The Hero's Ripples

 

The Journey

Joseph Campbell referred to it as “The Hero’s Journey”, and his book, “Hero with A Thousand Faces” explains his idea. He saw the motif in every myth, so he just points this out. There is a pattern.

A pattern, yes, but who is a hero?

The hero is a hero if he or she accepts the call. Everyone gets the call.

Not everyone who hears the call will respond. And there will be those who respond in a way that does not fit their calling.

But there is always a call.

 

Many years ago, I thought I would somehow make it into the Christian music business. I thought I was good enough and I thought I knew what to do. I was sure of a calling, so I considered some of the successful, Christian artists in my own circle. I was going to church with Mac Powell when he was on his way up. Sonny Ladderstedt was even instrumental in that climb; and I knew Sonny too. I met a lot of other players and singers in the industry I was sure I belonged to. I was, in fact, getting calls. One call was from a small, local nursing home. They needed someone to come and entertain some of the residents. Of course, I said, “Yes!” and I went. In fact, I performed a series of concerts for my elderly fans. They would enter the common area in their wheelchairs or with their walkers and we’d have a good time. I must have done this for about three years. Meanwhile, Mac and his band, Third Day, were playing to sold-out crowds in arenas all over the country. Okay, so I was off to a slow start.

It took a very long time and the advice of a good friend to realize the actual truth. My friend said, “If you were touring like Mac and his group, who would sing for the old folks in Powder Springs?”

That question opened my eyes. I really was called, but not to fame and glory. Some people are called to do the hard work, with little, or no monetary reward. However, if you answer these calls, you are still a hero of the same rank.

A good example is a single parent, working two jobs and barely making ends meet, getting a child through school. If you were to break it down, the job is very hard and the money is terrible. But is it not obvious that such a parent is a hero?

That’s why Campbell referred to anyone who answers their call as a hero. And Campbell pointed out that the journey always has the hero’s motif. It always begins with the call, answering the call, embarking on the journey, going into really difficult places, finding a mentor or two, discovering oneself in the cave and defeating the beast revealed, and finally getting the reward and bringing the boon back to wherever you began, and sharing it.

The call is inevitable. “Many are called and few are chosen.”

The call takes place long before anyone is vetted. You will get the opportunity to take the heroic journey, but you can be rejected at any time. If this happens, you will get another call if you live. How can you be rejected? By leaving the path.

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” ~ Jesus

This is referring to the same journey Campbell was always referring to when he spoke of the hero’s journey.

Jesus gave us his advice. He said “enter”. This implies an invitation and we are all invited at some point. Jesus also gives us an idea about what to look for at the very entrance to the journey. He said the gate would be “strait”. Strait is difficult. A strait-jacket, for instance, is a tough jacket to get out of. A dire strait is a very difficult spot. If you ever feel called, and the calling seems difficult, this is often a very good sign. If, on the other hand, you get the call and then you follow the crowd, you may miss your real purpose. The last clue Jesus gives here is the goal. He said that there is a path that leads to life. What is life? Are we not alive to begin with? Jesus is talking about the special case; where the journey reveals the meaning of your life.

When we don’t follow the path, we won’t be a hero. And a hero could be the janitor who dies a pauper. A hero could be the mother who raises her children and then slips away too young. The hero, in my case, was Uncle Roy, who lived in a trailer and never held a diamond in his hand. Roy drove an old Chevy and wore old overalls. He had an old hat and he sharpened his old knives. Roy had worn out rifles and spent shells and he taught me how to refill them. He showed me how to sharpen a knife. And one day, he told me something very important. He was watching me ride my bicycle and I still had the training wheels on it. I came back up the driveway where he stood and he was laughing.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I’ve been taking those training wheels up, a little at a time.” he said, “They haven’t touched the ground in days. We can take them off now.”

I was only seven when Roy died. I can’t be sure if anyone besides me ever thought of Roy as their hero; but he still qualifies as a hero.

We don’t have to be a hero for a thousand people; we only need to be one hero in a thousand; if only for one person.

I’ve seen the motif in my life, and I still don’t feel like a hero, but I am not discouraged. I may have already brought the boon back to the village.

I think about my sister, Myra. I see the motif in her life and she is a real-life, Luke Skywalker. She heard the call and she answered it. She went right in where the gate was narrow, rusty, hanging and revealing a small pathway, going through the middle of a briar patch. She became a single mother of two girls and she fought the common dragons. She found herself, faced herself and departed that dark cave with the elixir. She came through the journey with all of the scars to prove it. But most importantly, she gave her boon to those girls. The girls are grown now; one a teacher, the other a nurse practitioner. Ask those girls who the hero is.

Sometimes the hero does not get the praises.

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ~ Mother Teresa