Myth and the Meaning of America

Jacob Needleman wrote “We need to rediscover the deeper, mythic meaning of our heroes and our nation - a mythic meaning not for children, but for adults. Adults need mythic symbols just as much - or even more - than children. We need ideas; but we need ideas expressed in ways that touch not only our logical minds but also our feelings. It is one of the teachings of wisdom that the merely logical mind - when it is cut off from the intrinsically higher human feelings of wonder and the sense of the sacred - inevitably becomes a plaything of the external senses, convincing us that only what is perceived with these outward-directed senses is real. Ideas communicated through myth, on the other hand, show us a world that is perceived through the vision of wonder, love of truth and the sense of the sacred, the impulse to serve and to participate in a greater reality - what we may call the inner world.”

In the other pods and posts that I have engaged with and read here on Zaadz, my sense knowing is that there are a lot of us here that resonate with this concept.

Needleman goes on to state that “we need to remythologize the idea of America” and reclaim the mythical symbols of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln (noticably absent from his list are female symbols like Betsy Ross, Abigail Adams, Sojourner Truth, etc.) and events like the Constitutional Convention.

He says, “They live in our subconscious, and we need to let them come forward and act again upon us.”

These words have a resonance for me. Do they resonate with you? If so, in what way?  If not, why not?

The Statue of Liberty

A truly mythic figure of America, I believe.

Even though the Statue of Liberty is a statue made of bronze, we associate her image with these words, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free….”

Doesn't she speak to US? Does she also speak for us? 

Here's the poem, in its entirety, with more information about her resting place. 
Here are some facts about her (Her title is “Liberty Enlightening the World” - interesting isn't it?).

Re: Myth and the Meaning of America

The quotation you found is very powerful!   This morning I decided (before I read this) that I would like to live long enough to see America reborn as a “world nation.”  That is, as a leader and supporter of human freedom and dignity, health, learning, well-being and peace in the world.  We don't have to be an empty shell which is taken over by corporations and their greed.  We can really be a country of the people, by the people and for the people!