"I learned that it is better, a thousand-fold, for a proud man to fall and be humbled, than to hold up his head in his pride and fancied innocence. I learned that he that will be a hero, will barely be a man; that he that will be nothing but a doer of his work, is sure of his manhood." (the artsy fellow from "Phantastes" by George McDonald)
The hero or anti-hero is a romantic who sets out to wander in a fantasy land on his 21st birthday. He sets out like any young punk, full of himself and ambitious to share his gifts with the world ... you know write a great novel, paint a great picture, save a few women. By the end of his journey he has finally learned that none of this was the way forward. "He that will be a hero, will barely be a man" so full of fanciful dreams of glory and fame there is no place to walk on the actual road touching his feet. I have been in that place. I have spent many afternoons with my head full of vain dreams of glory and fame. Far from actually thinking about the world that needs saving, my time is consumed by thoughts of me being the one to save it.
It has been only recently (within the last few years) that I am starting to understand the calling to be a doer of my work. To take what is within my path and carry it forward. To keep my hand to the plow and make sure the rows are straight. Not that this is always as obvious as I would like ... but I am attempting to live within my body and not just in my head.
Life must be lived to be meaningful. Thought and deed must go hand in hand. I have found that the artist and the intellectual and maybe the mystic, have a common struggle with these connections. Contemplating, thinking, feeling, are often a way of looking at life and it is hard to look and live at the same time.
There is a tendency to miss one for the other. We must always use our skills of thinking or feeling or contemplating to work with the stuff of reality. Otherwise we easily drift into worthless fantasy.
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5 comments:
I really appreciate this post and find it quite profound. It certainly strikes a chord within me -- I've had my own struggles with fantasy vs. reality and all of the anxiety that comes along with.
I have to remind myself regularly that after all that King Solomon saw and did, his conclusion was this: to "fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
When it comes to the end of my life, I don't think I'll regret unfulfilled personal ambitions. What I would regret is all the time I'd lose with family, friends and in serving God while pursuing "glory and fame."
Personally, I'd rather my dreams fall by the wayside at the expense of more time with those I love and serving God than the other way around.
jason, man O love your blogs...i steal bits of them for mine..but always give you credit.
I am so glad to call you friend.
Your post took me back to my freshman year of high school when it seemed I was doomed to forever daydream. I can't even remember what about, but I do recall the feelings they invoked. And that is the difficult part because therein lies the struggle.
How do we convince the "feelers" among us that doing the mundane and holding down that boring, but responsible job is being a hero as we are saving ourselves from in-action? And in-action is the enemy of life.
Good thoughts my friend.
Well done. I am learning this the hard way. I found quite a lot to chew on here.
Thanks for writing this, J. I have found that the thought life can so often lead to idolatry...the obsession with self, the deifying of fantasy. I struggle with this, I think we all do, but the great help is that the Bible recognizes this. The danger of thought is not something new to our generation. We must "take [our] thoughts captive" again and again, so we don't lose the focus of the plow, or the focus on God.
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