When You Judge a Book by it's Cover

I know that they tell you not to judge a book by it’s cover, but that is a rule that I literally break on a regular basis (it’s a side effect of being a graphic designer). Sure, there have been the rare occasions that I read a book with a bad cover that I thoroughly enjoyed and vice versa, but for the sake of this blog post, we won’t dwell on those.

This story begins last year while I was in the Family Christian Bookstore and saw the book cover for Fatherless. It seized my attention. Noting that the book was written by Dr. James Dobson, I flipped open the book and read the synopsis. Incredibly intrigued but not willing to pay the $25 price tag, I regretfully put the book back on the shelf.

Fast-foward to February of 2014, I signed up for a subscription for Audible. Audio books and dramatic audio presentations are like my daily bread, I love having my mind occupied while cleaning, cooking, sewing, designing graphics, etc. Care to take a guess at what my first audio download was? If you guessed Fatherless, you’d be absolutely correct. In less than 48 hours I had eagerly devoured the entire thing.

In Fatherless, Dr. James Dobson and Kurt Bruner depict America 28 years in the future. They explore the dire consequences that could result if America continues on the path she is currently on. It is 2042: the world has past a tipping point. For the first time in history, developed nations have more retired elderly than young workers who can sustain them. The planet finds itself in the midst of an economical collapse. The solution? The president introduced a “forward-thinking” plan called the Youth Initiative. In this plan, elderly can choose to end their life by euthanasia in order to “transition” their wealth and assets to their children and grandchildren.

The stage being thus set, enter Julia Davidson, Troy Simmons, Kevin and Angie Tolbert, Matthew Adams, and a slew of supporting characters whom we grow to love, hate, cry for, and celebrate with throughout the trilogy (Fatherless, Childless, and Godless).

This series may be too political for some, but I loved the blend of social problems, politics, mystery, relationships, morality, ethics, and even spiritual warfare. I encourage you to give this trilogy a try. I should note that this series grapples with some pretty weighty topics (as you’ll quickly discover from the opening sentence of the forward), suicide, abortion, this series has it all. I should also note that the trilogy has some mature-ish content that seems to be aimed more toward married audiences, so I don’t know that I can recommend these to anyone younger than myself.

In Fatherless, Childless, and Godless two diametrically opposed world-views clash as America becomes hostile territory to the family and Christianity. The trilogy relentlessly calls for Christians to be a “bright-spot” in an increasingly dark world.

The First Church of Cinderella

As I walked down the street one Sunday morning, a sign caught my attention. It read, “First Church of Cinderella.” I stared at it in wonder for several minutes, my mind running through possible scenarios of what such a church would be like. Did all the women dress in gowns from 1,000 years ago? Was the inside decorated like a medieval castle? At last, overcome by curiosity, I walked in.

Surprisingly, the church was free from tapestries and suits of armor. The church was well lit and modern. Except for the sign-up table for children 8-12 to attend “Fairy Tale Camp” in the summer, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Sounds of music and singing filled my ears and I went in search of it.

Finding the sanctuary, I walked in and slipped into the back row. The upbeat song was extolling the fairy god-mother’s power; it was followed by a slow, moving song about Cinderella’s compassion and kindness.

Pastor Goodheart walked across the platform. “Good morning church,” he said brightly, “please take a moment to greet one another in the name of True Love.” The woman seated in front of me turned around and ecstatically shook my hand, repeating the phrase.

Pastor Goodheart delivered a stirring sermon about Prince Charming’s true love for Cinderella. He applied the prince’s willingness to scour the land, testing every single maiden, until he found “the one” to our own lives by encouraging us to live with that kind of undying, unrelenting love.

The sermon was followed by a moving rendition of “I Could Sing of Their Love Forever.”

As I walked out the pastor shook my hand, smiling broadly. “What did you think of our service this morning?”

“It was…unlike any service I’ve been in before.” I answered truthfully.

“I’m sure it was!”

“You have a beautiful building.”

“We do,” Pastor Goodheart said, looking around proudly.

