Why We Love Great Stories, like Twilight - Part III of the Saga

My friends, are you beginning to see that I am not so much writing about Twilight as I am any good story that exposes what gets lodged deep down inside of you by demands, efficiency, procedures, and the like?

So what is this thing that glares at us, after reading a story that moves us and lures us in? What are we looking at that makes us feel that our lives are dull by comparison?

Here is what stared at me after being drawn into Twilight.

Romance- Edward loves Bella with a stunning, shocking, undeserving kind of love. Sound familiar? He has the power to crush her in an instant, but uses it to protect her instead of wielding it over her. He doesn’t give in to everything she wants; because he has better perspective than she (he’s been around a hundred years longer). He takes great care in making sacrificial choices for her welfare, and lavishes grace and understanding on her when she screws up – even when ways in which he could easily jump to conclusions that would make him angry. Now isn’t this the crux of the gospel? That Jesus denied himself because of His true love for us? We were made to long for this kind of love, which can only be completely found in God.  We feel the ache for it in reading these books, and make the mistake of believing we have fallen in love with a fictional character.

Altruism- The patriarch of the vampire Cullen family is Dr. Carlisle Cullen.  He was the son of an Anglican pastor, who led raids against witches, werewolves, and vampires. He became a vampire against his will as a small boy, when his father put him in charge of a raid. When he knew what he had become, he rebelled against it. He tried to destroy himself, which is not easy for a vampire to do. When that did not succeed, he wandered, loathing himself, becoming hungry and weak. He saw a herd of deer passing by and realized that he ate venison in his former life. Out of this realization his new philosophy was born: He could exist without becoming a demon (by restricting his diet to animals, and eventually controlling his desires for anything but). Being a very intelligent person, he studied various disciplines and eventually found his calling: saving human lives. It look him two centuries to perfect his self-control, but now, immune to the scent of blood, he practices as a doctor in Forks, caring for human life.

Each member of the Cullen family became a vampire in situations which found each powerless to choose otherwise. The evil desires they have are met with a deep fear of becoming monsters, which motivates them to undergo a long, arduous, painful process of mastering self-control; this allows them to live ethical lives with purpose, fulfillment and in relationship to one another. So, the classic vampire whose soul has been lost and inhabited by evil spirits is, through this process, morphed into one that shows strong characteristics of a real soul.

Doesn’t this sound like us, to a certain degree? Born into original sin, but then born into God’s family, and with His power, we have self-control (a fruit of the Spirit) and begin to think more of others than ourselves?  As much as we feel we don’t live up to this selfless life, we still want it, and find it very attractive, even heroic, in others.

Mystery- Don’t get me wrong here. I am in no way suggesting there is any likeness between the darkness of vampires and God. There is no darkness in God, He is light. He abhors darkness. But don’t you think the same part of us that is so drawn to Edward’s mysteriousness is the same part of us that is drawn to God’s mystery? I caught myself entranced in this character; the life he lives is so different than ours. 

Because we have been created to long for God, we have been created to long for the mysterious. The unknown. The unexplainable.

God has revealed much about Himself through His word, but has left much for our questioning and for our imaginations. I think we find ourselves mesmerized by Edward because in him we find a melding of these three elements – unselfish love, a desire to do good, and mystery. The mysterious life of a  vampire – not as an evil, dark, grotesque life as have seen vampires portrayed in folklore – rather, one that they did not choose for themselves and are rising above – now this is deeply alluring kind of mystery.

Adventure – Why is it that most of us feel less than 100% satisfied with our jobs? Do you see your job as an adventure, in which you play a significant role – in which your gifts are so critical that the whole mission weighs on them? This is what God made us for - whom we experience this rarely on earth – but we still want it. The Twilight series ends with a battle that hinges on Bella’s talent. The world vampire government – the Vulture -makes a false accusation against Edward and Bella concerning their child, Rename, which puts her and the entire Cullen family in grave danger. The Cullens band with other vampire allies around the world to fight against them. Bella’s talent as a shield protects those around her from Volturi psychic attacks, which forces them to back down. It makes a desk job pale in comparison, doesn’t it? Now this would be job satisfaction!

Immortality - Throughout the Twilight novels Bella is haunted by the reality of becoming old woman if she stays human. Aren’t we also haunted by old age? If we could choose a life where we wouldn’t age and grow feeble and forgetful and lonely we would. And so we empathize with Bella, and under the bed covers wonder if this life where we get tired, don’t need sleep (the Cullens don’t even own beds), don’t age, and are able to remain with those we love forever wouldn’t be worth becoming a vampire for.  We want this because we were made for this. We were made for all of these things – romance, adventure, altruism, mystery, to be lived out for an eternity.

