Improving My Own Unfinished Story. Offline.

[This continues from the 3rd of a 4-part reflection on biographies...]

Three blogs on three celebrities and their stories. My name and story are virtually unknown, however. Ditto that for my blog, which spans six years now. What say we for 2015? A Sabbath rest? Or perhaps a peaceful death.

As I examine my life of late, I feel a growing sense of dissatisfaction and dis-ease — frequently when it seems I have invested my time poorly. There are trade-offs between writing a good story (or trying to, anyway) and living one. I think it's time for me to focus more intently upon the latter.

That's not to say there wasn't value in blogging. Some of my blogs have really helped me (and occasionally others) to think things through or see things in a new way. Nor is it to say that my life's in a bad place. It's not. But we cannot examine too closely how we use our time, and too often my blogging hobby has crowded out other things of greater importance.

Time to cut back. Two activities, to be specific. These words illuminate:

"All his discourse was upon God and the Holy Scriptures. When any in his presence spoke of worldly affairs, he never (unless necessity required) opened his mouth, having no desire of such knowledge. But where conversation turned upon God and heavenly things, his words flowed like a stream from an inexhaustible fountain."

Thus wrote a contemporary of Thomas à Kempis. Two things stand out.

First, Thomas avoided knowledge of the trivial. Me? Not so much. Why else do I know about Bill Cosby's recent travails in such detail? Why else do I know that Angelina's movie had a $65M budget or that she needs a better father figure in her life? If I could remove worthless trivia from my head, I'd be three pounds lighter. It's time (again) for an internet news/trivia diet.

Second, Thomas left us a treasure trove of spiritual gems. In what limited time I have, I'd like to focus more on appreciating and internalizing gems like his than on trying to cut and polish new ones of my own.

Thomas. Bonhoeffer. Hammarskjöld. All on the same journey, but so far ahead. I'd love to catch up with them, but the gap won't narrow until I slow down. I'd love to travel with them and, with God's help, to make my story more like theirs. To, like them, become more like Jesus Christ.

I began my first blog with the observation that my literary efforts were not in high demand. I end my last blog with the observation that nothing has changed since then on that front. Yes, it will be a quiet death for my blog.

But hopefully my story will improve.

Let Unfinished Stories Be Unfinished. And Hope.

[This continues from the 2nd of a 4-part reflection on biographies...]

I didn't see a connection between the last two reflections right away. It wasn't until after publishing the second one that it struck me. Bill Cosby is trying to edit the worst stuff out of his story. Angelina Jolie, in turn, seems no less keen to edit the best stuff out of Louie Zamperini's story.

This realization got me thinking about people and their stories, but the kicker was still coming: an online article arguing that Christians should go see the Unbroken movie and should enjoy it. It was both convincing and moving. And convicting. It challenged my version of Angelina's story.

In my telling of Ms. Jolie's story, she (for whatever personal reasons) didn't want no Bible-thumpin' stuff in her movie, so she cut it out. But I was wrong. It turns out that Louie Zamperini himself wanted the movie done as it was. We could argue the merits of the approach taken, but he wanted the movie to be approachable for people from all walks and faiths.

Then came the 2-by-4 over my head. As I read the article, I was moved by how the entire extended Zamperini family had loved on Angelina and embraced her as their own. Louie, in particular, had become a very dear father figure for Angelina. Lord knows she needs one. Zamperini's daughter Cynthia Garris said this of Angelina:

"She was moved by my father's faith to try [praying to God for help] and that's what he wants for people to get from the movie," Garris explained. "I'll tell you, when my father died we were all with him in the hospital. [Angelina] came about 45 minutes later and she was pointing above saying 'I know he's with us, I know he's there with God.' I think maybe in God's plan for Angelina, she was supposed to find Louie and make this movie to find her way to a life that would encompass the Almighty."

Now the spotlight was on me. If Angelina had read my little vent-fest, would she have wanted me for family? I knew that the answer was No. But I wanted it to be (and knew it should be) Yes. My feelings about both Jolie and her movie had changed drastically. But the funny thing is...

Angelina hasn't changed in the last 12 hours. Just my perception of her.

