The Heroine’s Journey, Part Four: Experiencing the Boon of Success


Post Author: Pastor Courtney R. Young


This post is the fourth in what will be a series of ten exploring the kinship between the Heroine’s Journey as established by Maureen Murdock, my lived experience of ministry as a female clergy person, and a few familiar fictional characters. Each devotional will end with a blessing for the Heroine at each stage of the journey. In the previous post, we examined the third part of the journey where the Heroine has had to prove themself and their learning against challengers and obstacles. They experience triumph and continue in their journey.

The Heroine’s Journey, Part Four: Experiencing the Boon of Success 

Now that the Heroine has overcome the adversity standing in the way of their fulfillment, they have entered what I call the Uncanny Valley of Success. Here the Heroine feels both a sense of achievement and uneasiness about the role or position that they have attained. It is as if the success that they have been taught to value is not what it appears. Often some kind of feminine elder will kindle their feelings of misgiving. The Heroine can sense that the pursuit of the truth will be costly, so they hold their suspicions at bay.

Personal Story

After wrapping up my first academic year at the large public university where my ministry was based, I boarded a plane to fly to Washington D.C. From there I headed to the University of Maryland, College Park, where Lutheran campus ministers from all across the country would gather for mutual edification and encouragement. There, I was welcomed into a legacy of innovators and vision casters. I thought that maybe my struggle to land a call had led me somewhere vital. 

That week I learned that the Reverend Elizabeth Platz, the first Lutheran woman ordained in North America, served the University of Maryland for the entirety of her career. She presided over our closing worship. After worship, I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t shake her hand and get a picture with her so I joined the cluster of people who also wanted to share a moment with her. I waited for my turn and when it came I said, “It’s so exciting that you spent your career in campus ministry.” In reply she kind of chuckled and smirked and said, “Well, they were the only ones who would take me.” 

Two women, shown from the shoulders down, one in a white robe with a stole in white, blue, and yellow, and one in a black and brown striped dress, stand beside each other, holding a service program.

It felt like a boulder had been dropped into my chest. Had I been duped into thinking that I had ended up somewhere significant when in reality I had been exiled to the outskirts of our denominational structure? After three and a half years of being available for a pastoral call, then only 10 months of actually being in a call, and still only seven months ordained, I had no available space to absorb the idea: maybe I had never left the outskirts, but had simply shifted positions on the periphery.

I tucked this minute exchange away into my heart, to be contemplated beneath the bounds of language, slowly and silently. For years I refused to make eye contact with it. Instead, I focused on rising to meet the challenges that came my way and stretching myself to reach opportunities that moved into range. I became a respected preacher, teacher, and colleague, and a trusted presence on campus. 

Narrative Example

Looking at the movies of Frozen 1 and 2, Captain Marvel, and the three Kung Fu Panda movies, let’s explore how the fourth step, the Uncanny Valley of the Boon of Success, shows up in these narratives. There will be plot spoilers.

We see in the opening of Frozen 2 that Elsa rules as queen, has built supportive relationships with Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf along with her government officials, and is growing a healthier relationship with her powers. But she also feels uneasy. We see this most clearly when she is standing on a balcony before going into a meeting and hears a voice calling to her.1 During the first half of the song “Into the Unknown,” Elsa tries to ward off this nagging voice by asserting,“I’ve had my adventure, I don’t need something new. I’m afraid of what I’m risking if I follow you…” Unbeknownst to Elsa, it is the voice of her own mother calling her. 

In Captain Marvel, the audience meets Carol, called Vers, while she is in this part of her journey. She has been trained as an elite soldier, but the Kree have been lying to her about her powers. They have told her that they gave her her powers and remind her that they can take them away if she is unable to control them. In reality, they fear her powers. They are striving to control her with their lies. Vers is eager to exercise her powers, but suspects that she is capable of more than her training suggests. The dissonance of Vers’ situation is most evident when she meets with the Supreme Intelligence who appears as Dr. Wendy Lawson, the person that Vers respects the most, but whom she can’t remember. It is the Supreme Intelligence as Dr. Lawson who shares the news that the Kree have a mission for her. It will be a search and rescue for a lost spy, another lie.

The movie Kung Fu Panda 2 begins with Po experiencing the Uncanny Valley of the Boon of Success. He has mastered kung fu, has become friends with the Furious Five, and gets to fight alongside them to protect the valley from ruffians. In one of the opening scenes, the audience sees Po fighting off some wolves who have come to steal metal objects. He is smiling, joking, and brave, confident in himself and in his friendships. He is enjoying himself doing what he loves with people that he loves. Then his eye catches the emblem on one of the wolves’ armor, and the story flashed into an old memory of Po’s. He will discover later that it is a memory of his mother tucking him into a box to hide him during an attack on their village. In that moment, he begins to see that there might be more to his story than he thought.  

Blessing for Heroine

Heroine, when you hear that ringing, discordant tone in your ear, you are right to distrust it.
It is the herald of your undoing.
When you see the shadow that is out of place, you are right to fear it.
It will lead you straight into the abyss.
When you pick up that sour scent beneath all the perfume, you are right to ignore it.
That is what will nourish you as you approach your devastation. It is an acquired taste.

Be comforted that you, at least, know enough to recognize that you are not ready to make that crossing.

Heroine, keep aspiring for new heights so that your fall may be truly breathtaking. Keep producing so that your decomposition may be rich. Keep building so that your ruins may be something truly magnificent.

 


1 The call Elsa hears is based on kulning, a Swedish vocal technique developed in the Middle Ages and used mainly by herder women to call their livestock home for the night. It is high pitched so that the sound will carry better through the mountains. To learn more about kulning, check out this article from the BBC.


Courtney Young is a bi-vocational Lutheran pastor/stay-at-home mom from Minnesota. She was honored to spend the first part of her career in campus ministry. Currently, she is serving as an interim pastor and writing a book. Connect with her at www.courtneyryoung.com.


Image by: Courtney R. Young
Used with permission
1 reply
  1. Melissa says:

    I’m in my second year as an ELCA college pastor, what I considered to be a dream call when I was ordained more than a decade ago. I totally feel that question of “am I doing something important or is this a ‘downgrade’ and nobody told me?” And also…it is my favorite. I love my call, and what I get to do here, and the skills and gifts I get to share. And I’ve realized that there is a lot of self-determination about this call, meaning, it will be what the Spirit and I make of it. I think that every “getting what I want” moment of my vocation has come with this same sense of “yay” and “wait…is this actually what I thought it would be?” Is this a human thing, to downplay or resist or sabotage things that feel good to us? Is it a gender-conditioned thing? It’s curious to me.

    Reply

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