And this is our destiny in the coming kingdom.

My blog friends, what is Christmas to you? Is it a race against the clock to get everything done? Yes, unfortunately it’s that for me too. But on the 25^th, or the 26^th, when the world hushes around you for a moment, ponder this: Christmas celebrates the beginning of all of this for you. It celebrates the beginning of a kingdom of eternal romance, mystery, adventure, and perfect altruistic love. The ache you feel for all of this is there for a reason – you were made for it. Christmas is your Breaking Dawn. ---alg

P. S. Hang in there, faithful readers. Only one left to go. Now we know what these stories – these fairy tales – have exposed about us. Now we realize what it is we want, and why we are captivated by them, but what now? What do we do with it? What is our tendency? And what should we do with it? Next blog – the last of the saga.

Falling Prey to Twilight - the Saga - Part II - "Twilight and the Myth"

In my last blog post I admitted that I fell into the Twilight black hole. There, I was mesmerized by passion and romance and adventure and mystery; it lasted until I read the words “The End”. At that point, I felt the acute angst of the forces of real life pull me back; kind of like the scene from Somewhere in Time – an old Christopher Reeve and Jayne Seymour movie – the scene where Reeve's character pulls the penny out of his pocket dated 1979, and his passion and romance and mystery back-in-time world which he had arrived at via time travel came to an anguishing abrupt halt.

I asked the question: Why? Why me? Why a good portion of the rest of the world? Did you know that Twilight has been translated into 37 languages – all with differing cover artwork that expresses the spirit of the book in unique cultures?

I heard from a few of my good Christian friends after the last blog post. They asked the question “Should I read it”? Hard question to answer. If you are looking for something to build your faith, strengthen your character, or add to your library of great literary works, no, at least, not directly. But, I further told them I loved them, and urged them to give it a try if they don’t mind the month-long hangover when finished (read the part above about the forces of real life pulling you back).

I googled “Twilight from a Christian perspective” and got some interesting viewpoints. I’ll put a couple of links here if you are interested in taking a look.

http://www.christianromancenovel.com/fiction/a-christian-perspective-on-the-twilight-saga

http://christianteens.about.com/od/christianentertainment/a/TwilightDebate.htm

In these articles you’ll see how many Christians have concerns that the main characters of the story are vampires, which, traditionally, have no souls and are inhabited by evil spirits. They struggle with some moral gray areas in relation to Bella, who wrestles with her fleshly desire of Edward, and is somewhat ho-hum when considering giving up her soul in order to be with Edward forever.

On the flip side, some Christians (including me) praise Twilight because abstinence remains to Edward a non-negotiable, to which he stays true until marriage despite immense desire. They also laud the portrayal of the characters’ high esteem for the value of human life, and for its treatment of the weighty importance of one’s soul – at least in Edwards’ mind.

But again, I’m not trying to determine if Twilight is worthy for Christian eyes, whether they be fourteen-year-old or forty-year-old eyes. It appears there has been plenty written on that. I’d like to go a little deeper, below the upper crust of moral fiber down into the hot magma that is drawing people down into it – to live there for a while, and when done with the books, to want to stay there.

I’d like to go down into the magma of myth.

You see, I think we miss the heart of our story as Christians when we behave as if all that matters is morality. Absolutely this is important, but, we need to go deeper to see why it is important, and what motivates us to act - what lies at the core of who we are, what we were made for, what we desire, what we ache for. Where does love and longing come from? Deep down in the magma of our souls. Remember we are made in the image of God, and He loves and He longs and He desires, or else, we would not exist, because He WANTED us and still WANTS us (I know, most days that’s hard to believe).

Thanks to the Enlightenment period which preceded us, we are all about facts and numbers and efficiency and bullet points and logic and intellect. The heart, (which actually has more to do with our decision making than we realize) is no longer needed. So, to get down to this level of the heart, we need a little help.

This is where stories come in to play. Fairy tales.  Myths - not in the sense of something many believe but that is not true (thanks, Enlightment period for “enlightening us” on this derivative meaning of myth). Myth - meaning, a story that uncovers something. A story that digs something up within us that makes us feel something because of the way that God designed us. John Eldredge calls myth “a story that brings you a glimpse of the eternal”, and then he quotes a Christian professor Rolland Hein “Myths are, first of all, stories: stories which confront us with something transcendent and eternal…a means by which the eternal expresses itself in time” (1).

