They are re-listening to a series called Guardians of GaHoole. An epic about owls battling good vs evil. All the elements are there. Lore. A band of heroes. Moral struggles. A rich world and a rich cast of characters.
They listened for hours. Our family gets into stories. Sometimes we spend full days on our RV trips listening to a book while we drive or hike.
I woke this morning to a different story. A real one. My brother texted me before the sun was up. Giddy. A co-worker of his us getting baptized and asked him to participate. He was bubbling with excitement. His texts reminded me of stories in the Gospels. People who had seen Jesus and ran and told. "God is here among us. " My heart smiled. My brother met Jesus in the road. He sees the work of God painted in the life of someone he knows. And in the telling of the story, he experiences God again. And as I share the story, God leans over my shoulder. I'm pretty sure God likes stories too.
There is another story that had stayed with me this week.
Eddie and I are reading Life of Pi for his current literature book.
Life of Pi is a story about an Indian boy who finds himself stranded at sea with a tiger following a shipwreck. An interesting thing about Pi is that he is deeply religious. Following Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.
We're currently reading about his early religious experiences. He grew up a Hindu. He shares a chapter with sacred Hindu stories with a variety of God's who seem to serve as different faces of an unknowable divine. Hinduism is a religion that I know relatively little about so it was interesting to me to hear some bits of the theology.
But the next chapter was he introduction too Christianity. He was a bit afraid of Christians, but intrigued.... enough to sneak into a church. He describes the church as a complete outsider to the Christian faith and story. He sees these gruesome pictures of torture and wonders why God would punish a man so harshly and why this particular story would be featured so prominently in the church's art work.
He sits with the priest who tells the story of Jesus. Pi is confused. In his mind, gods are above humanity. Why would a god send a son to become human and then to die? The story offended him. The more he thought about it, the more he was offended by it. He couldn't stay away -- the anger burned, the questions burned -- who was this God? Who was this Jesus?
He returned daily for several days firing he anger and questions to the priest. The priests response was always simple - Love.
The answer to all questions about this story is love.
Finally, exasperated, Pi asks the priest to tell him another story.
The priest replies, "We have but one story. There are many prologue. But one story. And this story has but one word. "
Love.
Seeing my faith through the unknowing eyes of a young Hindu boy, tells me a story I know by heart in a way I've never heard it.
Seeing the texts from my brother adds a few new sentences to my personal epilogue. So does watching my boys grow up.
Palm Sunday is a few days away. Christians everywhere will begin telling our story. We will do it with dramatic readings and reenactment. We will do it with liturgy and the pounding of a nail or the slamming of a book on a silent sanctuary. We will walk the stations and strip the alter. We might watch movies or read the scriptures. We might tell the story with meals or rituals. Beautifully, our Jewish siblings will be similarly telling the passover story with liturgy, readings, meals and rituals. It truly will be a holy week full of holy stories.
Get lost in the story, my friends.
Lay around like my boys with their audiobook and allow the hours to pass as you lose yourself in the story. It is epic. Rich with moral struggles and a rich cast of characters. Let it anger you or fill you with questions. Let it work into your brain and drive you crazy. And then, remember ... love... love is the story of Jesus. And perhaps, you may run into God during this very holy week.
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