Joseph Campbell: Aren't children lovable because they're falling down all the time and have little bodies with the heads too big! Didn't Walt Disney know all about this when he did the seven dwarfs! And these funny little dogs that people have--they're lovable because they're so imperfect.
Moyers: Perfection would be a bore, wouldn't it?
Campbell: It would have to be. It would be inhuman. The umbilical point, the humanity, the thing that makes you human and not supernatural and immortal--that's what's lovable. That is why some people have a very hard time loving God, because there's no imperfection there. You can be in awe, but that would not be real love. It's Christ on the cross that becomes lovable.
Moyers: What do you mean?
Campbell: Suffering. Suffering is imperfection, is it not?
Moyers: The story of human suffering, striving, living--
Photo: Druid Arch, with lichen in the foreground; Canyonlands National Park, UT; November 24, 2012. People love rock that has flaws, imperfections, eroded portions. This arch is a prime example. Oh, and a case could be made that GOD SUFFERS as well - within OUR suffering.
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