What makes us love myths so much?

As I mentioned Thursday, initially C.S. Lewis thought myths are lies while J.R.R. Tolkien completely disagreed.

Patrick Curles writes in Tolkien’s Impact in Literature and Life

There are truths, Tolkien said, that are beyond us, transcendent truths, about beauty, truth, honor, etc. There are truths that man knows exist, but they cannot be seen – they are immaterial, but no less real, to us. It is only through the language of myth that we can speak of these truths. We have come from God, Tolkien said, and only through myth, through story telling, can we aspire to the life we were made for with God. To write and/or read myth, Tolkien believed, was to meditate on the most important truths of life.

Scripture tells us that God wrote knowledge of Himself on our individual hearts. This is born out by the fact that, irrespective of geographical location, the one thing common to all societies that have ever existed is that they all show signs (archeologically) of religion. I’ve heard it said that “religion” is man reaching towards God (although Christianity is God reaching out to man). If there were no God, why would man strive for so long trying to find Him?

I think man not only tries to find God, but that man does also search for truth, unfettered by modern philosophy. It’s paradoxical that man doesn’t want to take responsibility for his own actions. It’s this perspective that keeps man from pushing too hard to find God and leads him to embrace relativism… leads him away from God.

Frequently you’ll hear that there is no absolute truth (but the sentence itself is making an absolute statement and is therefore self-defeated.) Good myths (as opposed to evil or bad myths) give us an opportunity to learn, to think, to gain knowledge. Those that are well written allow us to walk in the hero’s shoes, to feel with him or her the full gamut of emotions. It’s far more than escapism. They enrich us as individuals. True, well written, myths are a feast for our minds and spirits, our inner eyes and ears. Oh yes, and our hearts.

There’s truth in Tolkien’s work that we can recognise, contemplate, and appreciate. If you’ve not read Tolkien I do encourage you to read first The Hobbit and then The Lord of the Rings. If you’ve read him once, I urge you to read him again… that’s what I’m going to do…