The Odyssey of our Journey Towards Integrity

The Odyssey by Homer is one of my favorite stories. It's a story of the warrior-king Ulysses on his return back to his wife and family following the Trojan War. He is opposed at every turn by the angry sea-god Poseidon and other villains obstacles. When I first read it as young boy in English class I was captivated by it's adventure, intrigue and mystery. Reflecting today on my life in the Spirit as a Christian man in a sex-saturated world, I can't help but see some timeless truths for mankind today. Although just a fiction story, for me it is a powerful allegory of the significant steps I've taken being transformed from the bondage of darkness into the marvelous light of truth and freedom.

 The painting above is by "Ulysses and the Sirens" by Herbert James Draper. It depicts that part of the story where their ship is passing the coast of the Sirens - beautiful but deadly mermaid figure imagined by lonely sailors. Their songs were so alluring that men would sail into their dangerous rocky coast or cast themselves directly into the sail to their doom. Ulysses had been given advice to stop his men's ears with wax. Curious himself about the songs, he has them tie him to the mast with orders to sail past without stopping and kill him should he break free of the bonds. Ultimately, they survive and sail on to other even more formidable challenges.

 One of these major changes is becoming a part of communities of accountability and fellowship - instead of the radical isolation and independance of the past. Notice how in the painting Ulysses is surrounded and protected by his sailor-brothers, rowing furiously ahead. Near madness, he cries out to be with the sirens, but his comrades know better - they hold him fast and propel him forward  past the danger. Now that's friendship! That's brotherhood! Its new foundations like these that give us the strength to withstand the various storms that arise as we journey onward towards a light-filled life.

Recently I went back home for a brief holiday visit with family. I hadn't been back in over a year, and seeing familiar places again stirred particular memories, some very painful and others pleasant, and the lure to reconnect with a past relationship beckoned. That's the enemy of addiction - an attraction of the heart to something or someone you know in your mind to be not good for you. Maybe I could "heal it just right" or "fix" the way I left by reaching out again? Awakening in the morning the sirens song grew louder in my mind...

Thankfully however, I wasn't alone and fell back on my training. On the way down I had already been texting my close friends to pray for me and told them where I was going. I had discussed the possible pitfalls already with my pastor and defined some boundaries. I focused on the task at hand - spending time with my family and not going anywhere else. When the time came to leave, I didn't want too of course, so I needed a little coaxing there and had to make a decision of the will against my emotions a bit. But nonetheless, it was a victory. 

Wether it's pornography you've struggled with or sex-centered relationships with women that's captured you before, a good band of Christian brothers is THE ultimate survival tool for escaping the "sirens" of today. As men we also need Godly women in our life - like family, and sisters in Christ at church appropriate to our state in life being married or single. Just as falling to the extreme of promiscuity is deadly, an irrational and puritanical fear that all women are evil is also harmful. Often the witness of a Godly woman can inspire us to rise above our faults and see what a gift and blessing a fruitful marriage relationship can be. In Homer's epic, Ulysses was often aided by the goddess of wisdom Athena and also spurred on by the memory of his beloved wife and son.

Bible says "a three fold cord is not easily broken" and also "as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. When we make decisions in our lives to live out purity in all our relationships, we have to remember that like Ulysses we will face many temptations and lures by people - sometimes women  - who want to use their influence and sexuality to steal, kill and destroy our testimony and our lives. Wether it's an online website that wants to take your money or an aggressive co-worker looking for a thrill at your expense, our course forward must remain firm.

Stories like "The Odyssey" and "Jason and the Argonauts" have stood the test of time because they teach us a simple truth - Men need reliable brothers in their lives in order to take up the adventure and attain the ultimate price - to live a life of purity in the light.