A Story Worth Living

The other day I had some time to blow so I stopped by the Christian bookstore. I happened upon the book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. I've read his other works, Blue Like Jazz and Searching For God Knows What and really enjoyed them. I was reading the reviews on the back and there was one by Rob Bell. I have to admit, it was an instant turn off. I blatantly disagree with Bell's theology. However, Max Lucado also had a review - and the book was on sale - so I decided to give it a try.

I'm glad I did. This book was life changing. Not the kind of life changing that elicits a 180 degree change of behavior only to wear off four months down the road so that it's like it never happened. No, I think this change will have an impact forever. Because it's not my actions that have been changed, it's my thinking. I've been given a new lens to look through life, and I hope it will be a lens I use often.

I think one reason I enjoyed the book so much is that Don related it a lot to writing, something I love to do. In his book Don talked about our Stories. Every action we do helps tell our story. Are we living a bad story? Or maybe just a mediocre story, not doing anything with your life. Don't you want to live a Great story, a story people will sit around a campfire telling? Well, in order to do this we need to get off our duff, take risks, and go for it.

There's one thing that I love about this theology of writing our own story. I've begin to get frustrated by people who say they're waiting for God's will. I've come to believe it's a cop-out to not act, to give into fear and do nothing. It's so much easier to do nothing, than to take a risk and do nothing. We tell ourselves that it's not in God's will to do something that involves risks, and we lose out on the experience. Perhaps what we were going to try wouldn't have worked out, but it would have been the inciting action to live a better story.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think we should just blow off following God's will. What we need to do is move forward with risks, with action, while seeking God's blessing in the process. I've learned to pray that God will close a door unless I should step through it. And you know what? He does!

Don really got to me in his book. I've come to realize that my story is lacking. In highschool I lead a great story. I beat cancer! Pretty epic. My story could be made into a movie, it's a good story to live, a story of tragedy and pain, yet also of hope and love. But now? My story is just mediocre. I'm in a canoe, floating down the river. I'm moving forward, but I'm surrounded by others in the same river, in similar canoes. I'm not living a bad story, but I'm not living a great story either. I'm just living, just getting by.

I’ve wondered, though, if one of the reasons we fail to acknowledge the brilliance of life is because we don’t want the responsibility inherent in the acknowledgment. We don’t want to be characters in a story because characters have to move and breathe and face conflict with courage. And if life isn’t remarkable, then we don’t have to do any of that; we can be unwilling victims rather than grateful participants.
Pg 59.

I was really hit by the preceding quote. Don talked about how to have a good story, to actually live, you need to make choices, be intentional. A great story is waiting to be told for you, all you have to do is reach out and grab it.

Right now I'm disappointing in myself. There's a possibly great story waiting for me, and I had the opportunity to reach out and grab it today. The timing wasn't good, but the opportunity was there. I used the bad timing as an excuse, thinking to myself all the while that by not making the risk I was living a bad story. I didn't take the risk. I can only hope that the opportunity will present itself again in the near future.

It would appear that intentionally choosing to live a better story is not an easy thing to do. I have Hope in Christ, though, that He will assist me and guide me, give me courage and strength, as I attempt to write a great story for the character that is me.