{"id":40448,"date":"2025-02-06T09:46:35","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T17:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=40448"},"modified":"2025-02-06T09:46:35","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T17:46:35","slug":"trying-to-grow-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/trying-to-grow-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Trying to Grow Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I prepared for an inspectional reading of The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em>, I was drawn to the idea that storytelling could be formulaic. As someone more accustomed to reading a story told through digits and data, I have not deeply contemplated the idea that universal and timeless structures exist within literature or mythology. The possibility that this singular structure could exist in ancient religion and epic stories while at the same time being consistent with the approach of modern movies ranging from Star Wars to The Incredibles did not initially seem compatible in my elementary mind.[1]<\/a> But that is why I am here. \u00a0To be stretched and do some growing up.<\/p>\n

It rapidly became apparent that this book was much more philosophical and symbolic-driven than I had anticipated. The premise of a monomyth slowly took shape as I became familiar with Joseph Campbell\u2019s articulation around the framework of the Hero\u2019s Journey. I see how a hero could move from the everyday world to the unknown and back again as a changed person. Dr. Clark\u2019s assigned reading around the Threshold Concept and Troublesome Knowledge enhanced this. As I continued to work through the pages, I began to grasp how the author views a hero. However, contemplating the key points around the Hero\u2019s Journey left me perplexed.<\/p>\n

The simplified steps of refusing a call, a mentor, crossing a threshold, encountering a challenge, achieving the boon, and returning seemed as though they could be applied to nearly any adventurous journey. If my understanding is correct, a case in point would be my doctoral pursuit. This adventure would qualify me as a hero in the making. A label that I would not apply to myself and that seemed inappropriate. But as I continued to interact with the text, it became more and more evident that this was the point. The framework is a symbolic way of understanding life and can be universally applied. [2]<\/a> Whether in an ageless epic story or the seemingly inconsequential story of my life while at the same time giving no attention to becoming a one-time hero or becoming a hero over and over again.<\/p>\n

It is this simple universal application that continues to leave me unsettled. Can my doctoral journey be expressed equally to the journey of Jesus? How does the author reach a place where those two things exist similarly? First, it seems that this comparison may be possible through generalization. The author gives a subtle nod to this glaring concern with the statement, \u201cPerhaps it will be objected that in bringing out the correspondences I have overlook the differences<\/em>\u2026but this book is about the similarities; and once these are understood the differences will be found to be much less great than is popularly supposed<\/em>\u201d. While only looking at the similarities, it is easy to assume that all things are equal. However, how can one establish a rounded thought or understanding when only looking at one half of a picture? While chewing on this, I could not escape what seemed to be the next logical thought. \u00a0At what point are things that appear to be the same actually different?<\/p>\n

Secondly, the author can justify this simplicity through his worldview. When one considers that life has no real purpose, supernatural events are extreme absurdity, and a God as an absolute other is a ridiculous idea, it becomes simple to equalize all things. [3]<\/a> [4]<\/a> From this viewpoint, it would make sense that my journey is equal to Jesus\u2019.<\/p>\n

The author and I see the world through different lenses.[5]<\/a> Jesus is life. [6]<\/a> Supernatural is normal, and God is absolute.[7]<\/a> With that differentiation clarified, I have begrudgingly enjoyed wrestling with this book. Focusing on four growth points as I do so:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Permitting myself to disagree<\/li>\n
  2. Attempting to identify the differences and common ground fairly<\/li>\n
  3. Exude effort to understand an opposing viewpoint<\/li>\n
  4. Honestly examine my bias as quickly as I try to identify other\u2019s [8]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It has been a stretching experience, and I may have even grown up a bit.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a> Power of Film – The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em>, 2023, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8ltJ2hphlUY.<\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a> The Hero With a Thousand Faces Summary \u00a0\u2014 Master the Monomyth to Be the Hero of Your Life!<\/em>, 2023, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cyZo0JFqYIE. 1:43.<\/p>\n

    [3]<\/a> The Power of Myth, Bill Moyers and Mythologist Joseph Campbell Discuss Commonalities in Every Culture That Create a Need for God.<\/em><\/p>\n

    [4]<\/a> Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With a Thousand Faces<\/em>, Electronic edition, with revisions and additions, The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell (Joseph Campbell Foundation, 2020). 267.<\/p>\n

    [5]<\/a> Paul, Richard, and Linda Elder. <\/span>The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools<\/span><\/i>.<\/span> 8th edition. Thinker\u2019s Guide Library. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2020. 38.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [6]<\/a> John 14:6 NIV.<\/p>\n

    [7]<\/a> Luke 1:37 NIV, Isaiah 45:5 NIV.<\/p>\n

    [8]<\/a> Kathryn Schulz, Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error<\/em>, Reprint edition (New York: Ecco, 2011).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As I prepared for an inspectional reading of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, I was drawn to the idea that storytelling could be formulaic. As someone more accustomed to reading a story told through digits and data, I have not deeply contemplated the idea that universal and timeless structures exist within literature or mythology. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":222,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[789,3397],"class_list":["post-40448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-campbell","tag-dlgp04","cohort-dlgp04"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40448"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40453,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40448\/revisions\/40453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}