Return To Category List
Singles
Is it possible for people to live in a dream world, literally sleeping with their eyes open as the world passes them by?
Across the nation there are millions of women who are victims of what has been called the "Sleeping Beauty Syndrome." This is the sociopolitical idea that while millions of women are active in the social order, most are unaware of or unconcerned about social and economic factors that impact their lives. Many have accepted discriminatory practices as inevitable and still more have not claimed the opportunities that are available to them. Like the fictional sleeping beauty, many are alive but they are insensitive to the struggles all around them.
What happened to sleeping beauty? There are several versions of Sleeping Beauty but the story told to school children most often is that recorded by the Brothers Grimm. They told of a beautiful princess who was cursed by an evil fairy to fall into a deep sleep for 100 years. When the princess pricked her finger on a spinning wheel all those around her fell asleep as well. During the course of her long sleep she was aware but unable to respond to attempts to revive her. At the end of the 100 years a handsome prince climbed through the briars and weeds that locked her into the castle and rescued her. Once awakened, the sleeping beauty awakened to become the bride of the prince and both lived happily ever after.
Regardless of the version you have heard, the one told in the 1959 Disney movie is the one that seems to linger today. Every year millions of people attend one of the Disney theme parks and view the legendary castle of sleeping beauty. Unlike all of the other attractions of Disney World the castle of Sleeping Beauty is a hollow shell that offers very little for tourists to see with the exception of a few novelty shops.
It's really ironic that Sleeping Beauty’s castle would be empty today because the story itself presents the picture of a woman who lived a hundred years in a trancelike sleep waiting for prince charming. It is a sad epitaph; a sullen footnote to a life spent waiting for good fortune to climb the walls, fight back the weeds and vines and wish her away into the happy ever after.
That's why America loves Disney. Disney fills us with wonder and anticipation as we fantasize in the land of fairies, where the good guys always win, the frogs turn into princes and little girls who wait long enough can live happily ever after.
Unfortunately there are many women today who are the best and most beautiful part of God's creation who are living in fairytale world where they are waiting to be whisked off their feet by a handsome prince while failing to use the gifts that God has given them to use to their advantage.
Like the empty castle of Sleeping Beauty their lives have become empty shells of existence: surfing the internet, attending parties, buying clothes and dreaming. Many are just waiting for success to arrive and knock on their door. Many are waiting for prince charming and are upset that all they get are frogs. So, they sleep with their eyes open and dream as the years pass by.
This idea of sleeping while the world passes you by was the subject of a 1979 book by Madonna Kolbenschlag entitled "Kiss Sleeping Beauty Good Bye". She writes that many women imagine themselves in a state of readiness, of expectancy, of waiting for life and for their real existence to begin. In fact, it has already begun -- it is passing them by; they are sleeping beauties who may never wake up."
In the fairy tale, the good fairies gave the little child several gifts and a bad fairy gave her a curse. We don't believe in fairies but we do believe that God has given every believer special gifts, talents and skills associated with their life's purpose. We also believe that while there are no fairies there is a devil and at some point in life he tries to lull believers to sleep or put them in trances to let the years pass until they forfeit unclaimed dreams.
That's from time to time God sends everyone a wakeup call. It sounds off loudly and awakens us to the real world around us.
As Christians, we are aware that God has given us special gifts and abilities. We are challenged to awaken from our slumber and use those gifts to the glory of his kingdom.