I have just read the small book "Epic" by John Eldredge. Eldredge is the aothor of the best selling "Wild at Heart" which has been one of the life changing books in my life, partially responsible for giving me the courage to become a police officer.
In "Epic," Eldredge compares out literary archetypes to the story which God is unravelling in creation. He makes the point that out literature is a direct parallel to the history of God and man. The story of our existence contains good vs. Evil, love and betrayal, heroes fighting against insurmountable odds, and finally redemption, good winning over evil and lovers living happily ever after...together.
It's an interesting thesis. It is one that I think might be dead on accurate. We strive to tell and retell our own stories. Or, at least, to see ourselves in the stories we love. We attempt to learn something about humanity, about life through the art that moves us.
Eldredge quotes Simone Weil, or paraphrases, in "he [God] haunts us with the memory of Eden, and he speaks through every story we've ever loved." More than once, Eldredge qoutes from Ecclesiastes, "God had put eternity in the hearts of man."
You see, we write what we write and love the stories we love because we know that they relate to the story we want to be in ourselves. We admire the hero. We feel for the lover. We root for the good guy, because we want to be in the story. Because we want to see ourselves in the characters and we see the characters in ourselves.
Because we see what we were and what we could be. Deep down, we mourn what was lost in Eden, when man was everything he could be. At the same time, we look ahead to final victory of good vs evil. To the day when we finally get to live "happily ever after" and are forever restored to our first love.
We long for the day when, finally, we will be the heroes in the greatest story ever told . When God will say "well done my good and faithful servant."
2 comments:
Jeff, This sounds like a great book. Where could I pick it up? And what's this about romance novels on Chris's blog? Sounds like a burn-worthy book to me.
Find it at your local Christian book store. It is a thin little book. Only took me about an hour and a half to read. I also recommend "Wild At Heart" by this same author. It's a book about manhood and Christianity. A must read for men who want to know how to balancetheir Christianity to heir need to shott things and hunt and do other manly stuff. It's also a should read for their wives who want to know what makes them tick.
As far as the book burning, Charissa and I recieved a bag full of smut novels in dirty Santa this year. WE plan to have you over and have us a book burning. Not because we are fascists afraid of the books content, but because we are elitists who think that bad literature should not take up shelf space, especially when it could be used for better things i.e. fule to create heat energy to warm us while we enjoy cider or hot chocolate.
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