This, my friends, is what I believe the Twilight series has done. It has dug up something in millions of people; something many are completely oblivious to. They are staring at something eternal, something real for which they were created, but are not only unaware of what it is, but what to do with it.

What is it that this series digs up, that stares us in the face after “the End”? Let's talk - see next blog.

(1)    Waking the Dead, John Eldredge, p 25

By the way, I’m assuming all who are reading this have either read the books or seen the movies and am aware of the storyline. If not, and you are interested, here are some good summaries:

http://cliffnotebooks.com/tag/twilight - Cliff Notes of all 4 books, starting with the last book

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_%28series%29  - short overviews – see “Plot Overview”

Falling Prey to Twilight - Part I of the Saga

I just went to the movie “Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1”, and confessed to my husband I cried during one scene. Good grief, how humiliating.

Well, I am defenseless.

I am publicly admitting it.

I got sucked in.

Two years ago, I finally caved in to my twelve-year old daughter’s urgings to read the first book of the “Twilight” series.

A few months later, I lay helpless - a pile of warm, pulsating blood, a servile subject to these books, as if a vampire had my shoulders pinned to the floor, ordering me to stay up until wee hours in the morning flipping pages, sucking needed sleep away from me.  I awoke many mornings tired and dumbfounded how a professional woman with moderate intelligence and at least a functioning level of discernment could get bloodsucked into a Dracula-like teenage drama.

The crazy thing is, I’m not alone. Although the books are targeted to young adults, they have snared the attention of their mothers as well.

Over 50,000 mothers have become members of the “Twilight Moms” group. You can become a member by registering at TwilightMom.com, and, if your city has a local chapter, you have the opportunity to meet monthly with other 30+ somethings who have had their lives turned upside down by the movie and play Twilight games and show off one another’s expensive inventory of Twilight paraphernailia. I am not making this up.

For the record, I am not a member. I am so relieved the bite of the books didn’t alter my body chemistry, turning me into a 41-year-old kooky Twilight mom.

Well, not kooky; when given a clean pumpkin, I choose Edward Cullen, whom I fell in love with by the end of the series (not Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen in the movies; the fictional character Edward– this is an important distinction).

The books have received some well-deserved criticism for sexual content, since the largest audience is teenage girls. I would agree the language gets any women’s hormones pumping, but “explicit” is an exaggeration, in my humble opinion.  The assessment deeming the books far from literary genius is one with which I agree, but I don’t think they were not written as such; rather, as brain candy  (for enjoyment).

I have heard other valid criticisms, but the one I wrestle with the most is that from Christians -the books are about vampires. This is the very reason I did not rush down to the book store when it first came out (and is the reason I still haven’t read Harry Potter – right or wrong). A book about darkness? Not really something edifying for anyone’s mind, and a Christian should know better. But, I figured since my daughter already had her teeth into one of them, I should go ahead and check it out in the noble pursuit of being an educated parent.

After being sucked in like my sister’s friend, who claimed she found new meaning of life from the series, I really started to ponder why a good portion of the world is crazed about this, and going overboard in deriving new life purpose from it. I’d like to share my thoughts on this. If you read the books and hated them, I beg you to stay with me on this regardless, and see if you might agree with me on at least a few points. I am neither praising nor condemning the books, but rather trying to answer the question “Why did the world get sucked in?”

Before I begin, a bit of warning. I said in an earlier blog that I have this tendancy to “overanalyze every living thing and every dead thing. I try to find meaning in inanimate objects; I perform autopsies on them to discover the cause of death, and try to decode the DNA of polyester stuffing to find the essence of life. I squeeze a water-soaked rag until every last possible drop of spiritual insight-however skewed- has dripped.” (“Nerve Endings”, June 2011)

I fear this may be a good example of the aforesaid overthinking neurosis. I may be mining for deep truth in a spiritual wasteland.

But please, indulge me, starting with my next blog posting.---alg

Planning a Thanksgiving Meal

Now that we are all stuffed like a 20-pound turkey, it's time to honor those who made the feast you indulged in today. This is my gift to those who spent hours planning, shopping, hauling, thawing, basting, baking, chopping, simmering, boiling, and serving. It's time to bring those who are blissfully unaware into the kitchen so to speak to see what it REALLY takes to put a Thanksgiving meal together. These are the email and facebook exchanges that took place over the last couple of weeks amongst me and my family members female family members.

