King Midas

I finished the book “Hero’s Journey” by Jeff Sandefer and Rev. Robert Sirico and wrote my book report on it. It was an interesting book, written in an interesting format, but looking back on it for my book report was good. I was able to organize it on paper better and saw the benefits of it. It gave stories of really hard situations and how people overcame their challenges. I had never read the story of King Midas before; I had just heard about the gist of it. But it was interesting to read that he had wished for gold to leave his daughter. So, it wasn’t entirely selfish, maybe just a little misguided. He didn’t realize the implications of his wish. Everything turned to gold. Everything. Even the special things, like a handkerchief that his daughter had hemmed for him. Also, food, which I wouldn’t have even thought of. He couldn’t even eat or drink because it turned to gold the instant it touched his lips. His daughter came running to him when he burned his mouth, and she herself turned to gold. That made King Midas very repentant. The stranger who gave him the wish, said he could undo everything if he went to the river and filled a pitcher of water. King Midas didn’t hesitate and ran to the river and couldn’t fill his pitcher fast enough to sprinkle his daughter. As soon as the water hit her, she turned back to herself. Together, she and King Midas went and undid everything he had touched.

That story touched me because money really isn’t the objective. It’s about the relationship we make along the way. It also teaches us that there is always a little bit of good in people. King Midas was not so far gone that he wanted the whole world to be a lump of solid gold.