Messages From Myth

I have written before about the power of myth in my life. Myth is visual imagery, a story, a song, a smell, a dream, and even a touch that communicates spiritual truth right into our hearts and bypasses our minds. In truth, it can be communicated through any of the senses. Mythic messages come to me daily – accompanied by feelings that can only be described as deep joy, borrowing C.S. Lewis’ word, and they remind me about spiritual truths in my life. Here are some of these messages or glimpses of truth that I have received in these many different ways in the last 20 years:

• That God is alive and beautiful and wild and free
• That He greatly loves me and every other person He made – and desires to be with them
• That there is still hope for men and women in a world filled with brokenness and confusion
• That the true me is not evil, but good, and is constantly afflicted by a broken nature that has a strong hold on me
• That there is great beauty and design in the most modest man or women
• That God is passionately interested in the most unimportant or unlovable person in our society
• That men and women are part of this dimension, and part of a higher, spiritual one.
• Every person is unique and beautiful in a way that can never be duplicated. When any person dies, their unique beauty will die with them, and humanity will never again see its equal.
• The spiritual life is not found in striving as hard as possible in a career, but somehow in the mystery and beauty of human companionship – of friends and family.
• Ultimate meaning in life is found primarily in walking with God. All other things have meaning and enjoyment in second place to this. Ultimate desire is satisfied. There is no greater joy then knowing this, and it never ceases, for it is renewed every morning. There is a profound, aching emptiness to other things when they are put in first place once I have walked with God.
• Living with God is like watching an action movie with a fiery romance – the lover and the loved are strongly drawn to each other, but their lives are filled at every turn with adversity, adventure, sadness, and great joy. (Thanks to John Eldredge, Sacred Romance)
• The world is full of magic (i.e. supernatural, extra-dimensional activity) It is all around us even though we cannot always see it at work.
• The world is full of beauty that transcends this dimension
• Our universe is beautiful and awe inspiring beyond our wildest imaginations. There is so much we do not know, and will never know about it.
• The entire universe was meant for us to explore, but our brokenness holds us back. We were meant to populate worlds and other galaxies, but our brokenness and our bent on self-destruction holds us back from a greatness that will never be known as long as we are this way. This is why I have always liked Issac Asimov’s Foundation series (thanks Chris for this insight) – it paints a picture of how things should have been.
• There exists great bravery in men, and great beauty in women – both are aspects of God Himself who split His image between them, and the two are attracted to each other. The knight rescuing the princess is a myth with incredible truth to it. They are drawn together though adversity. (Thanks to John Eldredge, Wild at Heart)
• Spiritual adversity is our main fight in this life, not other people. The true heart of men and women who live the spiritual life is to be drawn into the battle to fight. The battleground is where the spiritual life is found and lost, strengthened or killed.
• That joy can be detected and felt in this life, but will be fully realized in the next. Those who passionately live the spiritual life will never be fully satisfied in this one – the joys one experiences here are shadows of their ultimate counterpart in the next one. (Thanks to C.S. Lewis)
• The ultimate struggle in the spiritual life has already been overcome. Despite my failures, my shortcomings, and a much smarter, greater enemy, there is peace in knowing that in the end, I return to God who gave me life to be with Him forever simply because I have chosen to be with Him.
• Playing with my daughter, washing the dishes, and cleaning up the house (even when no one is watching or finds out) has eternal significance. The smallest unseen act of good is eternally important and significant – just as much as the greatest acts of the greatest men. Men and women who live unimportant lives actually live lives of great importance to humanity for all eternity. (Thanks to the play ‘Our Town’ by Thornton Wilder)
• True love is the ultimate destination of all other loves. As soon as one embarks down the road of romanticism or passion of any kind, with integrity, they will arrive at it sooner or later. It is that grand act of will that puts others before ourselves regardless of emotions or feelings and is the greatest of all human traits that the universe will ever see. The closer I am to God, the more I am able to love truly. The further I am, the less I am.
• The spiritual world and the 3-dimensional world are interwoven together like clothing with 2 kinds of thread. If I am not close to God, this world becomes gray and hopeless – and even on a sunny day, it almost seems to visually loose its color to me. The closer I am to Him, the more beautiful the world becomes – the deeper the colors are, the more alive the world around me is perceived. Does anything actually change? No – just my ability to perceive reality changes.
• This life is but a moment – full of confusion, joy, awe, amazement, sadness, and then it is gone. It is a staging area for the life we were meant to live forever. All people and all their activity during their momentary lives are significant – it will effect their eternal life.
• Supernatural evil, although more powerful and smarter than I, cannot destroy me, for One greater than even it is with me.