“I actually have many questions about your beliefs,” I admitted.

“Really? My wife and I would love for you to join us for lunch this afternoon! We can discuss all of your questions.”

--

Later, as a waitress set down a basket filled with golden, crispy fries, Mrs. Goodheart turned to me, “My husband tells me you have many questions about our church.”

“Yes!”

“What would you like to know?”

“Well, I have no doubt that you are all very sincere, but I have many doctrinal questions for you.” I flipped open the notebook which I had scribbled questions in during the sermon. They were:

1. Do you believe in the second coming of the fairy god-mother?
2. Are mice ministering spirits sent to help us in our times of need?
3. Have you seen the power of True Love at work in the lives of your congregation members and in your own lives?
4. Do you believe pumpkins are sacred?
5. What are your views on Snow White?

I began with the first.

The pastor and his wife exchanged knowing glances. His wife spoke, “Now, we want you to understand something…”

“Yes,” continued the pastor, “We don’t believe that the story of Cinderella literally happened.”

I stared at them, shocked, “Then, you are living a lie!”

“Not at all,” said Mrs. Goodheart, “We truly believe Cinderella has many good principles that we should apply to our everyday lives.”

I sputtered, “Does your congregation know this?!”

The pastor laughed, “Of course! You don’t expect anyone to really believe that story actually happened, do you? Pumpkins turning into carriages and talking mice… it’s all too fantastical.”

His wife smiled, “We aren’t radicals, we’re just trying to make the world around us a better place.”

“But,” I stammered, my mind still reeling, “how can you expect other people to follow ideas from a story that you don’t even believe happened?”

“They see the moral truth of the story.”

“But if none of it is true, how can their lives be truly affected? What motivation do they have to share the story with others? What happens when a situations comes up that they are not strong enough to handle? Who or what can they lean on?”

Pastor Goodheart and his wife answered all my questions with the same calm answer they had been using all along. But I left lunch that day unsatisfied. What good is it dedicating your life to something you don’t believe? How long can that last?


Note:
An allegory is like a parable or fable. It’s a made up story that illustrates a truth. This allegory depicts a group of people who do not believe the events of the Bible literally happened, but that it is, nevertheless, a moral book which we should try to live by. This belief completely misses the point of the Bible. One may as well preach a book of fairytales.

It's Not Personal

Artists are temperamental, so they say. But are they really? And do they have have reason to be more emotional or sensitive than anyone else?

Here’s what I think: The entire creative process, the birth of an idea, the development of a concept, finding just the right element to make your creation click, seeing something that was once only an idea in your head become a tangible reality is a very personal processes. Designers, artists, composers, and authors, (by some mysterious process) are able to express what they’re feeling and thinking. Our thoughts, our inspirations, our preferences, our personality, our tastes, all of these make us who we are. It’s shouldn’t be a surprise that what we create feels like a reflection of ourselves.

When people reject what we make, it can feel like they’re rejecting us. I struggled with this as a young designer (I’m still young, but think early and mid teens). Because I was self-taught, I made (or rather, tried to make) what seemed right to me. I felt my way though it. This made rejection even harder to deal with, because on the surface, you know that they are not rejecting you. But, deep down on that level of feeling where you create, you feel like they are.

Thankfully, I had a lot of positive feedback. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for several awesome people cheering me on. However, on those occasions when someone didn’t like my design, it just sucked all the wind out of my sails. The closer I was to the person who critiqued it and the more I had poured into it, the more hurt I felt.

There are two things I’ve learned to do that help me deal with this:

1.  Realize that my preferences and styles are not who I am. Seriously. I had to come to this conscience realization. They are not me. I am a soul which was created by God. All these other things that feel so integral to who I am, is, in the end, just surface stuff.
2.  Divorce myself from my design. Divorce is a harsh-but-fitting word. After spend hours of quality time making my design exactly what it needed to be, I’ve learned to step back and walk away for a bit. When I return, I look critically and analytically. It does take some of the joy out of designing but it has also improved my skill.

