reading the sacred romance in preparation for small group tonight, and i came across this, which i had to post, b/c we all know people like this.. maybe we are people like this:
Desperate for something larger to give our lives trascendence, we try to lose ourselves in the smallest of stories. some of us choose the "Why does everything go wrong for me?" story. the plot of life is a tragedy, and we are playing the role of the victim of cruel circumstances. our arrows are our identity. this is an immensely popular story line b/c it relieves us of having to take any real responsibility for our lives. victims demand to be understood, but don't you dare require anything of them.
and then there is the survivor, living in a life where the plot is a siege. the world is a dangerous and unpredictable place, so i will hunker down and survive, taking little risk, doing what i can to protect myself off from others and from my own dreams...
Christians can opt for one of these, or choose a more "spiritual" version. the Religious Man or Woman is a popular story option in which we reduce the wildness of life by constructing a system of promises and rewards, a contract that will obligate God to grant us exemption from pain...
our loss of confidence in a larger story is the reason we demand immediate gratification. we need a sense of being alive now, for now is all we have. without a past that was planned for us and a future that waits for us, we are trapped in the present. there's not enough room for our souls in the present.
even though i read and reread this book, i can still categorize myself in one of those categories most of the time. the hope lies in the fact that i was never created to be reduced to the page in the small story that I create. but to live in a story that is so grand and big that my part, while may not be the lead, is still significant and necessary. justin once told me that he preferred the supporting actors, b/c they were always more interesting anyway.
i think i agree.
posted by Kelly @ 10:26:00 AM
1 Comments:
I read that book so long ago and I remember enjoying it. You have inspired me to re-read it.
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