The pain of being truly alive...

Friday, December 26, 2008

Moyers: So joy and pain are in love.

Campbell: Yes. Love is the burning point of life, and since all life is sorrowful, so is love. The stronger the love, the more the pain.

Moyers: But love bears all things.

Campbell: Love itself is a pain, you might say - the pain of being truly alive.

The Power of Myth finishes up with Campbell's discussion of Love, and this section is possibly the most interesting of the book. You could say that Love is the one thing that he can't truly describe, with reference to mythology. He discusses love in the four terms given in the New Testament: Eros, Agape, Phileo, and Amor (The same Four Loves of C.S. Lewis)

I think Campbell knows the Lord, but he has wrapped himself on what the Lord has given to him as his path, perhaps too much. He speaks as if "all life is sorrowful", but he himself agrees that Love is the purpose of life, and it is pain, so... I guess what he gets to is that it is by faith we know Love? I can't speak for him

His work overall, though, gives a great look into the meaning of mythology. He states that mythology isn't given as fact, but rather as poetry; that is, as a metaphor. When he looks at Zeus and the Mother Goddess of old, he only sees alagories of his Christ, in broken forms. What a wonderful way to look at it.

Christ's call is for us to "Love One Another", and love involves compassion. Compassion, if taken literally from it's words, means "with suffering", as Passion means "suffering." How often do we lose sight of what it truly means to have passion? It means to suffer, so compassion must mean to suffer with others, or to with others, suffer.

That's great, kid... Don't get cocky

Campbell: A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.

On a bit of a whim, The Power of Myth, orginially a PBS special, was filmed on George Lucas' famed Skywalker Ranch. His work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, is one of Lucas' credited influences, and there are numerous mentions of the 'modern myth' in the transcript. As many people know, I love Star Wars. Did Han become a hero out of his own guilt for abandoaning Luke, or did he truly do it "for the money?" (Of course, you have to ignore Empire and Jedi to ask this question)

So, if you are looking for a read that is decently short (280~ pages, in transcript form), and one that will give you the view of not only mythology, but also of other world religions on this world's function, then you will love this.

That last sentence felt like I am selling the book to you...really cheesy like...