Angelina Jolie has a story, too. It's complicated. And I don't know it. All this reminds me (yet again) that I should not rush to judge stories I don't know or try to end them prematurely. Especially people's stories.

Let unfinished stories be unfinished. Especially the ones that seem bad. If the story doesn't look pretty, pray for more chapters! This is not a good ending for Bill Cosby's story. Pray for him a good ending. Angelina Jolie has had a rough life. Pray for her a good ending.

[To be continued...]

How To Break Unbroken. (Or Not.)

[Spoiler alert: Book/Movie plot twists revealed here.]

[This continues from the 1st of a 4-part reflection on biographies...]

Having read Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand's biography on the life of Louis Zamperini, I was quite excited to see the movie. Zamperini was a 1936 USA Olympic runner who became a Japanese POW during WWII. But escaping WWII alive (against all odds) marks only the halfway point of his struggle.

Upon returning to the US, Zamperini's life began to spiral downward, sped on its way by PTSD nightmares, alcoholism and an imminent divorce. The climactic moment in the book is Zamperini's conversion experience at a Billy Graham crusade, after which his whole life was turned around. He gave up the booze. The marriage was saved. The nightmares went away. And Mr. Zamperini spent the rest of his life working in Christian ministry.

This whirlwind summary doesn't begin to cover all of Zamperini's stunning experiences. So I just assumed the movie would follow the plot of the riveting book. Conversion experience and all. Why, I thought, would a movie director risk ruining a $65M movie by messing with the story?

I guess you'd have to ask Ms. Jolie that one, because that's what she did.

She turned the story of the redemption of Louis Zamperini's soul into the story of his surviving WWII. The real climax from the book is literally GONE. Hints of his post-WWI life are pasted onto the screen as quotes during the closing credits, if I understand what I'm reading in the previews.

Did Angelina Jolie really turn the true story of a man's spiritual redemption into a formulaic action flick? So it seemed. I was stunned. I began to muse over how the Lord of the Rings might have looked like under Jolie's direction. Perhaps she would have cut out the Mount Doom sequence? Then in the credits she might inform us that Frodo resolved the situation with the ring and left it in Gollum's possession.

I wouldn't waste my time watching a movie like that. I'd put my money to better uses. And that's what I suspect I'll do with regards to Unbroken, too. Once something is truly broken, there's no use wasting money on it.

At least, that is what I was thinking this morning.

[To be continued...]

Autobiographies, Biographies, and the Final Draft

A verse keeps coming to my mind when I hear about Bill Cosby in the news.

1 Timothy 5:24
The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgment, while the sins of others follow them there.

If Bill Cosby did do the things he stands accused of, it could fairly be said that he spent fifty years living in the second half of this verse, and in a matter of weeks transitioned (permanently) to the first half.

For many decades, people could hardly make the distinction between Bill Cosby and his fictional personality Cliff Huxtable. Bill was everyone's favorite father figure. All that has changed in the blink of an eye.

In the court of public opinion, Cosby has been branded as an unrepentant sexual predator. America's 3rd most trusted celebrity (out of 3,000) is now ranked 2,615. And dropping.

But Cosby has an autobiography in his head, and he's not going to let go of it that quickly. You can almost hear him saying, "I'll write the story, thank you, and I'll tell you how it goes." When the infamous PBS interview did not go according to that script, he literally went silent.

A strategy of blanket denials and silence served Mr. Cosby well for decades, so it's understandable that this new situation has caught him by surprise. He is used to being in control of his story, but now there's a competing version out there. And try as he might, he can't make it go away.

Which story is more accurate? It's an important question, and it appears that earthly courts will weigh in soon enough. But the whole truth won't be known until God opens the Book of Life and renders a final judgement in the court of heaven. On the Day the Book of Life is opened, all our various (and conflicting) autobiographies and biographies will turn to dust.

Watching Mr. Cosby try (and fail) to control even the earthly version of his life's story is a poignant reminder. There is a true version of our life's story, but none of us are permitted to write the final draft. We only get to live it.

God has the final say. You might want to write that one down, Bill.

To be continued...