Man of Faith vs...Man of Faith?

In honor of the pending series finale of Lost, I am hijacking this blog to discuss Lost.

I've been re-watching the first two seasons, back when Locke was still the man of faith and Jack was all about getting off the Island. In the current season, Locke (aka the Man in Black) is all about getting off the Island, and Jack has become the man of faith. But faith seems to mean two different things to these men.

Before he came to the Island, Locke was a very angry person. He had good reason to be. His relationship with his con-man father began on an off-note and degraded to the point where he pushed Locke out a window. All of that could easily conspire to make a man bitter. But when he got the Island, things changed. Or did they? He could walk, he was respected as a hunter and protector. He found faith in the power of the Island. But it didn't really make him less angry. When his trebuchet failed to open the hatch, he became angry. When Boone became injured, he found himself pounding angrily on the hatch. When Desmond abandoned the hatch after destroying the computer, Locke yells at the Island again. Each time, he complains that this wasn't what was supposed to happen. Faith shouldn't bring you anger. It should bring you peace.

Enter season five Jack. He has survived detonating a hydrogen bomb and discovered that he is a candidate for some mysterious purpose. Like Locke in the early seasons, he now does not want to leave the Island. He has faith that he has a purpose. And it has created a marked change since the beginning of the season. Jack was angry at the Temple (though he could have simply been having a negative reaction to the weak plot point). When he found Jacob's magic mirror, his mirror smashing tantrum was impressive. But after he recovered from the experience, he had made a profound mental shift, to the point of telling Hurley that he is not longer going to be in charge, making decisions. He is going to let go and follow.

To me, Jack's faith exemplifies the Taoist concept of wu-wei, essentially, go with the flow. Whatever life throws at you, role with it and trust things to go how they should. It has the imagery of floating comfortably down a river rather than fighting the current. And since his mental shift, that's what he does. Richard Alpert tries to blow himself up, Jack calmly sits down with him, secure in the belief that he cannot die. Even when Locke tries to blow everyone up on the sub, Jack remains calm (well, as calm as possible). Locke had faith, but he also had expectations. And when they weren't met, he fought tooth and nail. Jack has no expectations. He is willing to see how the game plays out without any preconceived notions about the endgame.

I suspect that this is the same sort of peace that we see with Desmond in sideways world and that we saw on his face when he woke back up on the Island. I personally cannot wait to see what happens when are newly peaceful Jack and Desmond meet each other. It should be quite different than when they met in the hatch all those years ago.

Well, that's all my wisdom. Thank you for joining me on this Lost-inspired trek.