The concept of taking a leap of faith has been covered many times on Lost. Locke had told Jack that he was taking a leap of faith by pressing the button; Hurley took a leap of faith by risking his life with Charlie to get the DHARMA van started as it sped down a hill; and in the episode titled, “316,” the theme shows up throughout. In fact, the title itself should’ve been the first tip-off.
While most mythological stories explore at least one or two truths about the way our world works, Lost is unique in that it explores hundreds of them. It’s almost as if Lost is a spiritual guidebook to life. While I sometimes joke around about it, I’m beginning to truly believe that fans of the show will be better equipped to handle the strange new world we are going to inherit in the upcoming years. Whether consciously or subconsciously, it is almost as if Lost is training us to be able to mentally handle the future. The Good Book says that the meek shall inherit the earth. Perhaps it was referring to Lost geeks.
The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry is the first “grown-up” book I ever read. Which is ironic because it’s a children’s book about how we should never lose our sense of child-like wonder. Actually, the book is about a million different things and about absolutely nothing. While much of the mythology went over my head when I’d originally read the book as a kid, the story’s rich symbolism and metaphor made that fact pretty apparent. Even back then, I knew there was a lot going on in the book that I didn’t understand. I actually read the book again a few years ago after reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho because the story reminded me of it. I think I understand it a little better now, but will probably have to read it again in another 30 years or so. Something tells me that when I read it a final time as an old man, I will realize that I understood it the clearest when I was a kid. And that’s sort of the point.
There seems to be a pattern that determines when Locke and the gang are jumping in time on Lost. Whether it’s Richard Alpert telling Locke what to do when he next sees him, or Faraday telling Desmond to find his mother in the future, or Locke telling Alpert to seek him out in a few years once he’s born. So far, the jumps occur whenever a character is talking to another character about events from a different time. Perhaps fate is preventing the characters from knowing something they shouldn’t be privy too or maybe it’s time’s way of course correcting, but I believe there is a deeper reason why the time jumps are happening at that exact moment. And it relates to wisdom we can use in our real lives.
Right from the start of Lost’s fifth season premiere, “Because You Left,” we learn that the island is officially capable of moving through time and space. Time travel has been a theme of Lost since at least Desmond’s mind-flashes during season three, and perhaps as far back as the “Adam and Eve” skeletons of season one. Now however, it has been unequivocally confirmed as a very real, functioning principle within the show’s mythology. Or, has it?
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