The Book Lightwalker Files

Part 2 of 6 on The Wizard of Oz.

Originally I had the 19th scheduled as my October blog-chain day, but when the time came to choose one, the Lord led me to claim the 12th instead. I didn’t understand why at the time, but now I do. He knew I was going to talk about the relationship between Dorothy Gale and the Scarecrow today, and that we would have “Harvest” as the month’s theme. What could be a better fit?

The more I thought about Dorothy and Toto, as I discussed last week, the more I saw the dog as an extension of her. Both were free to roam untethered, and both consistently got into trouble. I say “consistently” because Miss Gulch’s remarks imply similar things have been happening for some time, and she was fed up. The laissez faire way her guardians and farm hands receive her bad news is another clue.

According to a DVD feature on my two-disk set of this movie, the producers had planned a subplot where Dorothy and Hunk carried on an innocent, playful romance on the side. This explains why her parting words to Scarecrow are, “I’m going to miss you most of all,” as she gives him a little kiss on the cheek. It also explains why, every time the Scarecrow loses a bundle of straw, she’s right there to help him put it back. In the haunted forest, after the flying monkeys scatter him everywhere, he has to encourage the Lion and the Tin Man to put him back together so they can save Dorothy.

Fortunately, this subplot was left on the cutting-room floor; I don’t think it would’ve served the story very well. I can come up with another reason for the special relationship, though: Scarecrow is an extension of Dorothy, too.

Farms and harvesting are part of both their lives, and both are unhappy about the state they’re in. It seems only natural they’d enjoy a common bond seeking the wizard. (In fact, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion are also aspects of herself she has failed to recognize, as we will see.)

But let’s back up a minute and take a look at their meeting. Leaving Munchkinland via the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy skips along until she arrives at an intersection where the road splits two ways. Cornfields stand on every side—though I’ve never figured out why pumpkins are lying loose as well. As soon as Scarecrow speaks, it’s clear he shares her confusion, which he blames on not having a brain, “only straw.”

“How can you talk if you don’t have a brain?” asks Dorothy.

“I don’t know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t they?” I love this line! Not a bad piece of wisdom from a brainless person.

Dorothy curtsies and says, “How do you do?”

“Oh, I’m not doing at all well. You see, it’s very tedious being stuck up here all day long with a pole up your back.” Adding to this dilemma, he also says, “I can’t even scare a crow.” One lands on his shoulder, cawing and not paying attention to him.

So like Dorothy, he’s not fulfilling the purpose he was made for. I’ve seen Christians in the same predicament, including me in my early years. They’re stymied in their witness, ineffective and disillusioned.

Jesus said, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages; even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, that the Sower and the reaper may be glad together” (John 4:35-36).

But though the believer agrees the fields are ripe for harvest, he can feel woefully inadequate for the job. He needs to be fired up, he needs to make a difference, but he’s not sure how. He “doesn’t have a brain,” i.e. the mindset it takes to serve the Lord fully and live life abundantly. To accomplish this, he must seek God (the “wizard” ) and learn to follow the golden road to Him.

The song and dance the Scarecrow performs, similar in tune and substance to the other two later, reveals some interesting comments.

“I could while away the hours,

Conferring with the flowers,

Consulting with the rain.

And my head I’d be scratching

While my thoughts were busy hatching

If I only had a brain.

I’d unravel any riddle for any individdle

In trouble or in pain.”

Dorothy adds:

“With the thoughts you’d be thinking,

You could be another Lincoln

If you only had a brain.”

Appreciation of nature and responding to people in need is a big part of gathering the harvest of souls Jesus mentioned. Wisdom also comes with an effective ministry, the ability to answer tough questions that baffle most people. Ultimately, of course, Scarecrow finds his place ruling the people of Oz in Emerald City, with the Tin Man and Lion.

By the way, one of the most charming things about The Wizard of Oz is its music. As a fantasy, it can get away with lyrics such as “individdle” to rhyme with “riddle,” or “mowess” (mouse) to rhyme with “prowess,” or “impocerous” with “rhinoceros.” It can also get away with singing “because” seven times in succession, a death knell to a more serious production. This is one of very few movies whose tunes keep going through our head long after we’ve watched it.

Another part of Christian witness is being able to thwart evil forces, like the Wicked Witch of the West. Have you noticed how often the “brainless” Scarecrow makes life-or-death decisions? When Toto escapes the witch and barks at them, Scarecrow figures out the dog is trying to lead them to Dorothy. When cornered in the witch’s castle, Scarecrow notices the chandelier that hangs over the guards, and figures out its rope runs to a hook near Tin Man’s ax. So he grabs his hands and chops the rope, causing the chandelier to fall and allowing their escape.

Essentially, the wizard notes the same thing. “Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers, and when they come out, they think deep thoughts. And with no more brains than you have. But, they have one thing you haven’t got: a diploma. Therefore, by virtue of the authority invested in me by the Universitatus Committeeatum e pluribus unum, I hereby confer on you the honorary title of Th.D.”

“Th.D.?” asks Scarecrow.

“Yeah, that’s … Doctor of Thinkology.”

The light, bouncy delivery with the nonsensical Latin phrase and diploma title are a non-threatening way to pass along a very important point. Scarecrow’s problem was not so much lack of a brain, but lack of an education to use it. This is why Bible study is of utmost importance for Christians who want to do great things for the Lord, to “correctly handle the Word of Truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Every Christian has a ministry. He receives it from the moment he’s saved, and the Holy Spirit passes out gifts to help us develop it. God even takes our natural talents and molds them into ministry-building tools. I know when I listen to God, my writing often goes in directions I don’t expect. I’m learning to lean on Him more every day.

Sadly, many Christians sit back in their pews, sing the hymns, bow with the prayers, listen to the sermons, yet nothing in their lives changes. Like Scarecrow, their heads are full of straw. They find themselves in the tedious position of inaction, stuck on the pole of their selfish ambitions. This is also true of some church ministers; they just go through the motions.

“Open your eyes,” says Jesus, “and look at the fields. They are ripe for harvest.” It’s time for all scarecrows to participate so “the Sower and the reaper may be glad together.”