A mythic life requires trust in the path
Mark 6:7-13 (Fifteenth Sunday in ordinary time)
The mythic
content of this gospel passage can’t be overstated. The key line is “He
instructed them to take nothing for the journey... .” This reading
touches the core of the mythical experience:
Trust.
A
mythic life requires trust in the path. In The Art of War, Sun Tzu
instructs his reader to literally rely on the circumstances of battle
to provide victory. This is truly strong medicine. Applied to life,
this approach contradicts pretty much everything the western mind is
trained from childhood to do: be in control and leave nothing to
chance.
On deeper scrutiny, however, and with the mythical
dynamics of life in mind, it becomes clear that this is exactly what
Jesus and Sun Tzu are counseling: leave nothing to chance. In their
view, we are more at risk of something going wrong if we try to control
things, rather than letting the path lead us, require choices of us,
and provide the necessary information to handle those choices.
It
depends on your motive. Are you trying to get through life safe and
sound, with no cuts or bruises, in a manner that is predictable and
secure? Are you trying to be as comfortable as you possibly can until
you die? Or are you trying to surrender yourself to participation in
your life’s purpose, willing to undergo gaps in security and periods of
mental anguish? If the latter, then you leave all to chance by trying
to control your situation. You stifle the workings of destiny. You
curtail the natural flow of your life.
“Just a walking stick,”
Jesus says. That’s all you can take with you. A simple, practical tool
for the road. He wasn’t naive, after all. His disciples had a lot of
walking ahead of them. “And if they won’t receive you, shrug it off and
move on.” In other words, sound judgment. Trust in the path has nothing
to do with blindness or wishful thinking. It’s hard, nuts-and-bolts
work and a daily grind. But a grind with purpose. Apart from a few
simple tools, trust and sound judgment are pretty much it.
In
his novel Damien, Herman Hesse tells his reader “your destiny loves you
and wants you to achieve it.” This is the wisdom both Sun Tzu and Jesus
reveal to their adherents. No matter how difficult things get, no
matter how scary, allow the path to lead you. This is the core value of
the mythic perspective, and the organizing principle of a mythic life.
