The Heroic Journey

What is it about powerful stories, whether in print or on screen, that resonates so deeply in our hearts? Why do we root for the hero? Why is there always some inner transformation that is required of the protagonist?

Is it possible that these stories are powerful because they reflect some innate sense of the way life was designed to be? Is it possible that God has wired us with a need to make sense of the challenges we face in life… and that God uses stories to help us interpret what is  happening.

Over lunch recently, we explored the structure of powerful stories through Joseph Campbell’s framework called, The Hero’s Journey. Over lunch we talked about the similarities that apprentices (disciples) of Jesus may experience in Campbell’s framework.