If you’re just venturing into this great world of art (or creative design in any sense), find yourself people who will cheer you on but will also help to develop your skill. Don’t become offended when someone offers their opinion or wants you to give them different options. It’s all a part of learning and growing.

Hook, Line, & Sinker

“Red hair, sir, in my opinion, is very dangerous.”
- P.G. Wodehouse

When I was younger, I didn’t like the term “redhead.” To my very opinionated, eight-year old mind, my hair was not red, and it most definitely was not orange. Eventually I settled on the term “rusty copper” to describe my locks. (Never mind that when copper rusts, it turns a gross, mossy, green color.) Rusty copper just sounded quaint and dignified. Eventually I learned to not mind the good natured jokes about my hair color; I even gave up calling it rusty copper when I saw an actual rusted-over copper statue in DC.

I’m not sure why everyone seems to have an array of impressive one-liners they like to pull out every time a redhead appears, but they do. My personal favorite is, “Your hair is really red! You must have quite the temper!”

It’s at these times that I take a deep breath, swallow back my supposedly fiery temper, force a laugh, and say, “Ha! Never heard that one before!”

There are things in all of our lives that act like built-in excuses. It would be easy to allow my temper to flare often because “I’m a redhead.” Or I could get away with being shy because “I was homeschooled.” Some build walls and refuse to connect with others because they have “trust issues.” Others shrug and say it’s alright for them to be blunt and offensive because it’s just the “way they are.” And still others think they can be obnoxious because it’s the “way they were raised.” I found that many times we didn’t come up with these excuses on our own, usually comments from family, friends, or even strangers handed us these excuses on a silver platter. It’s so easy to swallow these excuses hook, line, and sinker! Before long, it becomes acceptable–even expected–for us to indulge bad (and sometimes sinful) actions.

Somewhere along the way I determined I was never going to use my hair color as an excuse to not control my temper; call it redheaded stubbornness if you will. (See how easy it is to pull these out?) I love what Paul wrote to Timothy. In Heather’s Very English translation, he said, “Don’t allow anyone to despise and look down on you because you’re young. Instead, be an example to every believer in how you talk, act, and love. Also in your attitude, faith, and purity.”

Paul was challenging Timothy not to resort to lazy or irresponsible behavior just because everyone expected it of him.

Well Paul, challenge accepted.

Of Monkeys, Textbooks, and Gender

“Sociologists suggest that socialization, rather than biology, usually influences what we see as appropriate behaviors for different genders.”

I’m a college-goer now, and I’m afraid that this is an excerpt from my rather expensive textbook. The required class, Contemporary American Society, quotes Karl Marx more often than Abraham Lincoln (actually, I have yet to see a quote from our 16th president) and the author does little to hide his obvious biases.

The chapter on sexuality is especially hard for me to swallow (hence this blog post). The author is informing us that socialization is what determines traits in humans. In other words, girls like to play with dolls because parents push dolls on them from a young age and boys roughhouse because it’s what everyone expects. The idea that boys will boys simple because they’re boys is viewed as old-fashioned by “modern” thinkers such as my highly esteemed curriculum writer.

As I scanned the first few pages, something about that statement grabbed my attention. “Sociologists suggest…” Which sociologists? Surely not all of them. If not all, than how many? Even if all hold this view, wouldn’t it only seem right that sociologists chalk everything up to sociology? What do other people in scientific fields have to say?

Thanks to Google, I came across a fantastic little article. In 2002, a study was conducted on monkeys. The monkeys showed the exact same preference for certain gender-specific toys that children do. The results proved that preferences and traits are inherently biological (boys will be boys simply because they’re boys). This shocking study was later duplicated with a different species of primate, yet demonstrated the same results.

While the author ascribes the findings to evolution rather than to a God who created certain things to be innate inside of humans (and yes, even animals), I encourage you to read the article (click here).

In the end, the THINK textbook can say what it will; I discovered that facts support what I already believed to be true. Although I cringe at the thought of paying for these “core” classes that clash with my beliefs, I intend to only come out firmer and more grounded in my beliefs than when I went in.

