Sunday, February 17, 2008

Story is Mystery

What makes a really good story? Well, isn't that a loaded question? In this case, I'm not making a distinction between fiction and non-fiction. I mean a story you could make up or a story of something that has happened to a friend. I'll give you some of what I look for...

As I've said before, I want a story that has character growth, change, depth. (Yes, there is a time and place and mood for pure laugh-out-loud funny or light reading, but go with me here.) Yes, I'm one of those people who don't (typically) like cliff-hanger endings. I like resolution. I'm learning to be a little flexible about that as real life and experiences show me that there's not always resolution. But I admit I prefer them. BUT, I like when there's something at the end that leaves the future up to the readers imagination or that there's hope or something positive. It might not be a "happy" ending, but there's the hint or promise of it. A little mystery can be good.

So here's where I try to sort out some muddled thoughts. God's really been impresing upon me the past few days that He is a mystery. In a good way, not in a frustrating way. I love that I can look at a piece of scripture that I've read 50 times before, and He'll show it to me in a new way. I love that I learn something about Him, and yet I know that there's a kabijillion (technical term) more things to learn. Part of the fun of relationships, whether it be parent, sibling, friend, boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse, is the discovery. Learning about who a person is and knowing that you'll never have them completely figured out. But God is like that times infinity. And in a good way. Admit it, there are things you find out (think back to a blind date) that you wish you never learned. But with God, the discoveries are always awesome. And there's still so much more to learn. Every day. How could that not be exciting?

He's taught me so much this week and blessed me in so many ways that my head's still spinning trying to make it come out clear. He gave me multiple opportunities, unsought, at work to talk about Him... patrons just coming up to me when we hadn't even been talking about God or I didn't say anything about my faith, and they began conversations about it. Timing in reading a book and watching a video (Awesome! Rob Bell's Everything is Spiritual... I'm buying it!) and conversations with multiple people at different times... all centering on the same topic. I love the "multiplicity effect"... when God hits me over the head from multiple (unconnected) sources so I can't ignore something. That's the God I believe in. That's the God that makes me smile and want to run after Him to keep uncovering the mystery. Even when I know I'll never know it all. In this case, I'm okay with not being a know-it-all.

Not to ruin the philosophical meanderings... but to be a good librarian, I feel like I should recommend a good book, since that was the point of this blog, too. So we'll go with mysteries. Check out Blue Balliet's Chasing Vermeer and Wright 3. Now that's a good mystery for kids. Gives them a bit of culture, too!

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