In 1989 loggers in western Ecuador felled a tree with a Harpy Eagle nest in it. The nestling suffered a broken wing, and was taken to town to sell. I discovered her and alerted the authorities, who shipped her to the World Center for Birds of Prey in Idaho. There she entered a breeding project, and over the years she produced 16 chicks of this endangered bird. Harpy Eagles live for approximately 30 years in the wild. They take 4 to 5 years to reach maturity, after which they raise a single chick every two to three years, half of which survive. The average pair produces 6-8 offspring in their lifetime. This particular bird has doubled that output, due to the help of humankind.

Herein we see a lesson in dominion. We all exercise dominion over whatever circle of influence we have, but our exercise of dominion is as broken as our souls, and we often do it badly. Just like the reproduction rate of wild Harpy Eagles is way below their actual potential, so we dominate rather than influence, we force rather than lead, and the effect is a diminishing of our dominion. But as Christians we are called upon to exercise our dominion as an extension of that great Dominion of the Kingdom of God. When we submit to the dominion of Christ, we find that our potential reaches way beyond our track-record, like with the Harpy Eagle.

This tension is expressed in our readings today: In the Old Testament prophecy God promises Israel that it will rise to heights previously unknown: The feeblest will be like their greatest King, David, the royal family will be like God Himself. But this strength will be expressed in a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that they will look on Him whom they have pierced and mourn. Who is this whom they have pierced? John quotes this verse as fulfilled when the Jews looked upon Jesus whom they had crucified. Christ is the fountain, opened in the midst of Jerusalem, that cleanses from sin. Those cleansed in that fountain find strength of which our previous experience was a shadow.

The Gospel lesson is no less direct: Jesus asks the disciples who people say He is. They say, “John the Baptist, Elijah, or another prophet”…the answers all call upon the Old Covenant concept of a great fiery prophet who will browbeat God’s people into salvation. But Jesus is the New Covenant, so He asks the disciples: Who do YOU say that I am? Peter answers accurately, “The Christ of God!” Immediately Jesus launches into a lesson: The path of the Christ of God is radically different from the paths of the ancient prophets. They prophesied and died and their influence dimmed with age. But My death is My beginning! It is as I die that I save the world, as I am pierced I will cause to spring forth in Jerusalem that cleansing fountain. As you truly look upon Me and see what I am doing you also die to what you thought was your dominion, and as I am raised again, as you look upon Me, you are raised to the true dominion of humanity. He who does not look upon me, but rather looks to save his own life, will only maintain the old dominion, the shadow! Like that Harpy Eagle, our dominion is brought to its fullness as we walk the path of our Dominus, our Lord.

What is that dominion like? Godly dominion is lived more than exerted: It galls me when someone goes flying past me, obviously speeding, with no police car directly behind to meet out justice! However, my eldest son simply says, “Zoom, zoom.” He doesn’t get upset, he doesn’t get agitated, just a calm and humorous, “Zoom, zoom!” It has a calming effect on me that is very powerful, perhaps mostly because it is genuine. Dominion is a function of genuineness. Exercising dominion is first and foremost a path one walks humbly and honestly. Albert Schweitzer said, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.” If our Christian path is not leading us into an increasingly genuine life we betray our faith and short-circuit our potential. A genuine person has incredible influence in the world, like 16 Harpy Eagle chicks rather than 6.

Dominion is gift opened, not a right earned: The other day I reflected on how a certain man rose to the rank of Brigadier General—he has to be very intelligent. But his intelligence was not something he achieved, it was something he was given. All he did was open it and use it. In the same way, dominion is not something we achieve so much as something we receive. True dominion, godly influence with other people, is never a source of pride, rank or honor. It emerges naturally in a person in relationship with God. It is not a right to open and use it, it is a duty and a privilege.

Dominion finds its fullness in the community: It is important that this Harpy Eagle contribute to the survival of its kind because, if we can keep wild Harpy Eagles alive and well on this earth then we’re doing something right to reverse the erosion of the ecological health of our planet on which our own future depends. This bird’s contribution takes its only real meaning in the context of the global community. The significance of your dominion is only understood in the context of the community of the human race. Godly dominion is a sharing in the divine power at work to bring the world back into right relationship with God. When you exercise your influence in opposition to this end you disrupt that sharing and your influence diminishes. Oh, your power may grow, but it sets aside the power of divine love for the power of coercion and force, and will only destroy others and finally you. But when you exercise your influence to achieve this end you cooperate with God and your influence grows, drawing on the power of divine love to bring out the best in others and nurturing their true nature. In the end it brings life to you and those with whom you have influence.

But this kind of dominion runs counter to our first instincts. Like an eagle whose instinct is to stay far from humans, our natural instinct is for domination and control. It reflects an intuition of godly dominion, but misdirected and corrupted—a shadow. When I found that eagle chick on that pile of gravel her life was already forfeit. She would have died if not picked up by humans, and even then, her chances of survival were slim. But instead she died to her natural ways and submitted to a new way of life, and accomplished what she could never have if she had remained as she was. In the same way if we are to exercise the godly dominion for which we were originally created, we must die to our natural instincts of power and coercion, and be raised to a new way of relating, a truer, more genuine, and ultimately incredibly more powerful way, the way shown us by our Dominus, who walked through death to new and unending life.

Fr. Paul Moore+