IN BETWEEN STORIES Adam Thomson How does humanity signify its existence? From the beginning of time - certainly before literacy became a common form of communication - we humans did what no other species could do. We used symbols and told stories to mark the significance of our day-to-day encounter with life. These myths and rites in and of themselves would have made no sense to the rationalists and literalists among us, but in their rehearsal and in their symbolic associations the stories and rituals gave meaning to the human struggle, and provided identity for us in our particular community.
They also re-ligio-ed us, "re-tied" us, "re-conciled" us to that which we could not, dared not understand: the mystery of life which, in our daily struggles, seemed continually to slip away from us, become separated from us. In this (human) development of religion, our predecessors dared to give a name to that which was impossible to name, and named it G-O-D. Thus they were able to celebrate and worship the mystery which was at the centre of every being, and which they accepted as unknowable.
But now we New Age super-rationalists, in our unquenchable thirst for an explanation for the mystery of life, in our attempt to decipher things, are trying to go further. We have been seeking to delineate - demythologise - the concept of G-O-D. However, in our Judeo-Christian practicality, steeped in centuries of a mechanistic world-view - apparently we've got no further than "it's non-real". This quest is leading up a blind alley unless we are ready to reappropriate myths and rituals and have them speak to our time and place in history.
I suspect that this fervent desire for rational explanation and tidy solutions doesn't exist to any serious extent outside the Judeo-Christian milieu and contemporary Western secular society. Jesus did not have much time for logical explanation or moralising. How did he preach? How do we remember what he said? By stories, by parables, through myths.
Hearing the words "good Samaritan", for instance, immediately invokes for me images of that story and the message it conveys. From the time of Jesus - and particularly since the industrial revolution - we've gradually lost our ability in story-telling to celebrate ourselves, our community, our nation, our world, our reality. Our contemporary spinners of yarns (as exemplified by Mills and Boon, Jeffrey Archer, James Clavell, Alistair McLean, John Le Carre, Helen McGuiness, Desmond Bagley, Wilbur Smith, Barbara Cartland et al) appear to be influenced as much by the desire to make a buck as to ameliorate the human condition. Their stock-in-trade is the flight from reality.
That having been said, there are mythmakers who are impacting on contemporary society, and from whom one can draw some encouraging conclusions. The makers of films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, The Return of the Jedi, The Fisher King, Jurassic Park, demonstrate the mythical style which is fitting for our time. Excalibur - tales of King Arthur - made some 15 years ago still has a major impact on me. I suspect that Stephen Spielberg's recent Schindler's List will act rightly as a catharsis for the many Europeans who are still trying to put together their story of the struggle of the war years. And it's surely no coincidence that the main theme of this year's BBC Reith Lectures was contemporary myth. The need now is to reprogramme ourselves as to the relevance of and the need for storytelling, and revive our capacity to tell stories, to create myths so that we can make sense of and respond positively to the reality of life.
We in SoF, with our pedigree of concern about religious faith, have the task of recovering the means to communicate the richness and mystery of humanity. We only have to study the last few editions of Sea of Faith magazine to note the cry from correspondents for the recreation of society's systems of symbols and metaphors. What are now the authentic rites and myths with which we - all of us - can celebrate what we are? We are humans are incredible creations; we are conscious - and we are conscious - that we are conscious. We know that we have a spiritual dimension. Some of us try to ignore it, others strive to rationalize it, and others are ready to accept its mystery, knowing that words in themselves are insufficient adequately to express our consciousness, or to signify our concerns, our quests, our struggles.
Tillich said that we are separated from the mystery, depth and greatness of our existence. Part of that separation is the inadequacy of words in themselves to address what Tillich was getting at; at least one Western country amply illustrates his point. Cultural conditioning generally inhibits the middle-class Briton-in-the-street from using a whole gamut of communicative tools - singing, dance, mime, visual art, story-telling. In 20th century day-to-day one-to-one social contact, we British avoid displaying emotion; forms of individual expression are considered at best exceptional and at worst strange; and in general social intercourse, religion and politics are subjects not to be discussed. Our creative potential arguably is thus underused.
How do we rediscover the importance of mythology? We can examine historical precedent. I find myself wondering "What was it that launched a thousand ships?" Certainly not a learned and rational dissertation. And what do we remember of history - any history? I have to confess I can only recall the tales - the myths - of people like Alfred the Great burning the cakes, King Canute confronting the tide, William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings, King Arthur and the Round Table, Custer's Last Stand, and the story of the Virgin Birth. Literal truth is not the issue here. The stories freighted history and caused miracles to happen. Did people ask Jesus if the parables he told were true? You bet they didn't. They knew they were true as a reflection of life.
If SoF is serious about exploring religious faith, then it is bound collectively to study and recognise the place of mythology in the human condition. There is no better place to start than to look at the work of the US mythologist, teacher and writer Joseph Campbell (1904-1987). His legacy is immensely well-known "in the trade", with books like The Hero With a Thousand Faces (first published in 1949 but still a best-seller) being essential reading. Other books include Myths to Live By finally caught the popular imagination in the US was his TV interview series with Bill Moyers, which was subsequently made into the book The Power of Myth - another bestseller. If there was one book to start with it would be this one. More than any other author in recent times, Campbell's writings have caused my heart to soar. He speaks in colour. He's instructive and fun to read.
How does this mythological stuff fit in with our contemporary situation? If we as a global society see ourselves as being in trouble, it's because we have not paid enough attention to the mythic make-up of our time. I find no reason to quarrel with the following quote from writer Thomas Berry: "It's all a question of story. We are in trouble just now because we do not have a good story. We are in between stories. The Old Story - the account of how the world came to be and how we fit into it - is not functioning properly, and we have not learned the New Story. The Old Story sustained us for a long period of time. It shaped our emotional attitudes, provided us with life purpose, energized action. It consecrated suffering, integrated knowledge, guided education. We awoke in the morning and knew where we were. We could answer the questions of our children. We could identify crime, punish criminals. Everything was taken care of because the story was there. It did not make people good, it did not take away the pains and stupidities of life, or make for unfailing warmth in human association. But it did provide a context in which life could function in a meaningful manner".
The Sea of Faith Network is a tremendous group of talented and caring people. There is an essential role waiting for it. If we are a group exploring and promoting religious faith [Not any religious faith, but "religious faith as a human creation" - Ed.], then sooner or later we are going to have to deliver something as a result of our efforts, more than just the negation of the concept of a supernatural God. Now, this something, this product we've been asked to deliver, could be the makings of the New Story, embracing but transcending existing religions.
How do we produce this? We could start by systematizing our exploration (no "exploration" worth its name is anything other than systematized) of other religions, by studying mythology, by sharing what we know and discover in a methodical way. We can also bring a lyricism, a dance, a mythic awareness to all that we do.
If we are to tell the king he has no clothes, we must be ready with another set of clothes for him to try on. The mythic approach could provide the material.
Adam Thomson can be contacted at Rue A Lynen 8, 1030 Brussels, Belgium.