The Beautiful Voyage

I've always found myself drawn to the adventures of Odysseus, his loyal wife Penelope, the various machinations played out in the Trojan War, and of course, fair divisive Helen (see Of Menelaus and Helen).


And then there's Ithaca, the famed island home of Odysseus, which he endeavors for ten long years to get back to. He is captured and spends seven years on Calypso's island. After escaping, he is waylaid by the witch Circe, a cyclops, a whirlpool, the legendary Sirens... and the list goes on and on.


Oh, but Ithaca, beautiful Ithaca, and fair Penelope, his loyal wife, beckon him homeward. My coworker Bob emailed me the following poem which I really enjoyed. It echoes that old adage about life being about the journey and not the destination.


                               Ithaca

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.


Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.


Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.


Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.


And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.

 ~ Constantine P. Cavafy (1911) 

Coming Home Again

I happen to be a big fan of movies. My taste tends to run towards older films which means I watch a ton of classic Hollywood movies from the thirties, forties, and fifties and then dip into older foreign films on occasion. My Netflix "three" (the three videos I have on loan) at the moment are 1964's Becket starring Peter O'Toole as the ill-fated Archbishop of Canterbury, the French film, Elena and Her Men, starring the lovely Ingrid Bergman, and the Marilyn Monroe film, Don't Bother to Knock.

It's hard to say what makes me like a movie, however, I do find that I am drawn to movies which portray what I think to be an immortal truth. I think movies often tell a myth or a story, and every once in a while they align with the Universal Truth and something in our soul resonates.


Tonight, alongside my parents, I watched Blood Diamond. I've seen this film probably four or five times, and while I'm aware it has its (many) flaws, there's also something in it to which I am drawn. Having read a wonderful book (which I highly recommend) called The Heartless Stone about the creation of the diamond as a luxury good, as well at the cost to humanity of this simple gemstone, I find that I am sympathetic to those who would rather do without. The movie also takes up issues such as child soldiers, and apathy in general.

The part of the film that makes my heart sing, though, is where the African father is finally reunited with his precious son. He has spent the entire film trying to track down his son, and when he finds him, he finds a child who has been brainwashed as a soldier and who turns his gun upon his own father. In that moment of panic, the father slowly tells his son who he is, "You are a good boy... you love soccer..." etc. And, then, at the pivotal moment, he says,

"I am your father who loves you. Now you will come home with me and be my son again."

It is that line that just blows me away. In it, I hear a thousand fathers, and one Father saying to their sons (and daughters), "It does not matter what you have done. Come home to Me." It's a beautiful sentiment and a call I pray we heed.