Rethinking the Lotus VI

Innumerable students today are numbing the hurts and pains of their past in a variety of different ways. If you have the opportunity to engage young people on this topic, you can make use of stories and movies. Examples would include the story of the Lotus-Eaters from The Odyssey, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (either the book or the movie), The Family Man, Leaving Las Vegas, When a Man Loves a Woman, or The Matrix.

Discussion Questions:

• Which character in the story was turning to something to numb the pain in his or her life?

• What did that character turn to? Did it solve anything, or did it cause more problems?

• What pain do you think the character was trying to numb or forget?

• Do you identify with this character in any way?

• Have you ever tried to numb or forget pain in your life? What did you turn to? Video games?TV? Drugs or alcohol? Busyness? Did it solve anything or cause more problems?

• What pain were you trying to cover up, forget about, or numb by turning to this diversion?

Rethinking the Choice

What would a knight be without a dragon to fight? He would merely be a “dude” dressed in a metal suit with nowhere to go! Frodo would have remained simply a hobbit living in the Shire if he had not been confronted with the formidable task of destroying the Dark Lord’s Ring. Alice would have been nothing more than a nice little girl if she hadn’t plunged down the rabbit hole. How can you know for sure that you have what it takes unless you are tested? Once we begin looking at things in this way, we start seeing our lives through the light of myth. The great journey of our life almost always begins with a test and a choice. Neo was offered a choice between the red pill and the blue pill. We too are offered the choice to journey forth or to stay safely within the confines of our four walls.