Dragon imagery has been so popular because dragons are potent symbols of what human nature is like. A dragon is nothing more than a snake with wings. And as a snake with wings, it illustrates what we humans are really like. We are like serpents inasmuch as we are capable of the most low and depraved acts ever encountered in the animal kingdom. Humans are able to demonstrate remarkably base, primal behavior that suggests we are the most savage of all creatures. And yet, like a dragon, we have the wings to fly above our limitations, to soar over our coarse urges and be capable of the most noble acts of sacrifice, love, grace, and mercy. This is the ultimate paradox of being human; we bear the potential for graphic acts of evil and yet we are made in the image of God and bear the potential to ignite the spark of divinity within us. We are snakes with wings.
– Michael Frost, Jesus the Fool
