A NeverEnding Story
As I sat browsing the in-flight entertainment options this evening, encouraging the 4-hour flight to pass quickly, I decided on a nostalgic childhood classic. You’ll have to bear with me on this one because it might feel a bit of a stretch as I attempt to connect the disparate thoughts occupying my mind, somewhere between shouts of “Falcor!” and “Atreyu!”
Past the whimsical characters and the uplifting yet subtle moral of the story that was beyond my childhood self, I found a gem of wisdom, made more obvious at this watching by the raw circumstances that so many are found in these days. Too many of which are needlessly created by the disparaging vagaries of humanity.
As The Nothing destroys the whole of Fantasia the hero Atreyu reaches the farthest point he could possibly travel only to be confronted by G’mork, the servant of the power behind The Nothing. Here he learns the true nature of his world Fantasia, The Nothing, and the purpose of G’mork, representing our hopes and dreams and conversely the despair and hopelessness that destroy them. “Buy why?” asks Atreyu.
“Because people who have no hopes are easy to control. And whoever has control has the Power.” explains G’mork.
It was that statement that gave me pause, found in this dramatic telling of the timeless conflict of good versus evil.
Of course, our fantastic stories are always based on reality. We seek to move, to understand, and to communicate the struggles of mortality while imparting wisdom - lessons learned from past experiences so that posterity can learn and not repeat them. Without diving too deeply into the psychology behind our own drama, I apply the wisdom of this simple story.
There is an evil that seeks power, and to obtain this power it seeks to crush our hopes. We see this manifested in our reality. Those who conspire to obtain power through fear and force and domination. But what would they do once they have obtained their power? Exercise what they perceive as freedom? Seek temporal happiness or whatever distorted version of endorphin producing activity they desire? Little do they know that power is not equivalent to freedom, the power to oppress and control others does not represent freedom to the oppressor. And whatever experience of elation or relief that is felt while exercising this power will be fleeting. No person or group who has ever obtained power in this way has seen it endure the trial of generations. That is the wisdom taught by the history of our own drama - good always overcomes evil through hope and sacrifice. And yet I still hear a whisper seeking to challenge our concept of what is good and what is evil, does that argument not actually produce a real world Nothing? This is the principal danger in the attractiveness of moral relativism, the outcome is not peace, not unity, but nothing.
Is the struggle between good and evil the real never-ending story? I hope that it is not, I believe that it is not. To win the conflict between good and evil it sometimes requires the hero to travel to the farthest reaches of their world, but most times it only requires small steps walked consistently.
Maybe it is a stretch to derive these concepts from this story, but isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when stuck sitting on a plane for so long, stretch?
