Sunday, September 30, 2012

Live a mythical life based on fundamental truths

Father Ron Moses Camarda answers "What seems to be a myth by which I personally live?" in his post about becoming a Roman Catholic priest. He shares Thomas Moore's definition of myth from Care of the Soul while telling his story: "According to Moore, a myth is a sacred story set in a time and place outside history. It describes in fictional form the fundamental truths of nature and human life. (p. 220)"

Camarda planned to leave his training for the priesthood during retreat because he felt unworthy, however he was convinced by the retreat director that such a response indicates that he was truly "ready". A month before ordination, Camarda went on another retreat: "This time I meditated on the writings of Teilhard de Chardin. Humans (including me) tend to get out of synch, psyche and soul. I journeyed into the woods and celebrated Mass with nothing but my story and all of creation. Thomas Moore gave me the impression that my lifelong need of ritual along with my need to go reverently (and occasionally irreverently) beyond the rubrics (and myth) is essential to being soulful." Camarda is author of Tear in the Desert: A journey into the heart of the Iraq War (2008).

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