The Cave of Treasures
Aaron Rodgers is an NFL quarterback regarded by some as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. He started his professional career with the Green Bay Packers, where he played for 18 faithful seasons, only to be traded to the NY Jets in 2023. During his first season with the Jets, Rodgers injured his Achilles, forcing him to take time off for recovery. This injury devastated Aaron; he wanted to prove to the world that he still had it and could lead a team to victory. His road to recovery was intense and required much hard work, both physically and mentally. Rodgers was raised in a strict and religious home, where football was the only other thing they worshipped. He was pushed to work hard, score, and win. When you are conditioned to think winning is the only option, you also start believing that winning is your worth. Rodgers was accustomed to winning, so his self-worth suffered when the winning stopped. How do I know all this? I watched a documentary about him on Netflix.
I am not a football expert or super fan, but I like the sport and would define myself as a tomboy. I grew up with two brothers who would make me play sports with them, a father who wanted to raise a girl who did not throw like a girl; I married a man who falls asleep with sports center on, and I have two sons, one who is obsessed with sports. Sports is something I cannot escape. While I enjoy playing them, watching them has never been a passion of mine, but since so many people in my life have an interest in them, I decided to learn more about them. My way of learning has been watching documentaries on teams, players, etc. While I am interested in the game, the people playing these sports are far more interesting, hence how I stumbled across Aaron Rodgers’s story.
As I read this week’s book: “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell, I kept thinking about the Enigma documentary I watched on Netflix. In it, we see a different side of Rodgers, the more human, troubled side of this great quarterback. He explains how religion played a huge part in the rupture of his relationship with his family. His fear of losing the support and love of his family kept him from searching for more meaning in life, but this desire for more eventually led him to study mythical ancient stories that he connected with. One ritual he found through this journey of self-discovery was ayahuasca. I had heard of this natural plant and how people were using it to heal deep-rooted traumas and always thought people were crazy for going to those lengths to find healing or meaning in their lives.
Aaron Rodgers has been taking ayahuasca journeys for some time now. He attributes a lot of his mental and emotional healing to this Indigenous cultural tradition that folk healers have used for centuries. He believes that if the wins were to stop and the applause stopped, he would no longer fear it. This tradition has helped him find his path and given him the clarity and peace to become his champion. I find his motivation and eagerness to find peace compelling and inspiring.
Do not get me wrong. I am not saying we should all do ayahuasca to find the heroes within us. However, as I heard his story, I could see someone searching for more than what this world has to offer, and I realized that Aaron Rodgers and I are more alike than I thought.
In his book, Campbell explores the common patterns in myths, legends, and folklore across different cultures and eras, arguing that these narratives share a universal structure that he calls the “monomyth.” His analysis swings from ancient mythologies to modern stories, showing us how the structure of the monomyth resonates across time and culture; in other words, the same fears, dreams, and traumas show themselves throughout history in different stories, but all have the same narrative/ending.
There were parts of the book that were overwhelming for me and, quite honestly, not that enjoyable, but the part of that book that I resonated with was the importance of the Hero of the story. Campbell argues that the Hero’s journey is not only an external adventure but also a profound psychological transformation that reflects itself in the growth and evolution of the individual. He introduces the concept of a cave of fears and how it can produce all the treasures we seek if we decide to enter it. This concept speaks to the idea that facing one’s fears is necessary for growth. Campbell emphasizes that the Hero must confront and overcome their fears to move forward in the journey and achieve true transformation. Through this process, we then become the heroes of our story.
Campbell is correct when he suggests that we all eventually must face the fears stored in our lives’ caves to find and achieve growth. In this sense, Aaron and I are alike. Although we had very different upbringings and currently live very different lives, we are united in the fact that we both have faced fears and traumas that have propelled us to search for deeper meaning and confront certain fears.
I agree that we are all searching for peace and understanding. Different cultures and backgrounds, all searching for profound transformation and individual evolution, where I disagree with Campbell (if I understand him correctly) is that we cannot be the heroes of our own story because if we are to take scripture seriously, then there is only one Hero that has indeed survived the test of time. Jesus Christ is the Hero of my story, and once you have encountered Him, only then will our lives truly be transformed.
About the Author
Linda Mendez
11 responses to “The Cave of Treasures”
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Linda, thanks for back drop on Rodgers. I had hear of him doing light deprivation therapies (going into pitch-black rooms with masks on for days at a time) but did not know about his journey with plant medicine. This makes sense. I’ll have to go and watch the documentary.
I want to go a bit deeper into your disagreement with Campbell at the end. You gave the caveat “if I understand him correctly” and then a conclusion that I’d like to draw more out of. The conclusion you stated is that we cannot be the hero of our own stories because this would mean not taking scripture seriously. That Jesus is the hero of our stories.
Could it be possible that both are true?
The quote from Campbell that seems to tie these together for me is on page 30 when he says, “The godly powers sought and dangerously won are revealed to have been within the heart of the hero all the time. The hero is symbolical of that divine creative and redemptive image which is hidden within us all, only waiting to be known and rendered into life.”
As Christian we say things like, “the same power that raise Jesus from the dead lives inside of me.” Could the archetypal journey of Jesus be the representation of our own journey of becoming like him? In that case would we also become the “hero” as we take on the hero journey of our own lifetime?
What are your thoughts? Is there connection to these seemingly opposing ideas?
Christian, Linda-
As I search through Campbell’s book, the definition of hero is a bit elusive. On the e-book page 36, he writes, “The hero, therefore, is the man or woman who has been able to battle past his personal and local historical limitations to the generally valid, normally human forms.” In my struggle to refrain from overgeneralization, I have loosely read hero to be the main character.
