Mythic Reality…
For most of us rationalists, the word myth means not true. Isn’t that what you think when you hear someone say, “Oh, that’s just myth”? Meaning, that’s not factually true.
But myth is a story, like a parable, that speaks of Eternal Truths. I am not using myth in a technical way, referring to ancient Greek mythology. I am using it more broadly, more inclusively, to mean “a story that brings you a glimpse of the eternal” or “any story that awakens your heart to the deep truths of life.”
That is is the unifying quality of all mythic stories, whether they be Sisyphus or Sleeping Beauty or The Matrix.
Jesus tells a story about a sower who went out to sow some seed. The year is uncertain; so is the identity of the sower in question. He and his seed are metaphors for something far more significant that a farmer and a bag of corn. In this case, they are symbols for the Son of God and the eternal Word. The story is meant for all of us and so it transcends time and space and speaks for centuries.
Myths are like that. They are stories that remind us of the transcendent and the eternal.
Note the success of the Star Wars films or, more recently, The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Millions of people have enjoyed them – and more than once. It isn’t because we think the stories are true in a factual sense. We don’t even stop to ask the question about their historical accuracy or their scientific possibility. Their appeal lies deeper, in the realm of the heart.
Years ago a mother wrote to C.S. Lewis regarding her son (age nine) and his love for The Chronicles of Narnia. The boy was feeling bad because he felt he loved Aslan (the lion hero of the story) more than Jesus. With grace and brilliance Lewis replied that he need not worry, “For the things he loves Aslan for doing and saying are simply the things that Jesus really did and said. So that when Laurence thinks he is loving Aslan, he is really loving Jesus; and perhaps loving Him more than he ever did before.”
Truth doesn’t need a verse attached to it to be true. All that you loved about Aslan is Jesus.
Kilby says, “Systemizing flattens but myth rounds out. Systemizing drains away color and life, but myth restores. Myth is necessary because of what man is… because man is fundamentally mythic. His real health depends upon his knowing and living his… mythic nature.”
Mythic stories help us to see clearly, which is to say, they help us see with the eyes of the heart. So cast a wide net, and draw in all those stories that have ever stirred your soul, quickened your spirit, brought you to tears or joy or heroic imagination.
(Waking the Dead by John Eldredge, p. 24-26)
