Who doesn't enjoy a great story? When you crack the cover of a new book, you begin a marvelous journey of discovery... You meet friends and foes, you discover new lands, whether real or the fanciful imaginings of the author... Any tale worth the read will take you to that "nail biting" place where you wonder how its all going to work out. The human heart loves to wrap itself up in an engaging tale. Why is it so many people frequent the movies? You might answer, 'People love to be entertained.' Perhaps so, but I think at the root of it people love a great story.
Recently, my 16 year old son said something quite profound about storytelling. It actually prompted this post. First, you have to know a little bit about my son. He is one of the most imaginative individuals I've ever known. When he was a little boy, rather than getting on the floor in the midst of his toys, driving cars across the carpet or building a lego empire, he would often sit in a chair with eyes a million miles away. I used to think, 'What's wrong with this child?' Look at all the toys at his fingertips. Why doesn't he play with them? I came to realize that the world of his imagination and the stories developing in his brain were much more captivating than the plastic blocks on the floor. To this day, his writing and prolific illustrating continue to reflect this creative bent (yes, the picture above is one of his first efforts with watercolor).
"So what did he say that was so profound?" Glad you asked... He and I were talking about the trials of life ~ which may seem like a strange topic for a teenage boy and his mom. What can a 17 year old know about suffering? But this is a young man who has lived with and amongst the suffering. He was 8 when I had cancer and when his grandmother died in our home; he witnessed the daily decline of his 91 year old grandfather and stood at his bedside when he took his last breath, and for the past four years he has watched his brother struggle daily with a serious and chronic illness. It was this young man who said to me, "Mom, our lives are like a story, and what makes any story compelling is the conflict. Without conflict that needs resolving, a story wouldn't be worth reading." He went on to say that we know Who is writing our story and we know that the ultimate end will be a "happily ever after" like no other.
His musings were pure gold to me and came at such a time when the reality of the day-to-day made it difficult to see beyond the pain. The Lord used his words to remind me of the Author and Perfecter of faith who is indeed in the midst of writing a great tale, our tale. My son enabled me to see the distress of our circumstances as an essential part of our life story - the conflict that once resolved is going to resound to the praise and glory of the Author (and can even resound to His glory before the resolution).
One other musing... I recently started listening, with my chronically ill son, to some messages on the book of Job preached in 1964 by Francis Schaeffer. In the introduction, Francis Schaeffer mentioned that scholars agree that the book of Job is likely the oldest book in the Bible, written before Genesis. It made me wonder, 'Why did God choose to write the book of Job first?' Could it be that the problem of pain and suffering and our need to understand it in the context of the seen and unseen world and a personal Creator is in the forefront of the mind of God? Could it be that the LORD wants us to know first and foremost that He is engaged in our suffering and is at work in the midst of it to purify our faith, to make Himself known to us in a more intimate way, and to put on display before the heavenly host and a lost world His love and care for His own? Job, the first of all of the 66 books of the Bible to be written... Something to think about...
"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though the outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
Recently, my 16 year old son said something quite profound about storytelling. It actually prompted this post. First, you have to know a little bit about my son. He is one of the most imaginative individuals I've ever known. When he was a little boy, rather than getting on the floor in the midst of his toys, driving cars across the carpet or building a lego empire, he would often sit in a chair with eyes a million miles away. I used to think, 'What's wrong with this child?' Look at all the toys at his fingertips. Why doesn't he play with them? I came to realize that the world of his imagination and the stories developing in his brain were much more captivating than the plastic blocks on the floor. To this day, his writing and prolific illustrating continue to reflect this creative bent (yes, the picture above is one of his first efforts with watercolor).
"So what did he say that was so profound?" Glad you asked... He and I were talking about the trials of life ~ which may seem like a strange topic for a teenage boy and his mom. What can a 17 year old know about suffering? But this is a young man who has lived with and amongst the suffering. He was 8 when I had cancer and when his grandmother died in our home; he witnessed the daily decline of his 91 year old grandfather and stood at his bedside when he took his last breath, and for the past four years he has watched his brother struggle daily with a serious and chronic illness. It was this young man who said to me, "Mom, our lives are like a story, and what makes any story compelling is the conflict. Without conflict that needs resolving, a story wouldn't be worth reading." He went on to say that we know Who is writing our story and we know that the ultimate end will be a "happily ever after" like no other.
His musings were pure gold to me and came at such a time when the reality of the day-to-day made it difficult to see beyond the pain. The Lord used his words to remind me of the Author and Perfecter of faith who is indeed in the midst of writing a great tale, our tale. My son enabled me to see the distress of our circumstances as an essential part of our life story - the conflict that once resolved is going to resound to the praise and glory of the Author (and can even resound to His glory before the resolution).
One other musing... I recently started listening, with my chronically ill son, to some messages on the book of Job preached in 1964 by Francis Schaeffer. In the introduction, Francis Schaeffer mentioned that scholars agree that the book of Job is likely the oldest book in the Bible, written before Genesis. It made me wonder, 'Why did God choose to write the book of Job first?' Could it be that the problem of pain and suffering and our need to understand it in the context of the seen and unseen world and a personal Creator is in the forefront of the mind of God? Could it be that the LORD wants us to know first and foremost that He is engaged in our suffering and is at work in the midst of it to purify our faith, to make Himself known to us in a more intimate way, and to put on display before the heavenly host and a lost world His love and care for His own? Job, the first of all of the 66 books of the Bible to be written... Something to think about...
"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though the outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
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