Pop culture adores heroes. Everybody likes heroes. Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, and Frodo in Lord of the Rings… Humans have always had heroes. Think King Arthur and Ulysses, David and Goliath. We are the heroes of our own stories. What would it look like if these universal themes were applied to an actual life?
The only tale I have expertise in is my own. So, I’ve experimented with ways to integrate significant memories with the iconic stages in the human experience which are repeated throughout time. It seems that we have these phases, these deeply transformative seasons that build our character. They also tend to follow a certain order. Art has the power to remind us of them and reveal meaning in them. Here is my Testimony Part One which traverses the first half of the Hero’s Journey. In my case, it corresponds to my first fifty years. Now, I am building Testimony Part Two to illustrate my current experience on the journey of life.
But this is not really about me. This is to provoke my audience to look back over the developmental stages of their own lives. If I can encourage self-reflection or show patience and care, it may also shed meaning on anyone’s tragedies and victories.
I can’t go through these stories without acknowledging a faith journey along the way. More times than I can count, miraculous deliverance has saved my life, connected me to helpful people, and blessed me with rich relationships. In famous hero’s tales there is often some spiritual being or power at work. A guiding hand, a mysterious benefactor. So I am keeping to that pattern. What does your journey look like? Who is your mysterious benefactor? Here are the themes of the hero’s tale in their order.
PART ONE- complete
- Birth
- Initiation
- Withdrawal
- The Quest
PART TWO- a work in progress - Into the Realms of Death
- Confrontation with the Devil
- Rebirth
- Transformation