Exiled theme

A recurrent theme in Biblical history is a people exiled from their homeland. If you think about it, when we’re born into this world, we’re exiled from our previous life in “heaven.” We come here for a purpose. And our exile from Elohim helps us in that purpose. Tough way to learn.

Along with Adam and Eve, we fell from our homeland. That fall was an exile because we can’t just walk back into that paradisiacal garden. It’s quite a journey to find your way back home. I believe that for many of us we chose our exile — to come here, to this fallen earth. So there must be a purpose to being exiled from our home.

Is it just the case of “absence makes the heart grow fonder?”

I’ve read that the Hopi tribe have a teaching that I find rather interesting, “that if we advance as far as we possibly can in this life, then we will not have to wade through three more worlds after this one to get to where we are going.” (Avraham Gileadi, Isaiah Decoded, pg. 331)

It’s a common story-line. Taoism has the story of the great separation, when

Finally, after it had caused many unpleasant incidents, the consensus was reached that man should go out into the world alone, to learn a necessary lesson. The connections were broken.

The Hero Journey

The hero journey is the basis of many good novels. Joseph Campbell has identified the hero journey throughout history. We love to watch the hero overcome obstacles and triumph. It makes for a great movie. We should remember our life is a journey when we’re inundated with obstacles. Or when we can’t understand why we’re in our situation. I love the cyclical nature of this theme:

 

The Wizard of OZ

It’s more like Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz — she’s not sure why she’s in this colorful world with the munchkins and wicked witch. She meets others — the Tin Man, the Lion, the Scarecrow — who need her help on the journey. She finds that the answers she seeks are mainly in the journey itself, though the Good Witch has to tell her how to get back home. Not the Wizard — instead, she must use faith and a few clicks of the ruby shoes.

 

Jason and the Argonauts

I often feel like one of the characters in the Greek Myths. I’ve always loved the old 1963 movie, Jason and the Argonauts — I must have seen it when I was about 10 years old. (It looks like this post is taking me down movie memory lane.) There was a scene where the Gods were using what looked like a chessboard, and the characters on the board were real people.

The Book of Mormon and the Book of Isaiah

Interestingly, the Book of Mormon opens with an exile story — Lehi learns that he must leave his homeland of Jerusalem. Sometimes, people leave their homeland because it’s become too wicked, or their lives are in danger. Or sometimes, the hero will leave a great home and venture out into a new country to help others. The book of Isaiah is all about the exile theme:  Israel is in the promised land, Israel is exiled, and finally, Israel returns from that exile.

Sometimes an exile is a consequence of breaking a law. God’s law or otherwise. Yet, an exile often results in a progression. So, we are back at the heart grows fonder. If you start looking, you will see the exile theme all over. And damn, it’s often not fun to be exiled. Even if it helps us climb that ladder. Sometimes it’s hard to enjoy the journey.