Story within a Story

I have some wonderful friends and family members who agreed to read my manuscript, before I complete my final edit. I have been working on this project for so long that it is hard to remain objective about it. I received feedback recently from one reader, and she was very perceptive. She told me that she liked how I had written a story within a story. Hmmm. That is true. I hadn't really thought of it that way, but as I think back over my books, they all are really a story within a story. It seems to be a literary device I use subconsciously.

And then I got to thinking, all of us are living stories within a story. The Main Story is about God, and how He created humans in His image, with the power to follow or reject Him. He knew they would be imperfect in their ability to follow Him, and so from the beginning, He devised a way in which the conflicting necessities of justice and mercy would be enacted. From the beginning, He knew He would send a savior to those hopeless people, who would provide the only possible means back to their Creator.

The stories within the Story are the lives of each of us as we make the decision to follow God or to reject Him. Our tales are fraught with struggle, turmoil, victory, defeat, pain, delight, despair, sin, and overcoming. Some of our stories will end in tragedy. Some will end in triumph. 

And the Savior Himself told stories to draw those hopeless humans to Himself. The funny thing is, all His stories were stories within stories too! There was the literal meaning of the story, and then there was the spiritual meaning -- the message that He hoped would capture the heart of His listeners. All His stories work that way. I guess I am learning to write at the hands of a Master.

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He continued, “Do you see how this story works? All my stories work this way. “The farmer plants the Word. Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them. “And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm. But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it. “The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it. “But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams.” (Mark 4:13-20 MSG)

Inspiring Genius

While I was looking at the magazine cover of the kayak skiing down the snow covered mountain, thinking how fun that must be, and how dangerous, Asherel was checking her email.
"Oh, poor Josh is freaking out," she said.
"Why?"
"He's toastmaster (of Gavel Club) next week and he sent me 6 emails with questions of what to do."
It is funny that of all people, Josh would be nervous about this role, as he comes across as remarkably self confident, perhaps even a toe over too self confident.
"Are you advising him?" I asked.
"Yes."
I continued thinking about the kayak skiing- would it really be possible to turn, using oars, going 100 miles an hour down icy steep inclines? And if turning were possible, how about stopping? I began to picture in my head the various possible methods of stopping and not one involved leaving the kayak rider alive.
Asherel erupted in laughter.
She could barely speak through her gasping chortles as she read Josh's response:
"Some people, while not possessing genius, have a remarkable talent of stimulating it."
I laughed, "What advice did you give him that was so wonderful?" I asked.
"He couldn't quite fit all the print on one page so I told him to decrease the margins."

I thought about parenting, then. I do not possess genius. However, I do try to stimulate it in my kids. They have far more potential than I ever had. But what I do have is determination and perseverance. I figure if I can somehow teach them to use their fine brains God has given them to their full potential and never give up, they could change the world...and I think they have a responsibility to do so.  I had a fun facebook discussion with a friend about perseverance. I can't remember his quote, but I wrote the one I had grown up with: Success is 1 % inspiration and 99% perspiration. I believe it was Woody Allen who said most of success was just showing up. I would add to that- showing up day after day after day, till the job is done.

It is very easy to be inspired. It is much more difficult to follow that inspiration to completion, because completing a work always involves hard, and often tedious, laborious persistence. It is very discouraging to me to see half finished projects gathering dust. God warns us of this tendency to stop when the going gets tough. There are twice as many references to perseverance as to  inspired in the Bible. Those who persevere are told they are blessed, will develop character, will lead to hope, will be commended.  In counterpoint, in Hosea, the inspired person is called a maniac. Inspiration is a good beginning, but it is never where we should end. Inspiration should always be transformed into something that draws us nearer to the end. We are inspired upon hearing the command, but we must persevere to complete it. It may be the inspiration of a genius to reduce the margins, but someone still has to write the text that must fit the page. And that takes effort.

"Speaking of inspiring genius, look at this," I said showing Asherel the picture of the kayak skiing down the mountain. I just couldn't get over what maniac would think to do this.
"Fun!" she said.
"Dangerous," I said, thinking this is one project I am not inspired to bring to fruition.

James 1: 12
¹² Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.