Monday, September 19, 2011

Story...

Here is the first installment of many in my new blog, but first I wanted to share with you a journaling assignment from my Christian Vocation class here at UIndy. We've been reading the book "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller, and have been journaling about what makes a good story. 

What is the point of every story? In his book, Donald Miller dives in to discovering the answer, and his epiphany is that the purpose of every story is character transformation. What does he mean by that? Basically, if the main character doesn’t change, doesn’t learn, doesn’t transform… it isn’t a story worth telling

Humans are alive for the purpose of journey, and designed to search and find the purpose of their journey. How do we know this? Every story, or every good one at least, has a beginning and an end… the story itself is a journey, which is not stagnant or static. A journey moves and changes, and so do the people who travel in this journey.  

My sister and I have always loved stories… “Mom, Dad - read us a story!” was the anthem of our childhood, and even today our favorite thing to do as a family is read an adventure together. It may be reading an epic battle scene from Tolkien’s The Hobbit, or rejoicing with Scrooge as he discovers the joy of Christmas in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, or making the stories from the Bible come alive. We have discovered as a family that life IS story. We are a part of HIStory, the story of God, and we have been given a unique and valuable role to play. I must ask myself, however, what is the point of my story? 

If a good story is about character transformation, am I living a good story? Is my life about transformation? Or do I sit on the side of the road by the slough of despond and gaze at the glory of the Celestial City, perfectly content with never arriving there? 

Years ago, God gave our family this verse to declare over our lives: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” [2 Corinthians 3:18] Life is about TRANSFORMATION, not just information.

So, yes, the purpose of my life is transformation – I am not content with standing and “watching the world go by”, because God has called me to action. I do not serve a stagnant God, thus my life must not be stagnant. How can I know that is the purpose of my life? By looking at my actions and my words. Does the information I know about life and God affect the way I live? Does it change anything?

It changes everything.