Bettany Mary Hughes, a British-born historian, author and broadcaster once remarked: “To me that is what the Odyssey is all about, it's about being in the world and unexpected challenges and dangers are thrown at you.” Matthew 5:17 reminds us: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
“The Odyssey” is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, a Greek poet. It is the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who wanders for ten years trying to get home from the Trojan War. The poem comprises 24 books and is considered one of the oldest extant works of literature still read by modern audiences.
An odyssey is defined as a long wandering or voyage, usually marked by many changes of fortune. It can involve a pilgrimage, quest or adventure. It will often encompass both life and death. Peregrination can be considered as a search for existence in a previously unexplored or unknown form. It has both a literal or figurative meaning and can also be identified with the importance of God’s saving grace.
Just like the epic poem of Homer, the task assigned to Moses of leading the Israelites on the migrational journey to the promised land covers several books in the Bible, beginning in Exodus, and ending with Deuteronomy, prior to the entrance of a land flowing with milk and honey. This exodus could not only emulate a significant odyssey of life, but one of the most pertinent and meaningful stories quoted in the Bible which incorporates many critical factors of life.
Additionally, the story of Noah and the great flood as recounted in the book of Genesis, although not specifically recognized as an odyssey, also has meaningful connections and inferences to a long journey on water and the provision for life.
However, perhaps the most pertinent and lengthy analogy of an odyssey, is the light and life of Jesus Christ in the former dark and dismal world of mankind. This important quest encountered many significant individualistic adventures, cumulating in the death and resurrection of a Divine man offering an eternal opportunity and the saving of mankind. Both life and death are considered the continuing cycle of life. One can’t exist without the other. Romans 8:1-17 reminds us: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
Life, itself may be considered an odyssey. It is an epic, but individual journey in which one searches for the experiences of the true unknown. It may seek the treasures in life or simply direction. No one can foretell what destiny has in store for them. It can only be discovered by placing one foot in front of the other and taking the appropriate steps in any viable quest to see what transpires. Suzy Kassem, an American writer once remarked: “I have been finding treasures in places I did not want to search. I have been hearing wisdom from tongues I did not want to listen. I have been finding beauty where I did not want to look. And I have learned so much from journeys I did not want to take. Forgive me, O Gracious One; for I have been closing my ears and eyes for too long. I have learned that miracles are only called miracles because they are often witnessed by only those who can see through all of life's illusions. I am ready to see what really exists on the other side, what exists behind the blinds, and taste all the ugly fruit instead of all that looks right, plump and ripe.”
Whatever adventures or journeys one seeks in life usually has a particular or definitive purpose. It is a perception that may be realized through individual experiences. The gratification needed to enjoy life to its fullest extent is a goal that many hope for, but can only achieve through certain expeditions of interest or definability. Without a journey, we remain static and achieve little. Progress is limited, and the magical mysteries of life might remain undiscovered, or unresolved.
Changes in fortune may undoubtedly occur along the way, but the rewards attained in completion, or the knowledge acquired speak implicitly for themselves. Corinthians 13:1-7 reminds us: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Amen.
