5 posts tagged “story”

I love folklore. Lewis's conversion is spurred, I'm told, by a conversation with Tolkien in which the old mythmaker challenged Lewis's atheism/agnosticism with this idea: "Christianity is the One True Myth."

This proverb makes all other myths borrowers from the Real Story. So, I read folklore like a gold miner.

I read a Russian folk tale recently that I had heard before, but never read in this form, called the Frog Princess. You can read it here. I loved this line: "Morning is wiser than evening." I find that to be true as well, though as a recovering night-owl, my findings are coming at a great personal cost.

Getting up early (and the corresponding commitment to get to bed before too late) has seemed to open up options. And yes, morning seems to give wisdom that the evening doesn't give. But, is morning wiser than evening as a rule? I must admit that even as I write this, I am still convinced that night counsels deep wisdom that the morning never knows. David knew this, and writes in his famous 119th Psalm, "At midnight, I rise and give you thanks."

Aaahh...vindication!

Bryant L. Myers has an excellent book which I read last year. The book takes a wide look at how we serve and help transform poor communities for God's Kingdom. One key theme addressed is the similarity of the poor and the non-poor in possessing what he calls a "marred identity."

Myers argues that part of the marred identity of the poor relates to their spiritual viewpoint of (1) how they got poor and (2) what they're able to do to get out of it. But, he also shows that the non-poor have that same problems in relating to their wealth. Surprised?

What is Myers's solution? Pointing us, both poor and non-poor, to repent of "god complexes" and submit ourselves to the story of Scripture:

Another way to help the poor discover their identity is by encouraging them to "find themselves in [the Biblical] story." But we must also witness to the non-poor concerning their identity. We need to help the non-poor "explore and identify their own poverty, to get in touch with what happens when one confuses being with having, or serving with power and control. The non-poor also need to read their story against the story of the Bible. The Bible has good news for them, too, even though they tend to find this hard to believe. The problem for the non-poor is that the cost of being who they really are and doing what they were meant to do is too high. Surrendering god-complexes and using human skill, the power of position, and financial resources LIKE A SERVANT is very hard indeed. This is why the rich young man walked away (Mat. 19:16-22)." (emphasis mine)

Apparently we're hard-wired in original sin to value our own righteous stories above God's. Apparently God's story isn't good enough for us--or is the problem that it is too good?

From a recent issue of Food for the Hungry's quarterly magazine:

Everyone has a story. Our stories tell of our triumphs and struggles, our mountain-top experiences and seasons in the valleys that have shaped who we are....

But far from the fairy-tale like stories of the rich and famous, the stories you hear in the seedy villages of Africa don't start with "Once Upon a Time..."

On the contrary, they open with nightmarish scenes: "I was repeatedly raped during the genocide"; "I got AIDS from my unfaithful husband. Now my kids are infected and we are left to die"; "I am a widow and am terrified to think of what will happen to my children when I am gone."

These are some of the story lines we heard during our five-week tour of East Africa. We went to listen, to be present. We found that there is nothing more human than entering someone's story with them.

A couple of years ago (Feb 2005), Kenneth Yu writes a helpful summary of an episode of South Park that parodies the Contemporary Christian Music scene:

In Christian Hard Rock, Cartman concocts another scam in an effort to win yet another bet with Kyle. This time round, the challenge takes the form of who will first earn a platinum record. Cartman decides that the fastest way to achieve that is to break into Christian rock. The formula of imitation is ludicrous, which in his words, is to "take regular old songs, and add Jesus stuff to them". Hence, we have such lyrics as "I need you in my life, Jesus" and "I just can't live with you, Jesus" in place of terms of affection like "babe" and "darling". Unfortunately, the parody hits closer to home than one cares to admit. As the faith it represents transcends new grounds beyond the layer of judgmental fundamentalism, its music still has a lot of catching up to do.

It is hard to believe now, in today's cultural scene, that Amy Grant took flak in 1986 for a song which made no explicit reference to God ("Find a Way" on Unguarded) or, even worse, for later releasing an album on a "secular" label (Heart in Motion, 1991).

(Thanks to the St. James Encyclopaedia of Pop Culture for reminding me of these dates and song titles, and for Google's cacheing old articles!)

What was seen then (and perhaps now, by some still) as a compromise in fact represented a holy rebellion against bad art for the sake of the "not much better" message.

Now, almost 20 years later, so much has changed. Thanks to a number of cultural developments, the Church is growing up. No longer content with "seeker sensitive," she is thinking more about mission.

