Sacred Summons

Moses, Moses called from the burning bush, Here am I replied Moses. This is the catalyst that caused Moses to take on a perilous mission against Egyptian Pharaoh to free his people.

"I will take the Ring... though I do not know the way." declared Frodo at the Council of Elrond in the lord of the rings decides to become the one who will take the ring to Mordor.

The Hero’s Journey is a mono-myth narrative framework that identifies a universal pattern used by many myths, stories and legends by Joseph Campbell. Campbell introduced this concept in his 1949 book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces unveiling the heroic tales from different cultures around the world share a common structure. Campbell's Hero's Journey is typically divided into three stages. Separation(Departure): The hero leaves the familiar world after receiving the call like Moses and Frodo. This stage includes the initial denial of the call, meeting the mentor, and the crossing into the threshold into the unknown. Initiation: The hero faces trails and challenges, meeting allies and enemies. This stage usually faces a central ordeal after which he gains a reward or insight. The Return: The hero returns to the ordinary world, sometimes facing additional challenges. After returning the hero brings back knowledge, power or treasure.

The hierarchy of needs is a theory developed by Abraham Maslow a psychologist in the 1940's. It describes the human motivation as five levels of needs often showcased as a pyramid. The bottom of this pyrimad is survial, phyological needs for human survial. The second tier will be saftey needs, which is nprotection from the world like shelter, job securtiy, and health. The third tier is the love and belonging for freindship, intimacy and family. The fourth tier is Esteem needs like respect, self-esteem, recognition and accomplishment. The top tier is Self-actualization, which is the drive to realizes one's full potential. The Hero's Journey reveals that when the soul receives its calling, it bypasses Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Self actualisation becomes the primary drive, risking the need for safety, belonging and esteem.

In the initiation of Moses her faces test, allies and enemies in the struggle against Pharaoh. Frodo's safety is risked by encountering the Orcs and the dangers of the wilderness and black riders.

Moses left behind his secure life as a shepherd in Midian, where he had safety, a family, and belonging within Jethro's household. When God called him from the burning bush, Moses didn't negotiate for better working conditions or demand guarantees of safety. He walked directly into Pharaoh's court, knowing he faced imprisonment or death. His mission to free the Israelites became more important than his own survival.

Frodo abandoned the ultimate safety net—the Shire's peaceful isolation from the world's troubles. Hobbits prize comfort, security, and belonging above all else. Yet Frodo voluntarily left Bag End, knowing he might never return. At the Council of Elrond, when mighty warriors, wizards, and kings hesitated to take the Ring, this small hobbit stepped forward. He chose his soul's mission over every comfort his culture valued.

Campbell's "Road of Trials" stage reveals how heroes sustain this inversion throughout their journey. For Moses, each plague he called down upon Egypt increased Pharaoh's wrath and his own danger. The forty years wandering in the wilderness stripped away any remaining safety, comfort, or esteem. His own people frequently turned against him, questioning his leadership and longing to return to slavery in Egypt. Yet Moses persisted because his purpose had become his primary need.

Frodo's trials follow the same pattern. The breaking of the Fellowship cost him belonging—his closest companions could no longer share his burden. He gained no recognition or esteem; Middle-earth would never know the hobbit who saved them. Gollum's betrayal at Shelob's tunnel nearly killed him, and the Ring's weight grew heavier with each step toward Mount Doom. Every trial demanded he sacrifice lower needs for his ultimate purpose.

The final stage of the Hero's Journey—the Return—reveals the most profound way the soul's mission transcends Maslow's hierarchy. Traditional heroes return home with treasure or wisdom, reintegrating into their original communities. But Moses and Frodo's transformations run too deep for simple reintegration.

Moses never entered the Promised Land. After fulfilling his mission to free and guide the Israelites, he died on Mount Nebo, still separated from the very destination he'd spent forty years pursuing. His calling had so thoroughly transformed him that he belonged neither in Egypt, Midian, nor the Promised Land—he belonged to his mission itself.

Frodo's return to the Shire proves equally telling. Though he helped save his homeland from Saruman's industrial destruction, he couldn't find peace there. The hobbit who once delighted in gardening and simple pleasures found himself unable to enjoy them. His soul's mission had awakened something that couldn't be satisfied by safety, belonging, or even the esteem of grateful neighbors. Like Moses, he had to depart again—sailing to the Undying Lands where his transformed spirit could find rest.

The stories of Moses and Frodo suggest that Maslow's hierarchy, while accurate for ordinary life, fails to account for extraordinary callings. When the soul encounters its ultimate purpose, self-actualization doesn't wait patiently at the pyramid's peak—it crashes through the foundation and rebuilds the entire structure.

Perhaps this reveals a deeper truth about human nature: we are not merely survival machines climbing toward self-actualization, but spiritual beings whose deepest fulfillment comes from answering calls that transcend personal safety and comfort. The hero's journey doesn't just entertain us with adventure stories—it reminds us that our greatest potential lies not in satisfying all our needs, but in discovering the one need that makes all others secondary.

In the end, both Moses and Frodo found what every hero discovers: that saying "Here am I" to your soul's calling is worth more than a lifetime of satisfied lower needs. Their stories suggest that perhaps self-actualization isn't the luxury of those whose basic needs are met, but the force so powerful it makes every other need negotiable.