05 Jan 06 113647119155036322

I gave up. I was tired. My bowl record, a spillover from my 3-10 NFL fantasy failure, was embarassing. A chimpanzee would have had better results. A chimpanzee probably had better results. Oregon lost, Fresno State lost, and I was pulling for Texas who looked as if they were going to lose. Early in the fourth quarter I went to bed so of course it was the finish of the ages. Whatever.
___________________________________________

Today I begin reading Epic by John Eldredge. Here’s an opening salvo:

Life, for most of us, feels like a movie we’ve arrived to forty minutes late. Sure, good things happen, sometimes beautiful things. But tragic things happen too. What does it mean? We find ourselves in the middle of a story that is sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, usually a confusing mixture of both, and we haven’t a clue how to make sense of it all. No wonder we keep losing heart. We need to know the rest of the story. For when we were born, we were born into the midst of a great story begun before the dawn of time. A story of adventure, of risk and loss, heroism . . . and betrayal. A story where good is warring against evil, danger lurks around every corner, and glorious deeds wait to be done. Think of all those stories you’ve ever loved – there’s a reason they stirred your heart. They’ve been trying to tell you about the true Epic ever since you were young. There is a larger story. And you have a crucial role to play.

The book, a very short read, looks promising. Eldredge begins with the premise that life, in it‚Äôs unfolding way, is itself a story. Of course it helps if you don’t sleep through the exciting parts.

Brace yourselves Steve and Cecil. The next sentence will be hard to hear. Eldredge says:

Life doesn’t come to us like a math problem.

Easy does it guys. Keep breathing. There you go. But please let that thought sink in.

It comes to us the way that a story does, scene by scene. You wake up. What will happen next? You don’t get to know – you have to enter in, take the journey as it comes. The sun might be shining. There might be a tornado outside. Your friends might call and invite you to go sailing. You might lose your job. Life unfolds like a drama. Doesn’t it? Each day has a beginning and an end. There are all sorts of characters, all sorts of settings. A year goes by like a chapter from a novel. Sometimes it seems like a tragedy. Sometimes like a comedy. Most of it feels like a soap opera. Whatever happens, it’s story through and through.

Are you pleased with the way your story has been written so far? Any edits you‚Äôd like to make? Any additions you‚Äôd like to write into your story this year? I’ll keep you posted if this book is worth the read.