What Jesus states is only clear when we embrace our own story and think mythically. We must see ourselves in a crucial adventure, a story of our own worth fighting for, or we may miss the full meaning of life and find ourselves battling loneliness.
Jesus offers a life worth fighting for, a marriage worth fighting for, a kingdom worth dying for. What he offers is freedom, not a victim mentality.
I want my life to be rich and satisfying! Don’t you?
The true story of every person in this world is not the story you see, the external story. The true story of each person is the journey of his or her heart.
John Eldredge
My childhood was full of imagination but also loneliness and boredom. Thankfully my children don’t suffer the latter.
It was a painful process when my family first immigrated from China. I was unaware of the all the circumstances or the full backstory. As a result, without realizing it, I repressed my memories and locked my early childhood away until recently. I fight hidden demons more than I care to share. Can you relate?
Through the work of the Holy Spirit, authentic friendships, healthy community, and unconditional love from my wife, I am working through them.
Mythic childhood
I felt alone very early as a child and lost in boredom.
My folks had a small apartment and worked many jobs. They did the best they could to make ends meet. I was alone often so I played video games. Enter the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). Back then, video game graphics were nothing compared to the technology we have today.
One game I played was Legend of Zelda. It fueled my imagination for a greater part of my childhood. It has since undergone many reimaginings, crossed many gaming platforms, and still a popular game to this day!
Link, the main character, is on a quest to rescue Princess Zelda from Ganon, an enemy who threatens his kingdom. I played Link, who could slay dragons with a sword, block arrows with a shield, explore dungeons, uncover hidden treasures, and most importantly blow up & burn stuff. 🙂
I seriously can not tell you the hundreds of hours I dumped into the game!
The only problem is that living in any story other then your own does not take away the boredom. It only dulls it for a time.
Mythic Awakening
It is no wonder many people like myself get lost in romance novels and movies like Princess Bride or Beauty and the Beast. Even when addictions have dulled the senses, people have an innate ability to think mythically – to imagine a life worth fighting for, even if it’s not my own story.
It’s taken me 30 years to realize this. I think veiled deep inside every human being is a desire to fight for others and to be fought for. To move past the victim mentality is difficult, but to do so is to think mythically. My kingdom is worth protecting and my heart worth fighting for! So is yours!
Through video games, movies, comics, and stories I found a battle to fight, a beauty to rescue, and an adventure to live even before my wife gave me the book Wild at Heart years ago!
We are meant to BE the HERO of our own story, not play the villain or be a victim.
Marriage reveals this so clearly. Earlier in my marriage, I really thought I was the villain. Now I have found the only way to avoid an unhealthy, lonely marriage and family life is to think mythically. We are on a crucial adventure where God must show up!
We are pioneers of our own story. We must wake up and live a mythical marriage!
Final thoughts:
- The best way to think mythically is to remember when we were once children with great imaginations.
- Over the years, this is the best way I have learned to guard my heart, by thinking mythically. When I embrace my story, I embrace His glory!
- Marriage is an origin story for our children that forges a legacy, either good or evil. We must not give up hope within the dungeons of our own making!
- The enemy makes marriage look boring and broken yet God makes all things beautiful. Even in brokenness, there is a redemptive quality to marriage we can not deny.
- Always curious, what does your heart say?
Unveiling Intimacy 