Andy's Blog: A Personal Word
November 2009 Archive
November 24, 2009
Nov. 25, 2009Last week, best selling author Donald Miller was at Trinity talking about his new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. This book came about after Miller was offered a movie deal based on his best selling book Blue Like Jazz. In the process of working with a film writer/producer, Miller discovered that his life was rather boring, which in turn led him to ask, “what makes up a good story?”
For film makers, there are three elements to a good story:
1) There is a character who wants something intensely.
2) There is conflict – those things that stand in the way of the character getting what he/she wants.
3) There is the “save the cat” scene where the character does something good and noble, like saving a cat. This leads to the resolution, where the story comes to an ending.
Donald Miller then asked us to apply this model to our own lives. What kind of story are we writing? What makes for a good story? He writes, “If you aren’t telling a good story, nobody thinks you died too soon; they just think you died.”
Maybe it’s just coincidence, but our Advent sermon series this year will focus on Christmas movies. There is something about this season which draws movie makers to tell a story. The cynical side of me says it’s because they know they can make money doing so. But the other side of me says that there is something about the Christmas story itself which excites and invites the imagination.
As Christians, we have a story, a great story, which has all of the elements about which Miller writes. It’s the story about God’s great desire to love us, our rebellion against that love, and God’s movement to save us. It is through the lens of this story that we interpret all other stories.
Each Sunday in Advent, join us in worship – both traditional and Contact – as we look at the Christmas story through movies.
November 3, 2009
Nov. 3, 2009Dr. Bernie Seigle shares the story about the CEO of a large company who had an excellent financial advisor who had a strange habit. After the advisor gave his advice, he always told the CEO that whatever happened was good. No matter what happened to the company’s sale, or profits, or stock. No matter what reports came in from the field offices, no matter what lawsuits people launched against the company, the adviser would say, “That’s good.”
One day, the CEO lost several fingers in an accident. The adviser came to visit him in the hospital. He looked at the CEO’s bandaged hand and said, “You will see it is a good thing.”
“That’s it. Enough is enough,” the CEO said, “You are fired. Get out of here.”
The CEO returned to work still upset about the loss of his fingers. When the wound healed, he decided to give himself a break – a gift. He loved to study primitive cultures, so he decided to go on a safari. He hired a guide, and with some of his associates, he went to the wilds. The first day out, the guide lost his way, and the group was captured by cannibals. The fires were lit, and water was put on to boil as the captives were lined up for the ceremonial meal. When the cannibal chief saw that the CEO had fingers missing, he stopped the ritual. “This man is imperfect. We don’t eat imperfect people. It would affect future generations. Release him.”
When the CEO returned home, he looked up is former adviser and went to see him. “I came to apologize to you,” said the CEO. “You were right. It was a good thing that I lost my fingers. I am so sorry I fired you and ruined your reputation and life. What can I do to make up for my mistake?”
“No,” said the adviser, “It is a good thing you fired me. If you hadn’t, I would have gone with you and been eaten by the cannibals.”
I am not sure that I am willing to go so far as to say “That’s good” in every circumstance. Bad things can and do happen. But it is also true that good things can happen because of adversity. In fact, we can probably learn more from our failures and setbacks than we do from our successes.
One of the things that these hard economic times have taught us is to look at how we use our money, examine our lifestyles and ask how we can lead simpler but more meaningful lives. For the first time in a long time, Americans are actually saving money. And if the trend in our stewardship program continues, they are learning how to be generous.