Walking the Wall

I watched Troy tonight, and while there are a number of ideas that I
could take and run with, my mind seems to focus on one aspect for the
moment. There are a number of ways that people tend to live and/or die,
all of which I couldn’t touch on in a single post, but a few that are
relevant to this movie. Achilles (in the rendition) lived for eternal
recognition but died for a moment of peace. Paris lived (some might say
cowardly) because he was afraid to die in that moment when death looked
him in the face. Hector lived and died for honor.  Some people
live (and die) for a life that is coming. For some it may be eternal
life in heaven, for others it may be for the next incarnation, for
still others it might be for the simple release of the quiet dark
grave–regardless, they live for what “comes next.” The other group of
people either don’t know what is coming next, don’t care what is coming
next, or simply believe that what is now
being the most important aspect of living–the idea that eternity isn’t
some time in the future, but that eternity is in a moment. Joseph Campbell, in The Power of Myth, wrote, “Eternity isn’t some later time.
Eternity isn’t even a long time. Eternity has nothing to do with time.
Eternity is that dimension of here and now that all thinking in
temporal terms cuts off” (84). I don’t really know what happens
“next,”  I think that likely everyone will be surprised by
whatever it is, but I do feel strongly that we live our lives
differently if we just “get through” one life in order to get to the
next. We just might lose an eternity of moments in our search for
eternity tomorrow.