story

There is a character in every story that is rarely mentioned. I came to this conclusion while reading Tolkien last winter. I had a nagging feeling that there was something or someone moving the Hobbits along. Someone, it seemed to me, was watching out for Frodo and Sam, and this person was more involved than the Fellowship, even more than Gandalf.

The character in the story that I felt but could not identify was Tolkien himself. He was telling the Hobbits where to go. He was the one always rescuing them at the last moment.

This may sound ridiculously obvious to you. A story is a story because it is told. Stories are not random, but ordered. What happens, happens because the author said it was so. But, Anne Lammont has been telling me it is not that easy. Good writing she says, must give freedom to the characters. In her book Bird by Bird she talks about listening to the characters when she writes, as if they were strangers she just met. The goal then is to have coffee with them, to make them your friends by the end of the book.

So in a way, stories tell themselves. Sometimes the author has to pull the pencil away from the paper, though never dropping it, for a character left alone will always write a tragedy.

I agree with Donald Miller when he says, "The closest thing I can liken life to is a book." And also with G.K. Chesterton when he said, "If there is a story, there is a story-teller."

The connection between a story and the story-teller is obvious with M. Night Shyamalan. He makes an appearance in every one of his movies. This always annoyed me until I realized why. When M. Night directs and writes he cannot help but cast himself as a character because he is so emotionally involved in the story. If you love something you cannot leave it alone. I believe M. Night feels deeply connected to the characters, pursues them, and desires to give them glory in the end.

I believe we find ourselves in a story, a story in which the Story-teller has decided to play a part. This Story-teller has entered the story at times to save us, to keep us moving toward a glorious ending. And this brings me to only one conclusion: the Story-teller loves us, and will not leave us alone.

movement

I heard a preacher say recently that life moves along on two legs: choice and destiny. I found this helpfully in explaining pain and confusion. My mind often feels like two legs tangled, tripping over each other.