Filed under: Pilgrimage, Posts by John | Tags: James Dobson, Left Behind Series, Northern Exposure, Pilgrims, Puritans, Rick Warren, Thanksgiving
Portland, OR :: A couple months ago I started watching the television show “Northern Exposure” on DVD. “Northern Exposure,” which ran for six seasons on CBS starting in 1990, is set in the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska. One of the most fascinating themes of this quirky, funny, and sometimes deeply moving series is the way Cicely’s white and Indian residents co-exist in community. One of my favorite episodes in Season Four depicts the Thanksgiving celebration, which in Cicely has taken on elements of El Día de los Muertos. Indians ambush whites on the street, pelting them with tomatoes – and then they hug, friends. The holiday culminates with a parade down main street with the Indians dressed as skeletons and spirits. Then everybody gathers at The Brick tavern for a community feast.
I’m in Season Five now, and an episode I watched yesterday corresponds nicely with something I’ve been struggling with re: this project. A recurring character in the show’s later seasons is a local shaman (he prefers the job description “healer” to “medicine man”) named Leonard. Since he is taking on more white patients, Leonard decides to do some research. He sets up a table in the community center and invites whites to come in and tell him their legends. One white man tells Leonard the story of Paul Bunyan. “How often do you think about that story?” Leonard asks (I’m paraphrasing). The man replies, “Oh, I haven’t thought about that story in years.” Other whites tell him campfire stories like the one about the man with the hook. But these stories aren’t what Leonard had in mind. Toward the end of the episode, Leonard is talking with the white DJ of the local radio station. “I’ve failed, Chris,” Leonard says with a defeated sigh. “I’ve failed to locate the white collective unconscious.”
I laughed out loud.
I read somewhere recently that many pilgrims will prepare for their journey by studying the stories, legends, songs, and myths of the land and people they plan to visit. This is one way I want to prepare for my own pilgrimage through evangelical America. But I feel a little like Leonard in that episode of “Northern Exposure.” I have failed so far to locate American evangelicalism’s collective unconscious.
What are the guiding myths, so to speak, of American evangelicals? Do we look to stories of the Puritans and the Piligrims (speaking of Thanksgiving), or to a particular interpretation of America’s founding? Does the Left Behind series qualify? Those stories do act as a symbolic representation of a meaning system – the beliefs, assumptions, and organizing principles – of a great many people in this country. What about “The Purpose Driven Life” or books by James Dobson? My sociologist friend Matt suggested I may have to approach these questions from a regional perspective – reading Jerry Falwell, for example, to better understand evangelicals in Virginia.
None of these are particularly satisfying, and I am starting to wonder if I am looking for something that doesn’t exist. Is American evangelicalism so individualistic that the only guiding myth that matters to the average evangelical is his or her own testimony (conversion story)? If this is true, what are the consequences for the movement? What does it mean that we don’t have stories to bind us together?
What do you think? Do American evangelicals have guiding myths? Does the shortage of these stories (if in fact there is a shortage) say something about the individualistic nature of evangelicalism? or about its regional and denominational complexity? I’m lost in a morass of questions.
Filed under: Books, Commonplace Book, Cycling, Family, Writing | Tags: Dave, Moosefest, Northern Exposure, Poor Old Dirt Farmer
A lot has happened since last we met. Kate and I are not moving to Chico. We decided a few weeks ago to let the lease on our apartment lapse at the end of September. We are going to spend much of the next year traveling around the country. The purpose of this grand adventure is to travel along the highways and byways of America, visiting churches, meeting people, learning about their faith, and trying to better understand our own spiritual heritage. We are chronicling our journey on a new blog: http://onthenarrowroad.com. I will be writing a series of articles about our trip for one or more publications (specifics coming soon), and I hope the journey culminates in a book. This is a project we’ve been contemplating for three years, but with Molly starting preschool soon, and our deepening desire to buy a little acreage somewhere and put down roots, we feel like it’s now or never.
I think the Contours of a Country blog will take on at least three main themes. First, I will use it as a commonplace book. Second, I want to write more about what I’m reading, including a series I want to do with Poor Old Dirt Farmer called “Thirteen Books that Changed John and Dave,” inspired by Jay Parini’s book. Third, I want to write more about biking. This is right in line with the title of this blog – something I haven’t explained before – which comes from a quote from Ernest Hemingway: “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best…”
I hope you’ll follow us at On the Narrow Road. Even better, maybe we can meet you somewhere along our journey.
For the first entry in my commonplace book, I point you toward the latest post on Poor Old Dirt Farmer. Like PODF, I have been watching the show “Northern Exposure” on DVD. “Northern Exposure” was one of the few television shows my mom watched when I was growing up. My younger brother Dustin also liked the show, and he ended up marrying a girl who looks kind of like Maggie, the show’s female lead character. The setting for the show is the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska. (The show was filmed in the town of Roslyn, Washington, which holds an annual Northern Exposure Festival called Moosefest. Kate and I will try to work that into next year’s itinerary.)
Also like PODF, I feel like I have found a kindred spirit in the character of Chris, an artist and morning DJ on the local radio station. Chris is an ex-con who has found a home on the Alaskan frontier. He taught himself physics, theoretical mathematics, psychotherapy, and literature. His guiding lights include Carl Jung, Walt Whitman, Soren Kierkegaard, James Joyce, and Thomas Merton.
Anyway, PODF wrote a great post this morning that includes a clip from my favorite scene in the show – Chris at his best. I’ll go further and say it is one of the best scenes from any episode of any show. Read the post. Then Netflick the DVDs. “Northern Exposure” is a smart, funny program that you deserve to rediscover.
