The Iron Rod

I’m getting back to the basics on symbols.  Just asking kindergarten questions like, what does this thing look like?  What does it feel like?  What does it do?  I started with the Book of Revelations.  I’m now applying it to Lehi’s dream.

I had a thought about why clinging to the iron rod is a bad thing.

Here’s the context: two years ago we discussed a puzzle in Lehi’s dream.  Those who *cling* to the iron rod eventually fall away.  Those who *hold on* to it don’t.  Huh.  You guys had some interesting thoughts, particularly Annie and Books.  Nothing definite.  Elder Bednar mentioned the two groups in General Conference but didn’t explain it.

As I sing “Let Us All Press On,” I often think of the people in Lehi’s vision pressing forward on the path that led to the tree of life who were not merely “clinging to” but were “continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree.”

So two days ago I was thinking about iron rods.

A rod made of iron is hard and firm, but also less fragile and more durable than a rod made of rock might be.  But most of all, a rod is long and narrow.  In that sense, the rod is much like a path.  Paths are also long and narrow.  Strait and narrow you could say.  In fact the rod is beside the path.  The two are physically parallel just as they have parallel symbolic meanings.

So now lets go back to the clinging.  Clinging is an act of desperation. Clinging is when a person is afraid to let go.   Even without those emotional connotations, clinging is primarily a static activity–you are trying not to get pulled away from an anchor, or to let something get pulled away from you.

Holding fast in contrast is also a firm grip but without the sense of desperation and fear that clinging has.  Holding fast does not imply static lack of movement the way clinging does.  So why hold fast to the iron rod if you aren’t desperately afraid of the darkness around you?  I think the answer is that you are keen on getting to the destination.   In other words, at least on first analysis the symbolism of clinging is that the clingers treat the iron rod as a guard rail and the holders treat it as a guide.

Yet in the dream both groups eventually arrive at the tree, so lets take a look at the surrounding information to see if it fits our first analysis.

It turns out there are a couple of other indications that the clingers are just afraid of getting lost while the holders actually want to go to the tree.  First, the clingers “press forward” whereas the holders “press their way forward.”  (I Ne 8:24 and 30 are the verses here if you want to look for yourself).   It’s a minor difference in language but still possibly significant that the holders have their own sense of direction and purpose that the clingers do not.  For the clingers, its just a direction.  For the holders, its their direction.

Next, the clingers are described as pressing through mists of darkness but the holders aren’t.  Getting lost and a sense of being directionless and overwhelmed is a key part of the clinger experience.  Not for the holders.

A little aside here:  there might be physical settings where getting off a  narrow path is incredibly dangerous like a cliff or a swamp.  On the other hand, in almost all places getting off the path is no big deal if you promptly get back on it.  It’s hard to get lost if you know where you are going.  Repentance really is the key.

The final difference is that the clingers simply arrive at the tree, but the holders fall down when they arrive.  There’s a lot that can be said about this–humility, prayer, gratitude, those are all possible symbolisms–but what I see is the thing where a traveler falls to their knees with joy when they finally arrive at their destination.  The holders know they have finally found what they were looking for.  The clingers, apparently, have not.  Which I think means that the clingers were not actually looking for the tree.  They just didn’t want to get lost in the scary unknown.  When the clingers get to the tree they discover that people are mocking them, so its not the safe haven where nothing bad happens that they imagined. They no longer have a guardrail.  And they also see a great big building which seems to provide an alternate source of orientation.  Since they don’t care where they are going, they just want an anchor, off they go to the building.

That’s my theory.

I see some real parallels here to the two core groupings in a virtue chart.  The negative virtues are just avoiding things going wrong, but the positive virtues are when you actually aspire for something.  Clinging isn’t enough.  You have to hold fast.