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Blessy Zachariah
In the excerpt from Plato's The Republic, titled "The Allegory of
The Cave," Socrates shares with his student, Glaucon, a symbolic
representation in which he expresses a truth or generalization about
human existence. While reading this passage, I connected Socrates'
ideas with my own religious beliefs and concluded that in one's life
journey, it is important to come out from the shadows in which the
temporary pleasures of the world lie, and step into the light of
God's eternal and unconditional love. In the reconstructed dialogue
between these two men, the prisoners who are chained and left in the
darkness-represent those who are oppressed by the world.
However, the character who is taken into the light finds God, and
his life is forever transformed for the better. As the character who
is released begins "approaching nearer to being and his eye is
turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision" (Plato
318). This signifies humanity's attraction to God once experiencing
His power and love. He is drawn to the Light, the Truth, whom he has
never known before. When a person comes to the Lord, his life as he
knew it is gone and he embarks on a life-long walk with Christ. The
Bible says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new" (II Corinthians 5:17. King James). When committing to Christ, a
man is choosing to leave behind his miserable life in the shadows
and start over with a passion to serve God.
Once the character leaves the shadows and begins to adjust to the
light, he realizes the true source of "the seasons and the years,
and the guardian of all that is in the visible world" (Plato 318).
The "guardian" symbolizes the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and His
sovereignty over the earth and
its inhabitants. After entering this new understanding that God is
his loving Father and Creator of everything, a passionate Christian
will not want to go back to the world he left, but his joy will be
in knowing Christ. He will not "after [having] known God, or rather
are [being] known by God turn again to the weak and beggarly
elements [or] desire again to be in bondage" (Galatians 4:9. KJV).
"The Allegory of the Cave" is very likely symbolic of the
distinction between the darkness of the world and the eyeopening
reality of God for many readers. Life on earth is short, and so it
is vital to break free of the chains that bind spiritually and move
forward with excitement for growth in God. He has kept the door wide
open for all that want to know Him intimately, and He forsakes no
one. Now it is up to each individual to make the decision that seals
his destiny-every man can face a wall of shadows for all of
eternity, or stand up, turn around, and fix his eyes on the Light.
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Prayer Fellowship All Rights Reserved
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