tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20806366.post839378595721617161..comments2023-10-18T08:23:50.831-04:00Comments on Endless Books: The Meaning and Purpose Behind StoriesBethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589856495993730380noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20806366.post-65709529540678935192007-08-09T15:43:00.000-04:002007-08-09T15:43:00.000-04:00Thanks, Regina. I know what you mean...part of the...Thanks, Regina. I know what you mean...part of the joy and beauty of these stories (and so many others) is how they invite readers to contemplate things gradually, as they're borne along on the tide of the story. I hope we haven't talked HP to death for this generation!Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08589856495993730380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20806366.post-25238532443340346002007-08-09T15:41:00.000-04:002007-08-09T15:41:00.000-04:00Kale, thanks for commenting...I've been musing on ...Kale, thanks for commenting...I've been musing on your comment for a few days. I hear what you're saying, but I'm not sure it's exactly what I was getting at here. Certainly the best stories invite us into mystery, and certainly the life of faith is, in part, a willingness to live with mystery. But I'm not sure I'm willing to say that evangelists are necessarily not good poets or storytellers. John the evangelist was an amazing poet, and Jesus (the evangel himself!) invited people into the gospel often by telling stories. I wonder if it's we who have turned the notion of evangelism into something overly didactic and unrelated to story. <BR/><BR/>There's an interesting article over at Christianity Today, posted just a few days ago, that muses a bit more on the idea of how the church need to recapture people's imaginations as we share the gospel. The author ties it all into HP, and it's very well-done and thought-provoking. In case you're interested, here's the link: http://www.christianitytoday.com/48546<BR/><BR/>Thanks again for commenting. I hadn't thought about Keats in a long time! :-)Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08589856495993730380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20806366.post-90924406347248758312007-08-08T19:29:00.000-04:002007-08-08T19:29:00.000-04:00Well said! I agree: let sleeping dragons lie. I'...Well said! I agree: let sleeping dragons lie. I'm already afraid about the backlash against Harry by the secular world if they start to suspect the stories are "too Christian."regina domanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14564986258312394720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20806366.post-28736884430685670212007-08-04T09:13:00.000-04:002007-08-04T09:13:00.000-04:00Beth,I wonder if what you are getting at in this w...Beth,<BR/><BR/>I wonder if what you are getting at in this whole thing is what Keats calls "negative capability." He mentions it in a letter to a friend:<BR/><BR/>"....several things dovetailed in my mind, & at once it struck me, what quality went to form a Man of Achievement especially in Literature which Shakespeare possessed so enormously -- I mean NEGATIVE CAPABILITY, that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason -- "<BR/><BR/>The poet/writer is not an evangelist. In fact, they tend to be really bad story tellers because they don't trust the medium/story to do what stories do. Most of us Christians can't bear to operate in the midst of mystery (ironically) because we live in an Apologetical Age in which we want above all to be right. JK seems to get that the truth seems to be more mysterious, more paradoxical, less the "irritable reaching" after facts. Besides, as another poet said about his and others work: poems mean more, not less, than poets intend.<BR/><BR/>Arguing with people about the Christian meaning of HP is futile and probably counter-productive. It's there, to be sure. Let the stories do their thing. After all, every one of us struggles to believe. These stories most certainly help!<BR/><BR/>Kale<BR/><BR/>PS: hello Jan!Kale Zeldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15929089889229290574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20806366.post-46058657911246077562007-08-03T14:55:00.000-04:002007-08-03T14:55:00.000-04:00Oh Janet, thank you! What a wonderful paraphrase f...Oh Janet, thank you! What a wonderful paraphrase from Peterson. There are certain passages in the Message that really leap out at you, and this is definitely one. What an appropriate quote with which to begin a screenwriting class too. <BR/><BR/>I've been enjoying posts at your site and a few others, but I find I'm just needing to lurk more this time around and think through things a bit more slowly. I love the camaraderie of thinking through things together, but for some reason I'm finding it easier to do that through one-on-one connections than big forums and discussion groups this time around. Rowling has certainly given us much to ponder, both in the final book itself and as we contemplate the series as a whole, her writing process, and how all of that interacts with her faith...and ours.Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08589856495993730380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20806366.post-32488601644714345032007-08-02T22:37:00.000-04:002007-08-02T22:37:00.000-04:00Absolutely beautiful, Beth. Thank you. Thank you...Absolutely beautiful, Beth. Thank you. Thank you.<BR/><BR/>....Re: stories as pre-evangelism.... I read this quote at the beginning of a class I teach to aspiring Christian screenwriters (should I say "screenwriters who are Christian) about story choice and development. It's from Eugene Peterson's translation/paraphrase "The Message":<BR/><BR/>The disciples came up and asked, "Why do you tell stories?" He replied, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn't been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That's why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they're blue in the face and not get it." -Matt. 13:10-13Janethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12586155756659065295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20806366.post-84214149357419039912007-08-01T22:43:00.000-04:002007-08-01T22:43:00.000-04:00Thanks, Erin! I'm still wrestling with my thoughts...Thanks, Erin! I'm still wrestling with my thoughts here...it's been good to talk with Dana, but we can only talk so much since he doesn't know the end of the book yet. (We have caved in and continued to read, although we're trying to slow the pace a bit so we can get more sleep. We're moving right along though...I just read him the Gringotts chapter.) <BR/><BR/>Anyway, as I was saying, I'm still trying to wrestle out what I mean here. I think there is real depth to these stories, and that the Christian themes and shaping are very important and very much there. But I'm not sure that arguing about it with people who persist in saying they're not there is really the way to go, and I've seen some of that happen. And I am most intrigued by what people's fascination with and love of these stories says about their needs, their longings, their story hunger. <BR/><BR/>I had a professor at seminary who used to refer to Lewis' stories as pre-evangelism. They paved the way, he thought, for the sowing of the seeds of faith later. Maybe that's partly what I'm getting at here, though Rowling has done it very differently than Lewis. These kinds of stories plow the ground of the heart.Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08589856495993730380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20806366.post-14184536052002153222007-08-01T19:31:00.000-04:002007-08-01T19:31:00.000-04:00Oooooh... Absolutely fantastic post, Beth. I thi...Oooooh... Absolutely fantastic post, Beth. I think you're definitely right that Rowling has given us a story of a profundity often lacking in today's largely materialistic culture. Stories like this really do shine a light on the important things in life, help us to clear out the clutter in our minds and focus on the basics. Rowling, like Lewis and Tolkien before her, has given us a world that in many ways feels more real than reality because of the ever-present awareness of something greater. And by falling in love with these characters and empathizing with their struggles, I think it has to potential to help all of us, no matter what our background, to become better people, and to exercise that same kind of concern for the real people in our lives.Erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07191855305749074736noreply@blogger.com