Castles and Cannons (Part One)

Have you ever wondered why Others see the world in the way they do? Or how issues between two thoughtful, caring individuals can go so wrong so fast? Have you wondered what could be done to resolve issues early, before these same issues take on a personality all their own? I have. I would like to share a story with you of how I came to view this curious world of interpersonal dynamics and the actions I have chosen to take in order to simplify my life at work and at home.

As I recall, it all began as I was facilitating a disagreement between two individuals who were debating the eternal question, “WILL THIS EVER GET DONE RIGHT?”. Through the course of their discussion I was wondering what I could do to assist them in developing a consensus. Both individuals were very creative and each wanted to reach a place where they could simply have things done the right way, their way. Unfortunately, these individuals were about as far apart as two people could be regarding what the nature of the problem was and what would be the best way to resolve it. I could hear each of them essentially say the same thing to each other in their frustration, “CAN YOU HEAR ME?” and “HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?”. We were obviously at a stalemate but each had plenty of energy to offer so on and on they went.

As they continued their war of words my focus began to drift and I was soon reminded of a movie I once saw as a youth entitled The Pride and the Passion. It was about a war in Spain where the world’s biggest cannon was brought across hills and dales in order to breach the walls of the world’s biggest castle, avoiding all the king’s horses and all the king’s men along the way. It starred Cary Grant as an English military engineer, Frank Sinatra as a skinny patriot with too much makeup and a dream to free his land of the oppressive king, and Sophia Loren as a pillar of strength for Frank and a new love interest of Cary’s. The interactions between these principal actors took up much of the screen time which involved stealing the cannon and thinking of love and hauling the cannon and speaking of love and lowering the cannon and dreaming of love and hiding the cannon and being in love. For a boy of 10, I was not much interested in this love stuff because all I really was interested in watching was the performance of the real star of the show, the firing of the cannon.

The cannon was constructed as an ornamental piece by the king and stood in a town square many miles from his castle as a symbol of his authority. Since, at the time, it was physically the largest cannon ever constructed no one was sure if it could even be fired without exploding. If it would fire, however, it could be used outside the range of any cannon the king had and its cannon ball was so massive that it would easily breach the wall of the king’s castle. The peasants, seeing an opportunity and willing to take the risk, seized the massive cannon during the night and proceeded toward the castle with the intent of breaching the castle wall and killing the king.

The king’s castle was also a marvel. It was the largest ever constructed. Its walls were built thick enough so they could not be breached by the ordinary cannon of the day. The king felt safe in his magnificent fortress. But this castle did not come without a cost. In order to build such a castle it was necessary to rob the land of its wealth and concentrate these resources at one location. The king was firm in his resolve to live a life of power and privilege. His army pillared and plundered the countryside of its values and gold. He knew no mercy seated behind its massive gate.

The end of the movie was over quite quickly after the cannon arrived at its destination. Merely a few moments in the life of all those involved. At daybreak the cannon was fired, the wall was breached, and most everyone died in the ensuing battle, including the king. Only Cary was left to pick up the body of the woman he loved and tearfully view the remains of a man of simple means that he had grown to admire. As the long day ended, the cannon stood alone on the ridge from where it had been fired. The cannon was now as little use to those who had brought it there as the castle had become to the king . . .

(to be continued)