Life's Episodes
By Sterling W. Sill
Homer, the blind Greek poet who lived nine centuries B.C., wrote
two great literary masterpieces. One is called the Iliad. It is the
story of the ten-year battle of Ilium or Troy. The other is called
the Odyssey. It has to do with the experiences of Odysseus,
sometimes called Ulysses, during the ten years which he and his
soldiers required to traverse the 300 miles of island-dotted sea
between the battleground of Troy and his home island domain of
Ithaca lying off the west coast of Greece.
This great epic poem is 11,000 lines long. But several centuries
later Aristotle wrote a digest of the Odyssey which was only 79
words in length. It is as follows:
A certain man is away from home for a number of years, being
closely watched by Poseidon and stripped of all of his companions,
while his affairs at home are in such shape that his money is being
squandered by wooers of his wife, and his son is being plotted
against. After being shipwrecked by a storm, he arrives home,
making himself known to some, and attacks the wooers, with the
result that he is saved and his enemies destroyed.
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"That," says Aristotle, "is the real story of the Odyssey. All of
the rest of the story is merely episodes." But what an exciting
array of episodes they are, and how thrillingly Homer tells about
them.
But Homer was not just a great storyteller, he also looked with keen
insight into human lives and in a very interesting way he described
the courage, strategy, and super strength with which these famous
Grecian heroes tried to solve their problems. In our interests their
errors in judgment are made plain, and we are made aware of those
moral weaknesses that were so frequently fatal to them.
Odysseus was the king of Ithaca and he was very happy as he started
for home at the head of his own fleet of ships. His men were also
delighted that the war was over, and they rejoiced at the thought
that they would soon be at their own firesides again with their
own families. But in this hope they were all doomed to disappointment,
for along the way they met with one difficulty after another, many of
which were much more destructive than the war itself had been. By the
time Odysseus finally reached Ithaca, every one of his ships had been
destroyed, and the life of every man had been lost except his own.
This great story about the journey of Odysseus is the grandfather of
all adventure stories. Homer knew every trick of storytelling designed
for getting human interest. In the Odyssey, he tells of
man-eating giants, bewitching sirens, terrible monsters, frightening
ghosts, roaring whirlpools, contrary winds, hair-raising adventures,
and romantic interludes, not to mention the interest added by Odysseus
himself who was one of the most courageous and ingratiating heroes in
all of our literature.
The Odyssey has lived in such fine repute through the ages that the
word itself has become a part of our language. "Odyssey" has come to
mean any long, wandering, difficult journey, and of course the greatest
of all odysseys is the journey of life itself.
We have even come to speak of our strivings for any success as an
"odyssey." And in this ancient Greek adventure story we find many
interesting comparisons that we may apply to our own lives.
As Aristotle did, we might write the record of our own lives in
seventy-nine words. Someone wrote his version of life in just
seven words when he said that "we are born, feed, breed, and die."
A schoolboy once wrote a biography of Benjamin Franklin by saying:
"He was born in Boston, walked to Philadelphia, got married and
discovered electricity." But Franklin was one of the greatest men
who ever lived and in a little different kind of way, he had about
as many episodes while on his odyssey as Odysseus had on his.
But because we are living in this marvelous age of miracles, wonders,
and enlightenment which goes far beyond anything they had in the
days of Odysseus or Franklin, our lives are just tailor-made to have
a lot of great episodes. Our episodes are those experiences that
give life its interest, color, purpose, joy, and reward. We can have
a lot of episodes with our reading, discovering, living, suffering,
enjoying, knowing, doing, being, and dying.
Once each day I find lying on my porch a newspaper that brings me the
most exciting information about what is happening every day in every
part of the world. If I had to employ someone to gather the news and
stir up this excitement it would cost me millions of dollars. Homer
put his adventures in a book so that one may enjoy his adventures
without the danger, but now through the newspaper one may travel to
the moon without any expense while sitting in his arm chair.
The journeys of Ulysses kept him away from the more important interests
of being with his family and friends. But I can have even greater
travels without being inconvenienced in the slightest. Ulysses was
absent from his kingdom for twenty years and his adventures cost the
lives of every member of his group. A raging wind drove Ulysses and
his men off their course and landed them on the island of the lotus
eaters. A legend says that when the men ate the magic fruit of the
lotus tree, they forgot about their families and responsibilities
and lived in dreamy forgetfulness and indolent enjoyment, and only
when Ulysses dragged his sailors back aboard their ships were they
able to recover enough of their ambition to continue their journey
homeward. But my favorite books tell me of even more exciting
experiences and they are also better for my soul.
