MYTH Parabola, Myth and the Quest for Meaning, $12.00 yearly from: G.P.O., Box 165 Brooklyn, NY 11202 For those of us ~eeking to c:hange our world and ourselves, we must often look (arther than politics and deeper than• our values. Myth-not the falsehood that is widely accepted-but the underlying meaning which expresses·itself in our world views and rituals, and which guides us in our perception of who we really are, is all around us.' We live in -Myth, even now. Some has been with us a long time. Some, like that__ fired on fossil fuels, burning out quickly. To be consciously aware of this can enlighten us in our struggle to be whole people in the flux of changing times. -Parabola /is a quarterly journal which relates history's multi-faceted quest for meaning to our present. In articles, interviews, images and poetry, it brings November 1978 RAIN' Page 21 ;r~r!1i~tt,;c-] . ~ '1.-,/ -? t'i_·.~v -. . •. . / ~.I-~,.": _ , •'~~ I • • ( ~ ~ , •i)~, ~:-•~ ~~f\i ~,-:, lt:-t'~•, I 1: . .,.;~} ij -' ~?-fc-!f ' .~. :;ti'\ Ji1,tJ '.,>' I \1 Y-' \7.,p Yf.!f- (, ' ' I ~ I { /fl~ . ••,i \ ii ·, .%. ·.~, (; ', L,' f ; '_,• -•>: ,_ • 'I &',[,, _;:,7,:: 'Z .,.1, ,✓- :.;.:,:: · _. 1" •, -~ •i . ,fl ·, .:,_ ~ I fi 1I ,- . I ,-, ;/ ;;,~:, ~ -1 ·0". . , · ',;;'. -.z ':d,. -r- .:.~ J:-::.,,· .;~-:~l . ythic themes into a new context, taking careful advantage of the parables and folk tales of many cultures that have survived the onslaught of .this toorational world, trying not to exploit them, but rather weave them into a contemporary understanding. This synergy of many world ,views seems to be a part of the hope upon which our future rests. W<; are on the cusp of two ages, and we nee·d the power of new dreams to carry us over. -SA . ~~~fftl!;:/t.~'.-~:;1-·:~ - . .. In the dark sea, in the Northern Ocean, steadfast old Vainamoinen drifted. For seven summers, for seven winters be drifted, splashed along for eight years on the surface, on the open expanse of the sea. Above him was the dark sky, below him the flowing waters. As be floats along, as be drifts here and'there, the.man now and then lifts bis bead, to see where be is, and where be lifts bis bead islands magically come into being. Where be 1swings bis band, be arranges a headland, and his feet make places f~r fish, • • The Creation of the World: From the Kalevala (Finland) Parabola, Spring 1977 In most large cities, for instance, the hunger for decent and fresh vegetables·is totally unfµlfilled by supermarket practices which insist on central purchasing and long storage , and transport times. , Black teen-agers operating a fresh produce market would have this great advantage over virtually anyone else: If the authorities tried to stop such an enterprise, using the usual big business-inspired excuses of health regulations, zoning, etc., the black teen-agers could mount a public relations counterattack that should be stunning. After all, every city authority has declared them to be in a disaster situation. Selfhelp to cure that, if attacked by the city authorities themselves, would appear to many people as unconscionable. Support and sympathy for the black teen-agers should be more substantial than for most people in the same situation. Urban or suburban gardens to produce the ,vegetables would be a good addition. Or take transportation. In many cities, transport systems that carry black service and household workers to their jobs are miserable-certainly.when compared to the systems that carry the middle class. J itne3/ services to replace the creaking public transportation service, operated by black teen-agers, ·might be another example of an attractive, useful, productive activity that the authorities would have great difficulty in squashing. From it might emerge mechanical facilities to service the jitneys or informal cabs or busses. Who knows, it isn't impossiqle to dream of a-day when the very vehicles would be built in the neighborhood, probably using a better motor than the reeking, reJatively inefficient reciprocating engine to which the major manufacturers (hopelessly resistant to innovative technology) are bonded. Someday, given a growing productive life, it might not be desirable for black people to dean other folks' homes. They could start building and caring for their own. These are just a few examples to try to make a very large point about the difference between responsibility and rights. They ,are presented and ~hould be read in the light of another responsibility: the responsibility for people to think such things through for themselves and not to accept without thought the thinking of any one else. The basic responsibility may be just that: to think, and then to act. One without the other is to claim the right to something that doesn't exist, the right to simply be, without thought and without action. Not_even the lilies of the field, despite what the old tales tell us, can get away with that. They are good neighbors and they work diligently at their craft.□
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