Mythic People

As a kid, I was a fan of Davy Crockett. Fan is a light word, I was obsessessed. I had a costume and everything. It was the image of the man dying for Texas Independence, in his coonskin hat, swinging his muskett at the atacking army of Santa Anna, and dying in a blaze of glory (yes, it started with John Wayne's Alamo, and no, I was not born in the 50's- barely the 70's). Later I would hear the stories about him- you know, "killed him a bar (sic: bear) when he was only 3," could shoot a musket and catch the ricochetting slug in his teeth, etc. They served to enhance the glory of this mythic person. Yeah, he was real, but his existence was the stuff of legend- some easy to prove, some probably embellished. A lot.

Still Davy Crockett is a mythic person, not unlike Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Charlemagne, William Wallace, Jesus, Elvis, and Martin Luther. They are mythic because of a lot of things, there are three things that stand out in the lives of these people as well as other mythic people.

1. They Make a Stand Mythic People connect with other people. Not just people they know, but lots of people they never meet face to face. Mythic people have something that draws people to them- call it charisma, call it honesty, call it the 'it' factor (just imagine what the 'it' factor may have been in Lincoln's day- not to mention Jesus'). People want to not just know about them, people want to like them. Personally, I think this factor for mythic people is that they stand for something bigger than themselves. Be that an end to slavery, civil rights, freedom in any form, or rock n' roll. They are willing to sacrifice, face tough opposition and in many cases die for this 'bigger thing.' We want to be around people that have a cause and believe in it totally. We may be so-so on the cause itself, but are infected by the mythic person's passion. So, really, mythic people stand for something with a passion.

2. They Change Things. There have been lots of passion people with a cause, but they fail to become mythic. The Sixties were full of passion people with a cause, but there are very few Martin Luther King Jr.'s that rise to the mythic status. Why? The stand they take didn't change things. Mythic people make a change in their community, their culture and/or their world. Their passion draws people together, and together, they make things happen. Freedom comes, doors are opened, hips are swivelled. Things after mythic people enter the picture are never the same. I've mentioned world changers above, but a mythic person can affect a single town, business, church or organization. The world at large may never hear their name- but the area they changed will never forget what they brought, or who they were. Which leads me to...

3. They Leave a Legacy Mythic people are not forgotten. People talk about taking up the mantle of Lincoln, King, or the King of Rock and Roll. Others attempt to fill their shoes, or tell their story, or even write the next chapter. Instead of there being a single successor, though, mythic people often inspire many to rise and carry their banner. They inspire stories- many of them true. They become the goal to achieve, their lives become our mottos.

As followers of Christ, we can should seek to adhere to these mythic principles, as much as we can. We need to make a stand- not against anything, but for something, for something good. We need to not just talk about, we need to move to make things happen (ouch). And we need to live a life worthy of a legacy.

Being a Mythic Person is no simple thing, and many of us will not ever be that, not even in a small setting. But maybe that thought is the problem. Maybe we all can be mythic. So lets take a stand, and see where things go.