HUMANS: TETHERED AND OBLIVIOUS

Words can cause trouble. We just saw it with Trump and his MAGA crowd.
“Tethered” could be a troublesome word but take heart, there is an antidote.
Body
It’s safe to watch a killer whale from behind a wall of thick glass or a leopard from
behind the walls of its cage. But aren’t humans caged too? Are we not tethered,
restrained and subdued?
Why can’t Elon Musk take off for Mars tomorrow? Why did Eliud Kipchoge need so
much preparation to do the marathon is less than 2 hours?
The furthest humans have travelled is 250,000km to the moon but our galaxy is
170,000 light years across. It would take us 170,000 years to cross it at the speed of
light. Yet our lifespan is rarely far beyond 100.
We are tethered physically. Despite robots and all kinds of fancy machines, we are
still physically caged. The human body has very light limits within which to operate.
Time becomes an enemy for a mortal creature.
Mind
Memorise this number and sustain that memory for five minutes:
51501086194210777616. Few can memorise this even for a second. That’s
probably why humans invented paper and pen. Then they invented calculators and
computers to help overcome their mental capacity. We invented “artificial
intelligence” too though we barely know what “intelligence” is and where it is
domiciled within a human.
Soul
You can touch and feel the body but not the mind. What of the soul? Some are not
even sure they have one. And how does one begin to overcome the limitations of the
soul especially when these limits have been set by a higher power. About the sea
this Power said: ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud
waves halt.’
He said, “Go and tell this people:
“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

Does this not define a creature that is spiritually restrained? It seems that spiritual
restraint is designed to protect the cure; its an act of war against a rebellious and
recalcitrant race. We were banished from freedom and cast into the cage called
earth:
And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good
and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the
tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the
Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

Conclusion
Can a tethered creature afford to displease the One who owns the cage and has the
key to its lock? Can the caged afford to grieve the One on whom they totally depend?

How much freedom can a tethered creature have? No wonder it is written that ‘if the
Son sets you free, you are free indeed.’ In this context, these words take on a new
meaning especially if the Son can donate freedom from mortality and suffering. How
can the caged turn around and mock the owner of the cage who provides the very
breath of life? Can the clay say to the Potter ‘what are you making?’ With the
understanding that we are tightly tethered and under the complete restraint of the
Maker, then it makes sense to declare that God can never be mocked.

But can one be freed from this tether? There is a way out…

J M Githeko
2nd February 2021
Nakuru, Kenya
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