My good friend, Singleton, recently said that (paraphrase), “every theologian needs to read more literature.” I guess I kinda got to agree. If I think about it, my theological conclusions (which I hang on to loosely) are informed by literature as much as they are by historical/systematic theology and philosophy. In fact two guys that impact how I think about things more than most are J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
One thing the gigantic story, LOTR, has helped me understand is how to deal with all the different phases of my life. One of the things I love about the story is how there are so many characters and so many plots that run alongside one another, yet all belong to the same story. So as I am forced to move from one phase of my life to the next, I say good bye to parts of my life. Yet I know that all the characters in my life belong to the same great story and participate in who I am becoming.
I always thought the best way to pay all these people a compliment, would be to write my own gigantic narrative and let the significant people be the voices and personalities of my characters. As I meet people and develop relationships, I always think about how they would inform the story.
There was the youth-group phase, and then the high-school phase, then the college phase, and now the seminary phase/UBC phase. Some day I’ll put this all together and the characters will all participate in the story I compose.
16 comments:
What would you title your gigantic narrative???
hmm...that is a really intriguing question.
Here are some possibilities
“Carn-Dog’s Chronicle Capstone”
“How I got it wrong my whole life”
“Walk the Lines”
“Grace, and other things I needed a whole lot of”
“Carnival”
“there are two kinds of people in the world. The Irish and those that wish they were Irish.”
"Life: Oh Shit!"
i will buy that one for sure. i'll make my students read it too, for extra credit. hehe
If you truly make a narrative including some of the characters from your life (and I'll assume here since I made the post, It is possible that I might get a minor appearance in the Chronicles of Carnia), can my character have some wacky trait that makes him memorable? Possibly a wooden leg, or described as having a mysterious gleem in my eye... something to that end? Just a request.
come play your instrument at my school!!!! can you?
Meg,
I can do that. Just so you know it's considered an Austrailian instrument.
Where do you teach?
When is a good time?
Carney
Carney,
Aren't you in class at 1:06pm today?? What on earth are you doing on your computer?? You're for sure going to hell for that one!!
k-cat22
who are you?
come out from behind that curtain
I'll keep praying for your salvation bro!!
This is the hall monitor - Get ye'ass in class....
Signed,
Badges? we don' need no stinkin' badges......
This time, i won't tell God I'm just kidding!!
Kenny Byler has been found out.
Josh,
When you write "Carn-Dog's Crapload," I would like to think that I will be your most memorable character in the book. You could be the wuss Frodo, and I will be your saving Sam Wise, and have to throw your ass in the fire-mountain for being such a sissy. It'll play out just like we told Sam Rogers. And in the end of the novel, you can just reflect on me, your cooler, older, wiser, foxier sister. It must be rough having to live up to so much.
Well Josh. I have a blog now so I don't have to have anonymous posts. I love you
Go here. I feel you might get a kick out of this.
http://www.larknews.com/
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