Enjoyable Paper Assignment for ISP 417 [not blog assignment]

[This is not a current Blog posting for the Literature of Ancient Israel (ISP 417). Rather, this is a posting of the first class assignment titled "Enjoyable Paper."]

Enjoyable Paper
by
David Bottorff
IPS 417: The Literature of Ancient Israel

“Look, there, in your own shadow. See the glint? That, my friend, is gold. Go ahead, reach down and take it. It’s yours.”

By bending to his knee as told the young man allowed the sun to shine where seconds before there was darkness. And now, in the light he could see not just gold but a universe of treasure.

“Be open to the miracle, my friend. Let the light shine where you fear to go. Let the light shine where you think there is nothing. Lift away the heavy rock of your daily life and claim the riches to which you are heir.”

We are born into a wave of expectations and lessons administered by family, teachers, media, lovers, and friends. Then, one day, many of us wake up in a cold sweat, hard-pressed to find a single aspect of our lives – the car and house, the spouse and drinking buddies, the job and respect, the 2.5 kids – that creates little more than additional stress. Is it too much to get a little SERENITY NOW! [1]

Many great ideas have been put forth to help us understand the way we view life. Carl Jung leveraged the power of archetype. In the male psyche we often recognize the Lover, Magician, King, and Warrior.[2] Mankind Project – the modern face of the Men’s Movement started roughly 30 years ago by Robert Bly[3] and others – leverages the illusionary powers of archetypes to help men find purpose in the world. This program changed me forever.

If fictions like the King archetype can be used to put me on a new path, what about such larger-than-life historical figures as Buddha or Mohammad? I feel the Warrior spirit when I stand for my values, the Rabbit spirit when I flee danger, and the spirit of the Bear when I fight. If I open my mind, maybe I can feel the spirit of Jesus as Christ when I exercise compassion or even God her self when I manifest creativity and love.

Dubious at first, maybe I can learn from the Bible’s cast of colorful characters.

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[1] Seinfeld (10-9-1997). The Serenity Now. New York, NY: NBC

[2] Robert Moore, Douglas Gillette (1991). King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

[3] Robert Bly (1990). Iron John: A Book About Men. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.