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Heroes, not Monarchs
By Jane Tawel
December 22, 2025
This is my poor attempt today to wrestle with some of the brilliant, enlightening thoughts of Joseph Campbell and Richard Rohr and of course, some of the great myths and stories of questers and seekers and heroes.
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We foolish mortals who think the prize
is in being a queen or a king
so we miss the boat
and we blind our own eyes
and mistake the Soul’s Odessey
for ego-trips and small I’s.
We search and we search for that one special thing
that will make us feel better than,
mightier than,
holier than
all those who make us feel weak.
And there’s no happy ending
cuz we always want more;
so, we blithefully live with our bane of the poor
cuz we’re merchants and monarchs
in our ivory towers;
and we dirty the water and trample the flowers
and give up the whole earth
for our fantasy kingdoms
Never counting the cost…
Never counting the cost….
Never counting the cost
of not finding the pearl of great price
that we lost.
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We are called to be heroes
all on the same quest
where the least and the lost
are the first and the best.
We are not dragon-slayers
if true heroes we be,
but we’re slain by the Dragon
and our windmills are tilted
and our offerings are jilted
at the altar until
in our search for the grail
we just fail, fail, fail, fail
because only by losing, we win.
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True heroes are questing
and searching for more
of the wisdom that comes from
not reaching the shore, but from
Battling the waves, and from floating Inside
All the Mind’s raging tides and
The Heart’s endless strife
as we paddle and drift on the currents of Life.
True heroes are longing
and never at rest
but at peace beyond knowledge or lore.
And they know that in less, they are more;
for true Heroes must journey
in darkness and doubt,
trusting Mystery will lead them Ashore.
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The heroes in history have found on The Way
that the gate is too narrow for war.
And the heroes we treasure
knew the gift and the joy
of the greatness in suffering
and the love of the voyage
that will end not in conquering
or in showered in crowns,
but in Kingdom revealed
that looked once upside-down
based on monarchs, and money and might;
but when Heaven’s doors open,
Life is now shown to be
only Truth, Beauty, Love and God’s Light.
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Our great myths are communal.
Our story is One.
And since Time has begun
Heroes’ fingers have pointed
to the True Truths Eternal
of all under The Sun —
that our treasure’s internal,
Grace-given, not won.
And the Son is the servant
The hero — Our Soul —
and we toil and we toil and we toil and we toil
not to win, but to die to the self.
Not to rule or defend,
but to die for a friend
and to love ’til the story
has come to The End.
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Only heroes can know
that there’s no place to go
where the true joy in living
is given for free.
For the quest is the same,
both for you and for me:
The Quest is the sorrowful yearning of love,
but the end’s a Divine Comedy.
To be home in this place —
Just to taste, hear, and see —
All the Goodness of this one precious life.
There is nothing to harm us or cling to or flee.
Yes, a transformed-by-Love hero
is what God calls us
to Be.
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© Jane Tawel, 2025
Jane Tawel 