All words are built upon all words.
The above quote is mine, oft repeated to my children during their formative years.
How do I come by this statement, and what does it mean?
When I was a child, I received a special Christmas gift from my great uncle. It was a collection of Greek myths, vetted for the young reader. I read that book over and over, until the page corners were all dog-eared and soft as leather When I later read the library many of us call “The Holy Bible,” I was struck by thematic similarities in the stories. The Bible even contains duplications of stories, each version with a slight difference—and I could also see thematic similarities between Greek mythology and Scripture. What could be more similar than the theme of the hero surviving multiple trials? And what could be more true of everylife?
And yet, through the ensuing years, I realized that these collections of literature were held in academic silos, never being truly and honestly held up to the same scrutiny and academic rigor, much less honest comparison. Mythological literature was studied in one way, “sacred” literature in another.
Justice, I had been taught via the church, is what one trusts a supernatural being will bring about…
And yet… and yet…
So, what do I believe?
Well, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I’ve been reading in this vein—well, actually in two veins simultaneously—all my life long. I do not proclaim to be an expert in ancient literature, but I have read a lot of books on the subject(s), and I would have to say that there are blind spots, many blind spots, in our general education on matters mythological and spiritual.
I currently believe that the academic approach with regard to early introduction to Greek literature is a worthy endeavor. This provides a good start to presenting our common life themes.
Yes, the subject runs into the world of the sacred, or the immortal, and we, being mere mortals, can hardly be expected to understand the unseen.
However, my personal experience of comparative mythology and comparative religious literature (as a non-classics scholar, a non-seminarian) has shown me a stark truth that the average person is all too willing to overlook: Mythology and Scripture share a role in presenting all the universal themes that occur in mortal life. While the ideas of the ancient Greeks do not seem to hold sway in modern times, truly the epic nature of life enjoys all the drama that can be found in Greek literature—and Biblical epic.
So many people are prepared to believe and have faith in a being that acts proxy or go between, an intermediary between this world and the sacred, unseen.
What do I mean to suggest with that outrageous statement?
Well, first of all, the epic nature of Greek mythology and Biblio-sacramental literature is not all that different. The relationships that can be found between each of these sets of literature are by no means confined to these sets or generations, as the relationships reach back to earlier literatures, even to the earliest examples of Western literature.
All of our history of literature is comprised of and built on clear and similar themes with variations; similar narratives as viewed through, sometimes, different lenses, and/or offered with different motives—frequently to explain what has just happened or to explain far distant historical events, or perhaps indicate the future.
The homework on all of this, by the way, has been done by bone fide scholars—and not just recently—but the results have largely been ignored, if not scoffed; previous work of classicists on ancient literature and its common themes has been ignored by Biblical scholars, to the detriment, I think, of all followers of Judeo-Christian faith. Christians, in particular, do not realize they err and even sin with regard to what they falsely believe is exceptionalwith regard to their faith. The average Christian is, I have found, frightfully ignorantof the context of writings they will quote by chapter and verse and claim to live by. Moreover, they are ignorant of how many innocent people have died throughout the centuries, so that they could wallow in their false sense of exceptionalism. In many cases, the Gospel message has been excised completely from their consciousness, if not twisted out all sense. [Contrast this with Thomas Jefferson’s exercise in recreating the New Testament by extracting everything outside the Gospel message, with the goal to bring that into harsh focus.]
If one looks critically at all the extant ancient literature available, one can see a very important and universalset of moral themes. The just person, the ethical person, must be an exemplar of hospitality to other. The only way that one be such is to examine and evaluate self, with an eye to self-improvement and, if need be, self-healing. The Greeks are purported to have invented journaling as a tool to self-knowing and self-improvement; this is an admirable technology still practiced in modern times. But the modern public has become disconnected with intent of this tool, just as it has become disconnected from the universality of themes contained in its world literature.
I propose that the universal themes within our ancient literature point to something vital and true: The Human Species is one single race, albeit divided politically, divided regionally, divided in so many natural and unnatural ways.
If this is indeed the case, then we are all meant to have a role in the lives of those in our community, with all the best of intent. Perhaps social justice, ancient and modern, is about insuring that we are capable of being the hero in our own lives, that our personal heroism in the face of trial is supported in the community, that our individual heroism has a role in supporting the community.
I know I will write about this more, but what I set here is enough, for now.
My wish for you in 2020 and beyond: Be the hero of your story and ours; be the light and love of mindfulness, generosity and thoughtfulness, ethical action and sustainability that makes a difference in your community; may health and prosperity visit you, your friends and family, and the ever widening spirals of your acquaintance; and may the abundance, blessings and beauty of this world be upon you, to uplift you as you shine your light!