Some of the same controversy remains in worship debates, but in terms of popular music, many understand today what seemed obscure two decades ago: our faith ought to compel us to hate bad art, not baptize it with an explicit "message" about God.

Perhaps better than any other recent band in the genre of "Christian but Mainstream," Relient K typifies this new paradigm. They make good music, enjoy doing it, and along the way, here and there, we discover a parable-like quality to their poetry that connects people to transcendence across the religious spectrum. That includes Christians who are tired of platitudes.

Part of that "connecting" includes the element of surprise.

With their most recent release, Five Score and Seven Years Ago (March 2007), Relient K does a great job of

confounding even their Christian fan base with the song, "Faking My Own Suicide." Not one of the reviews on iTunes manages to deal with this song. The fans like it but can't quite figure out why. The most they can say is, "It has a country twang," or, "Its a little weird."

An analysis by one music critic gives this explanation:

Infatuation is viewed through a fisheye lens in "Faking My Own Suicide," wherein the narrator (with a wink and a nod to the classic 1970's comedy Harold and Maude) fantasizes about faking a suicide attempt to gain the attention—and affection—of his dream girl.

Maybe the folks don't get it because they've not seen the film?

In any event, everyone agrees though that this song is typical of a band who likes to defy expectations with their work. Hmm. Seems like another Teacher taught in unexpected ways as well.

"Why is the Rabbi speaking with a woman?" or "Why do you heal on the Sabbath?" or "Why are you in a Tax Collector's home?" How about, "If the Rabbi knew she was a sinner, He wouldn't let her touch him."

Behind all of Jesus' surprises is a Big Story that shows a God of the upside down: raising up sinners, exalting rejects, beautifying the ugly, and...those who are in power and prestige are left holding the bag. And its empty.

Here are the lyrics to that song. Can you find the Big Story in these?

Faking My Own Suicide

So I've made up my mind
I will pretend
To leave this world behind
And in the end
You'll know I've lied
To get your attention
I'm faking my own suicide

I'm faking my own suicide
Because I know you love me
You just haven't realized
I'm faking my own suicide
They'll hold a double funeral
Because a part of you will die
Along with me

Wish you thought that I was dead
So rather than me
You'd be depressed instead
And before arriving at my grave
You'd come to the conclusion
You've loved me all your days
But it's too late
Too late for you to say

Because I'm faking my own suicide
Because I know you love me
You just haven't realized
I'm faking my own suicide
They'll hold a double funeral

Because a part of you will die
Along with me

I'll write you a letter that
You'll keep
Reminding you your love for me
Is more than six feet deep
You say aloud that you
Would've been my wife
Right about that time
Is when I come back to life
And let you know
I'd let you know (whooaa)

I was faking my own suicide
Because I know you loved me
You just never realized
I was faking my own suicide
I'll walk in that room and
See your eyes open so wide
I've been so lost
Because you know
Because you know
You will never leave my sight
(you will never leave my sight)
Until the day that I die for the first time
(until I die for the first time)
And we'll laugh, yeah we'll laugh
And we will cry
So overjoyed with the love
That saved my life
Our love is so alive

Bryant L. Myers has an excellent book, not perfect, but very helpful, which I've just finished. One key theme in the book (which addresses how we serve and help transform poor communities for God's Kingdom) is the similarity of the poor and the non-poor in possessing what he calls a "marred identity."

Part of the marred identity of the poor relates to their spiritual viewpoint of how they got poor and what they're able to do to get out of it. The non-poor have that same problem about their wealth. An inappropriate and idolatrous confidence in "resources" and "money" is part of the marred identity of the non-poor.

Leaving a fuller treatment of the book for another time, I'll simply quote this passage about God's Story from the text, which I found to be compelling:

Another way to help the poor discover their identity is by encouraging them to "find themselves in [the Biblical] story." But we must also witness to the non-poor concerning their identity. We need to help the non-poor "explore and identify their own poverty, to get in touch with what happens when one confuses being with having, or serving with power and control. The non-poor also need to read their story against the story of the Bible. The Bible has good news for them, too, even though they tend to find this hard to believe. The problem for the non-poor is that the cost of being who they really are and doing what they were meant to do is too high. Surrendering god-complexes and using human skill, the power of position, and financial resources LIKE A SERVANT is very hard indeed. This is why the rich young man walked away (Mat. 19:16-22)." (emphasis mine)

Apparently we're hard-wired in original sin to esteem our own righteous stories above God's, whether we are poor or non-poor. What God calls us to do (finding ourselves in His story) is not what we want naturally; we rather fit God into our story.