Click for audio: The Yellow Brick Detour
We’re all familiar with the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, based on the 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum. Since its release, the film has captured the imagination of millions, both for its entertainment value and for its commentary on the human condition. We can draw even greater significance from the story when we view it in a spiritual context.
To summarize, Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) is knocked unconscious during a Kansas tornado. Her house, lifted by the storm, crashes in the strange land of Oz, where her single desire to return home begins. Her journey is fraught with danger but in the end, she realizes that the way home has been with her all along.
Like Dorothy, many of us are following the yellow brick road to an Emerald City we believe holds the key to fulfillment. Also like Dorothy, we accomplish the expected requirements but find we are still not home. Something is missing. The solution to Dorothy’s dilemma is not found in reaching the Emerald City or fulfilling the requirements laid out by the mighty Wizard. The solution to her problem is found in the simple act of waking from her very vivid dream.
In many ways, our constant attention to material responsibilities lulls us into a kind of spiritual sleep. We feel something essential to our happiness is missing. That something obviously is found in the acquisition of something we do not currently possess. If we accept that our soul is complete now, and that tapping into this completeness is the key to the fulfillment we seek, our current place on this road becomes a suitable wakeup point. The belief that fulfillment lies at the end of the yellow brick road actually creates a detour.
Dorothy’s affirmation, There’s no place like home, is truly the spiritual motive that drives us. In all our endeavors, we are seeking to return to our spiritual home. We are only dreaming that we are separate from the spiritual homecoming we long for. In truth, we are home now.