The Power of Myth

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Moyers: Perfection would be a bore, wouldn't it?

Campbell: It would have to be. It would be inhuman. The umbilical point, the humanity, the thing that makes you human and not supernatural and immortal-that's what's lovable. That is why some people have a very hard time loving God, because there's no imperfection there. You can be in awe, but that would not be real love. It's Christ on the cross that becomes lovable.

Moyers: What do you mean?

Campbell: Suffering. Suffering is imperfection, is it not?

That is a quote from one of the books that I am currently reading, The Power of Myth. Joseph Campbell, the author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, a book on the congruent lines that run through all myth, and part of George Lucas' inspiration for Star Wars. 

While Christ's suffering is far from imperfect, Campbell makes the point that his suffering is what made him human. He makes the one point that is needed to understand Christ's humanity. He suffered, and not just on the Cross, but in life in general. Not believing this simple truth, for me, is extremely easy.

Though the book is on comparing world myths with one another, Myth has offered me great insight into Christ so far, and how Christ protrudes into other religions, though not by name. I look forward to more from this book as I continue into it.

Campbell: So the generalist-and that's a derogatory term, by the way, for academics-gets into a range of other problems that are genuinely human, you might say, than specifically cultural.

Derogatory or not, a Generalist I subscribe to be.