140 Characters or Less

People are processors. That’s just what we do. Our brains are inundated with information every second. Our eyes are relaying what they’re seeing, our ears are telling us what they’re hearing, our finger tips are conveying what they’re feeling, and so on. Not only do we need to be able to handle that stuff, but every detail is making connections to other bits of information that we have stored and is evoking memories and emotional responses. How on earth do we handle it all?

We process.

Different people process in different ways. Some process by talking; they often have no idea what they’re thinking until they talk it out. I have a feeling that Peter was a talker. Bold, rash Peter who said the first thing that popped into his head no matter if he was talking to the God who created the universe or to the lame beggar at the gate. Yes, I think he was a talker.

Some people are thinkers. These mull over everything in their mind until it’s properly dealt with. Mary was a thinker. Luke 2:19 says that she took all the events that happened at Jesus’ birth and pondered them in her heart.

And then we have writers. I process best by writing. If I don’t write, my thoughts are only partially developed, floating around and wreaking havoc in my mind until I can deal with them. History has favored writers in that while many great thoughts over the centuries have gone unuttered and many great words have been left unrecorded, words written have been preserved. I suspect Luke and John were both writers, and of course you have people like Dickens and Shakespeare.

In the past, thoughts were developed into volumes of books, an event expanded into a great epic, and a word grew into a complex poem. Something would happen and it was analyzed from every angle, a deeper meaning was pursued and hidden truths were sought after. Of course this was done in different ways–Mary pondered, Peter talked, Dickens wrote–but it was done.

Today, I believe our culture is losing depth. Rather than being encouraged to search out meaning we’re told to simplify. After a life changing event we’re expected to condense it into 140 characters or less. Deepness is not applauded–quick, short punchlines are.

Funny story: I went on a 40 day Facebook fast a couple of years ago, and it was so much harder than I anticipated! Not because I needed to keep up with everyone, but because Facebook had become my outlet for processing. Someone would say something and my mind would immediately process and simplify it into a Facebook sized post. What did I do during these 40 days you wonder? How did I cope? I’m glad you asked! The very first day, I turned to journaling. I continued to journal nearly every day until I promptly stopped when the fast was over.

Recently, I’ve nearly given up on Facebook in favor of Twitter. One consequence of this is that I occasionally find myself thinking thoughts (for what else would you think) in segments of 140 characters! It’s funny. Then it becomes scary. To think that something like Twitter or Facebook could have such an influence on something so fundamental to me such as the ability process my thoughts and feelings is very sobering.

So, how do we counteract the influence of things like social media? Well, I’m not exactly sure yet. But, I suspect it involves prayer and the Word. For example, if you’re a talker, pour out your feelings to God in prayer. If you’re a thinker, always be in the Word to keep your mind from being bombard by distracting media. If you’re a writer, discipline yourself to keep a prayer journal so you are developing your thoughts in a Godly way.

You know, come to think of it, we should be doing all three things anyway...

When We Become Too Polite

I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

-Ps 116:1-2

These verses always strike me as being a little funny. I picture God saying, "Well, that's just great! I help him one time, and now he says he will call on Me for the rest of his life!"

There is a story in Luke about a guy who went to his friend's house at midnight and said, "Get up! Quick, I need to borrow three loaves of bread!"

"No. Go away. Everyone's asleep, I can't get up and give it to you." The friend replied.

After going through this a couple of times, I probably would have found my dad's shotgun and been like, "Dude! You don't know what I'm capable of when I'm tired. Go away. Right now."

You can take a moment and be thankful that I'm not God.

Sometimes I treat God the same way I treat a person. Ask politely once or twice. Never pound on their door after midnight. Don't bother them too often.

But Jesus isn't like that. He designed us to be dependent on Him! He told the story of the friend at midnight as an example for how we should pray. He concludes the story by saying, "I tell you, because of his impudence he will rise up and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks it will be open."

God wants you to call on Him everyday of your life. He wants you to be persistent and annoying. Keep pressing. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Breakthrough.