Chasing The Pooka of Fame

“Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment,

or even common sense.”

~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity , p. 112

Darby O’Gill is the caretaker of an estate in Ireland. He is aging, past-his-prime, spends an inordinate amount of time spinning stories in the local pub, and is about to be taken out to pasture himself. But he is a good-hearted soul. We like him.

One day, he follows the master’s runaway horse, Cleopatra, and is captured by – you guessed it – leprechauns. He cleverly manages his escape. Later in the movie, Darby’s daughter Katie is also lured by Cleopatra, but this time into a life-threatening injury. The horse always manages to stay just a little out of reach.

Cleopatra, this sneaky horse, turns out to be a “pooka”.

A pooka in Irish lore is a shape shifter and can be either good or bad. Pookas can be mischievous or worse, and also can be helpful. Harvey , the rabbit seen only by Elwood P. Dowd - Jimmy Stewart in the movie, was also a pooka.

Darby O’Gill and the Little People has been a favorite movie of mine for decades, and each time I watch it I am reminded how Cleopatra always remains temptingly out of reach. She is just a few steps away. Never quite grasped. Unfailingly leading to calamity.

It is the same theme found in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , as Indy, his dad, and a bunch of bad guys try to find the Holy Grail. In the end (spoiler alert if you have been in another dimension for the last thirty years or so), the lure of the always just-a-little-out-of-reach Holy Grail proves the downfall of the greedy folks, while Indy realizes just in time that he must "let it go".

The desire to “possess” the sacred Holy Grail, just like the desire to possess anything, is a different kind of pooka here, but just the same seductively dangerous pyrite that, but for a reminder from dad (Sean Connery), would have led to disaster. The Holy Grail, thought to be the sacred cup Jesus drank from, is not meant to be “owned” by anyone.

The desire for fame has been one of my pookas.

When I was in in college, my roommate was a fella I’d known in high school just a bit, but of course came to know pretty well during the time we lived together. As young men do, we talked about what we wanted in life. He was interested in becoming rich; I was interested in fame. At the time, it seemed that simple. I’ve lost track of him now, which is a pity because he was a quality person in every regard, but I am sure that he’s done very well not just financially, but in life, over the years.

Why fame for me? I can’t explain it directly, but it was certainly partly rooted in being painfully shy as a child. And it’s been one of those superficial pookas that has led to leprechauns and fools gold too many times over the years. Why have I talked and thought way too often about myself over the years, instead of asking and being concerned about others?

The irony is that I’ve never been famous – never been a famous actor, best-selling author, not an in-demand paid speaker, and now…well…fame, and fortune, have lost most of their ability to allure as I am drawn more and more to living simply, lovingly, humbly, and gratefully these last years of life. Sometimes I wonder if that is giving up. Most of the time I feel like it is finding out, finally, what is most important.

The pooka is always there, though. Waiting to tempt me, just a few steps away, promising more happiness if I can just become wealthier or more renowned.

It seems I still can't get away from talking about me, even in this essay, eh? Hopefully I'll do better over time.

I’m most interested, it seems, in topics that I need or want to learn the most about and “humility”, like other discussions about “gratitude” and living “in the present moment”, seems essential for everyone to know more about and to practice steadfastly in order to live more profoundly and less superficially.

Because humility is a virtue that leads to every kind of important riches. The pride of fame, or fortune, or other extrinsic rewards – lacking love and genuine contribution – is only fools gold.

“If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step.

The first step is to realise that one is proud.

And a biggish step too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it.

If you think you are not conceited, if means you are very conceited indeed.”

~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity , p. 114

References:

Lewis, C. S. (1960). Mere Christianity: What One Must Believe To Be A Christian . New York: Macmillan.

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