrendous smut.
"But it's rated R!" replied the video rental guy, as if to say, "What did you
expect?"
I replied that there are some excellent R rated videos such as Brave Heart, and that the reviews of
the movie had seemed innocent enough (at least the one that was fresh on our memory). Anyway, I was
not at all sympathetic with his response and persisted in my demand for a return and allowance to
rent another new release.
As I scanned the selections, I was coming up empty so far as being interested in anything I was
seeing. Then I saw the jacket for "Grey Owl," and it seemed to stand out like a luminous
stone in the midst of mud. Even before I read the descriptive review on the back, I could tell this
was movie I definitely wanted to watch.
When we put the video into the player, it jammed, ripping the tape from one of the spools. Though
I've had cassette tapes get jammed a lot, I've never had that happen with a video tape, and I've
never seen even a cassette tape rip from one of the spools.
It took us quite a while to get it out of the machine, and probably half an hour to repair the tape
so it would work again -- something I had never done before. I really wanted to see that show, and I
didn't want to have to buy the video with egg on my face having made such a scene in returning
another video in order to get this one.
As I worked on this repair, I thought over and over upon the unusual coincidence of these two
anomalies happening one right after the other. I've returned a video for an exchange maybe once or
twice before in my life, and I don't think its ever been on the same night that I checked it out.
"There has to be a message in this!" I told myself over and over. I was thinking along the
lines of probably having to buy this video, yet how it would most likely be a video I would have
wanted to buy anyway -- something I rarely do.
Now it is clear what that message was, and I believe that message can be applied to the quest for
Zion.
It is this principle of getting what one wants by virtue of persistence, even when the 'law' or the
norm is against it, and what you end up getting becomes the law. I suppose this can work both for
good and for evil, depending on the desire of the heart. In the case of the children of Israel, it
was used against them when they refused to do things the Lord's way, so he gave them the laws that
they wanted. But this can work in reverse as well.
The corrupt powers that be here on earth at present are the 'law,' and the Zion that we seek is
contrary to that law. Living Zion now goes against the laws of the land. But if enough people
persist in living after a Zion model for a long enough period of time, that new way of living will,
by default, become legally recognized.
There is a classic scene from "Grey Owl," in which Grey Owl has just returned to Canada
from a very successful speaking tour in England, which he had been very reluctant to take, and he is
scheduled to meet with a council of chiefs, now that he has become such a renowned spokesman for the
Indians -- the most well-known in the world at that time. Grey Owl does not want to do this because
he feels like he would be mocking them since he is not even part Indian -- a fact that was not yet
publicly or even privately known except by a very few people, such as himself, his mother, a fellow
he had worked with many years back. He hadn't even told his wife until just moments before. But she
talks him into going in to speak with them anyway.
He walks into the large tee pee, the main chief, a Sioux, stands before him, and after the initial
greeting, looks at him for quite a few moments, and finally bursts out laughing. Grey Owl didn't
need to tell HIM that he wasn't Native American. He saw it. Soon, everyone in the entire tee pee was
busting out laughing. Theirs was not a mocking laughter, but the paradox was funny, and they were
enjoying the irony. Then the mood turned solemn. The chief removed an intricately beaded neckpiece
from around his own neck and places it around the neck of Grey Owl, symbolizing his being truly one
with the Native Americans and a worthy spokesman for them. He then said, "Men become what they
dream. You have dreamed well."
The difference between these situations and an April fools joke, is that in an April fools joke,
reality turns out to be a fake. In this instance, what the world had thought to be real, but
realizes has been a 'fake,' actually becomes the preferable reality. Still, the joke is on them.
Yes, it is worthy of a good laugh, but it is also a very solemn situation. We're not joking.
When we establish Zion on this earth, though it is contrary to the laws of the land; after a good
laugh, God will say to us, "You have chosen your dream well."
Happy April First.
Sincerely,
Sterling D. Allan
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This page posted on April 1, 2001
Last updated November 04, 2007
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