One of the greatest adventures of Ulysses came when he landed on the
island of Circe the enchantress. There some of his men fell into
her hands and were turned into swine. Only when Ulysses obtained
the use of a greater power was he able to force Circe to release
her spell and set his men free. In a little different way, we also
have among us some present-day influences that are tending to change
us into swine. And we must develop the power necessary to break
these spells that are presently being thrown over us.
Ulysses was never in greater danger from any aggressive
antagonists than from those charmers who tempted him with the enjoyment
of a life of ease: Circe with her voluptuous hospitality;
the Lotus-eaters, in whose land there was nothing to do but relax
on the beach, eating honey-sweet plants; the Sirens, against whose
enchanting voices he stopped his sailors' ears with wax and had
himself tied to the mast; and his experience with Calypso, who was
more fair than his wife.
A lot of parallel charms seem to lie in wait for us enticing us
to skip the conscientious work which is the secret of every useful
life. One of the greatest of all of our errors is idleness.
That is when we are most likely to lose sight of our purpose and
begin forming bad habits. And even if our good deeds
are not of the magnitude of an epic, yet pride in our attainments
should prevent us from permitting a slack attitude and an indifferent
purpose.
There is no excuse for anyone living an ordinary life. Through good
reading one may enjoy the best of what has been written until it
becomes part of him to guide, counsel, and befriend him in whatever
situation he may find himself.
The great volume of scripture known as the Book of Mormon is begun
by an outstanding prophet saying:
I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught
somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many
afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been
highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a
great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God,
therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.
(1 Nephi 1:1)
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And then Nephi proceeds to share these greatest experiences o
his life with us.
I also had some "goodly parents" who united their God-given
abilities that I might have the great blessing of life, and
while they had little material wealth yet I have received an
inheritance from them that to me is incalculable. As someone
has said:
You may have riches and wealth untold,
Baskets of jewels and caskets of gold,
But richer than I you will never be
Because I had a mother who read to me.
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And I shall continue with genuine joy to honor that great
command, saying "Honor thy father and thy mother."
Some of the thrilling episodes in my life are centered in the
love and pride I feel in my country. I know that governments
were instituted by God for our benefit and that he will hold
us responsible for the proper conduct of our country's affairs.
I pledge allegiance to the flag. And I promise God I will be
loyal to my country and be a good citizen.
I have had many wonderful episodes in helping to carry forward
the work of the world. In the very beginning, God said, "In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread," and I recognize
that I should put color, excellence, and a whole heart into my
share of the work of the world in obedience to that great command
which says, "Thou shalt not be ordinary."
Sometime ago a man was telling me of his experience in living out
on the farm with his wife and five sons. When each of his sons
became old enough, he invited them to accept the responsibility
for a little land to till, or some farm animals to raise. And
when they did the work, they also received the natural compensation
that came as a consequence.
Our Heavenly Father has a program exactly like that. When we get
old enough and responsible enough, we are invited to have a part
in that great enterprise in which God himself is engaged.
God has said, "This is my work and my glory to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39) By virtue of our
inheritance and our excellence during our first estate, we have
become a part of this great family enterprise that Jesus referred
to as "My Father's business." When we do God's work, we receive
God's pay, and it now becomes our work and our glory to bring to
pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
One of the episodes that should characterize every life is to carry
on the most exciting love affair of which we are capable with a
wonderful wife. And it need not be terminated even by death itself.
The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ makes unnecessary the old bill
of divorcement that used to be included in every marriage ceremony
saying "Until death do us part."
Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote a sonnet expressing her
immortalized love to her husband. She said:
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
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Then in enumerating the many ways that her love for him had
taken, she said:
I love thee with the breaths, smiles
Hopes and tears of all my life
And if God wills, I shall but love thee
Better after death.
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And everlasting marriage is an official part of God's eternal
program.
One of the most exciting episodes in life is indicated by a
command from God himself when he said, "Multiply and replenish
the earth." We live on an earth of many wonders and miracles.
Among the greatest of all wonders is the wonder of procreation,
where under God's direction a man and his wife may create in
their own image a mortal tabernacle and then call down from God
an eternal spirit to inhabit it. Then this greatest of all
creations formed in God's image may be nourished physically,
morally, mentally, socially, and spiritually. The soft clay of
their eternal lives may be moulded into what God intended his
children to become.
Demosthenes once said, "No man can have a high and holy calling
while engaged in petty and mean employment. For whatever the
pursuits of men are, their characters will be similar."
What a great experience it is to be engaged in that godly business
in which God himself spends his entire time.
And some of the episodes of our lives should be our experiences
with God himself.
What a thrill it must have been for Abraham when he earned the
right to be called the friend of God.
What a thrill it should be to us to feel the whispering of God's
spirit, and know that our own lives are acceptable to him.
May God help us to write the story of a great life and make it
rich and glorious in its episodes I humbly pray in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.