The generalization of the monomyth is where I struggle. Is he saying that every hero of every monomyth is the same? That leads me to a humanism conclusion that there is no higher authority and man is simply retelling this pattern of truth to every conceivable situation. I want to reject this but will suspend disbelief so that Campbell can finish. I heard Freud. I heard Jung. I never heard Campbell beyond his description of the pattern.
Can we be the main character of a journey that glorifies God and reflects his love? Of course. Is Joshua the main character of the conquering of the promised land? It seems that way. Is the story about Joshua? Look at his interaction with the commander of the Lord’s army. Joshua asks, “Are you for us, or for our enemies?” “Neither.” (Joshua 5:13-14 [NIV]). That word hangs in the air. For me, that word is a threshold concept for how to think about God, specifically on how he relates to his creation.
Joshua is the hero. He isn’t the point. I think this aligns with Christian’s rhetorical question if both could be true.
I’d appreciate a nudge if I missed your line of thought.
This is good insight, Rich and fantatic questions. One big nuance I’ll make up front is that I understand the “Hero” as a qualifier and metaphor for the journey, not the main character. It’s the journey that is the pattern baked into reality. It’s the rhythmic fabric of human history. And it is so because it is so. It is how humanity has experienced reality and told the story of that experience throughout time. Over and over and over. It’s our story. It is the monomyth that is generalized not the hero. Humans are all unique but they are living out that uniqueness in a way that has been synthesized by Campbell, and exemplified by Christ.
I think God is glorified by us living it out, not by us “giving” the glory to God. Our journey is his Glory. As Dalls Williard said “The main thing God gets out of your life is…the person you become.”
Rich,
I feel I should have spoken to you before writing my blog so that you could have helped me better explain it lol
I agree with you, in what I read, I captured him leaving the door open for us to interpret that we are too be our own heroes which then led me to believe how I as a Christ follower applies that to my life. Your references to biblical characters that are revered as heroes is spot on, while they were heroes for the small battles, the story isn’t about them because the ultimate fight will be won and conquered by the ultimate hero. We are used to conquer to the battles, He will win the war.
Christian,
As I went to bed Thursday night after having submitted my blog, I wrestled a bit more with the text and started thinking how perhaps we can be the heroes in our stories or how we to an extend should he the heroes in our stories. I agree with you, in that if we are to be like Jesus, there will be times in our lives when we will have to find the strength to rise from the pits of our situations in order to be victorious. I guess where I differ in opinion is that ultimately, in the great scheme of things, the only one that can be victorious and claim all glory is Christ. While I may be my own hero in my daily battles, He is the one that grants me the strength, He is the one that propels me towards change, and who ultimately died on the cross so the I can have this life to experience. So thats what I meant by my statement that Christ has to be the ultimate hero in our life because He is the author of it.
Linda, I truly enjoyed this blog post. I too love the people of the transformational story. I enjoyed how you made a comparative study of Aaron’s story to yours. I know that you do not see yourself as a hero to this story, but if I may give a tiny bit of a pushback to that. I see that you confronted your fears, have overcome some fears, and there’s true transformation and a return to make this world a better place through your growth. We have many Old Testament and New Testament heroes that God uses to launch others forward towards growth. In matthew 28:16-20 it talks about the ministry of multiplication and how we are called to win others to Christ, Resource and train them, then launch them as Christian leaders. I see you as one who has propelled forward to help others. I hope you don’t mind me saying I see you as a hero, that reflects our Christ for the eternal kingdom. Do you see yourself as the central figure at times, when it comes to the passions you have for missions? What is that Why in you that fuels the passion for your work?
Judith,
I appreciate your kind words. You are right, I dont tend to see myself as a hero or someone that propels change. I often fear allowing myself to think that anything good I have done is my doing, I am fully aware that the platform and opportunities that have been given to me have been due too a gracious Father who for some reason chose me. I guess perhaps as I look at the text and allow myself to be a bit less biased, I would say that there are little heroes and Big heroes, kind of like the Bible has minor prophets and major prophets. I would see myself as the minor prophet of my story and Christ as the major prophet. Me the little hero and Christ as the ultimate Hero of all of our stories.
A wonderful way of looking at it Linda 🙂
I agree that Jesus is the Ultimate hero in our stories, but I also see it like a dance, with Him leading and us following. Within a culture which demands quick and easy access to every need being met, the momomyth concept is in some ways helpful to enable us to recognise our own role within the dance. We can choose to abdicate responsibility or sit down, or ask to be carried or instead recognise the choice to either abdicate the responsibility of our autonomy and power in our own life or surrender it continually. I deeply resonate with the desire for Jesus to be the centre and the purpose of our lives, but i understand scripture to point to us towards acknowledging the power we have to make decisions and soften our hearts. This enables us to intentionally choose to walk the uncomfortable route of growing in self awareness of our own carnal nature, whilst surrendering to Him and His plans. Awkwardly, doesn’t that make us the co-hero in our own lives within this monomyth concept?
Betsy,
Yes, after wrestling with the text and your feedbacks a bit more, I can see all of your points of view and can agree to an extent. It should be a dance, where God grants us the wisdom and strength and we reflect that in our daily life situations. What I fear is that if we are not fully conscious of that, we can begin to think its all us and nothing to do with God. in that documentary with Aaron, one conclusion he has come to his that he ultimately is the hero of his own life. The choices he makes, the things that bring him peace and allow him to succeed, are all attributed to him; he doesnt believe in God anymore or practice religion. He is his God and religion. So I would say that yes, we can be our own heroes just as long as we remain aware that we are only able to do that because THE ultimate hero has given us the opportunity and strength to do so.
Linda- i have appreciated the thought provoking discussion. Thank you.
I think somehow we mostly agree that Jesus is the ultimate hero but in Campbells monomyth structure we are all in the hero position as we have to navigate the difficult terrain of the journey towards transformation!