November 16-24, 2011

Amy:

All of you turkeys are welcome to come to our house for the 2011 Unforgettable Thanksgiving Soiree.

If I remember right, Jessica works at 2:00 (?). How about eating at noon (which, thereby, will make it no longer a soiree)?

Now, for the food planning....

If you have an idea of what you'd like to bring, say so (reply to all). If you'd like the poultry party planners to sign you up for something, we can oblige.

Please note that Bud is included in the meal-planning process.

The way you get off the mailing list is by volunteering to make something for dinner. ;-)

Gobble Gobble!!

Robin:

Feeling festive already!!! Noon feed time sounds great. We have a smoked turkey we plan to bring. I'll wait to hear what others plan to bring to decide what else I should plan to fill in with. I'd be happy to make whatever...assign/request if you wish.

Debbie:

This is going to be great. Thinking about bringing sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, fruit, cake. What do you think?

Debbie:

Hello again. Dave thinks cake doesn’t go with Thanksgiving, so how does sweet potatoes, fruit tray, mashed potatoes and what ever else the turkey committee would want us to bring. Please let me know. Gobble, Gobble.

Bud:

He's an idiot. Go with the cake. You can tell him I said that.

PS... No stuffed animals ... Yes even turkeys.

Amy:

Does anyone have a different email address for Jessica? These are coming back to me.

I would love to make a pie (not necessarily in leiu of the cake). If Dad insists that you not bring it, I will make 2. But, the kids might like cake more than pie. ;-) I'll make something else too; not sure what yet.

Deb, that sounds great, why don't you just bring the whole meal? Just kidding! You don't have to do all of that; how about pick 2-3 out of the 4-5! Let us know what you decide.

Robin:

I will also bring a dressing to go with turkey. Bud - I won't stuff the turkey with it :)

Amy:

Ok, I think this is what we have so far:

Mom: Turkey and stuffing

Amy: 2 pies, Thoreson farm corn, cranberry sauce

Debbie: sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cake????

Robin:

I'll bring gravy too.

Robin:

I know  Jessica worked 6pm-2am tonight so she will probably answer your message in the nightnow the address I gave you is the right one. She probably got it and forgot - I have experienced that with her before. Kisha...can't answer for her. I believe she is planning on bringing a ham...if Brandon picked up the voucher. I'll check with her because if she didn't I wonder if I need to get another turkey. The one I have is only 11 pounds I think.

Amy:

I do have another turkey; I'd need to take it out tonight.

Jessica:

okay my bad, i am just checking my email!!! sorry!! we can bring a relish tray and buns??? if there is something else let us know. Yes I work at 2:00, so 12:00 works great!!

Debbie:

ok here’s what I decided for us to bring. Sweet potatoes, 2 fruit bowels, cake. If there is something else you would like us to bring let me know. See all of you on turkey day!

Amy:

I didn't take out the turkey; at this point I think it's easier to buy one than try to thaw one out by tomorrow. I think they are 6.99 at Safeway. Debbie isn't bringing the smashed potatoes now so I'll do those too. If Kisha isn't bringing ham, maybe she could do a veggie/pasta salad (out of a box) and drinks for kids; and i might forget the corn in that case. Let me know what you find out (you said you were going to talk to her)?? Thanks!

Amy:

sounds like kisha is bringing ham, no worries

Robin:

Ok, just got these messages (last three) so all of this is just information at this late moment. Kisha is bringing a shrimp cocktail tray and crab dip with crackers. Dad and I are bringing the ham. You are probably planning on corn since you didn't hear back from me about what Kisha is bringing...and I didn't get your message about pasta salad. Corn sounds good to me. I'm relieved to know about the potatoes...I was kinda panicked about that one last night.

Amy:

These conversations would make a great blog. It's amazing what women go through to plan a Thanksgiving meal!

Robin:

No kidding! So much anxiety and heartburn its amazing we can sit down and eat whatever ends up on the table! I feel so much better now that the potatoes are covered. Dad has wrestled with the meat so I'm relaxing now...whew

Need I say more?

So, treat the woman in your house who endured emotional turmoil and went mad in the minutia in order to tantalize your taste buds today to a night on the couch with no responsibilities. And bring her wine. She needs it.---alg