Story Teller, Part Two: 'Character Development'

"He's a real Nowhere Man, sitting is his Nowhere Land, making all his Nowhere Plans for Nobody..."

Peter Parker is the nerdy High School kid that just wants to 'get the girl.' Frodo Baggins is a Hobbit from the Shire where 'nobody ever had adventures or did anything unexpected.' Luke Skywalker is the lonely farm boy on the desert planet of Tatooine where he feels he's 'never gonna get out of [there...].' Harry Potter is a miserable orphan living with his awful Aunt and Uncle who 'were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.' Sora is a teenage boy from a small island in the middle of nowhere. Link is a Kokiri child living in a tree house. Abraham Lincoln is born, poor, in a log cabin, and homeschools himself by candlelight for years. Jesus of Nazareth is born the son of a common carpenter in a barn.

All these stories, whether they're fictional or not, all start similarly, do they not? You have your main character living a pretty... boring life. Sometimes, it's a hard one, at that. King David is a scrawny shepherd. Aragorn is basically Middle Earth's equivalent of a hobo. Jack Shepherd is a normal doctor with daddy issues. The list goes on, and on, and I think, a lot of times, we can relate. I know I can.

Some one asked me not too long ago to 'tell them the Matt Walker story.'
"I'm afraid it's pretty unexciting and uneventful up to this point," I replied.
"Well, it's not finished yet," he said.

In part one, I talked about my drive to be a story teller. About how, since birth basically, I've been creating stories and tales and worlds and characters because... it just felt right. Whether I express that through my writing, or filmmaking, or even just imagining and dreaming - I feel, at my core, I was born - I was created - to be a story teller. But, at the end of the last post, I expressed how things have slowed down considerably in recent days.

Which makes me think about where I could possibly be in my timeline right now. Sometimes... actually, a lot of the time, lately... I feel like Bilbo having morning tea with Gandalf. Glancing out the window on the lovely home he's blessed with, but feeling... discontented. 'Like... butter scraped over too much bread,' he says. Sometimes, I feel like Peter Parker, dreaming of the day he can get the girl, move past his years as a teenager, and get on to what he was meant to do. Sometimes, I feel like Luke Skywalker or Sora from 'Kingdom Hearts' and I just want to... go.

Go away, physically? Not really. More like... hurry up. Go ahead. Get to Act II. Press the 'Next' button on the remote; skip to the next chapter; cut to the chase. You get my drift.

I know this is foolish, I know it is. I know I'm supposed to 'Wait for the lord, be strong and take heart,' (Psalm 27:14) and I know that 'God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them,' (Romans 8:28) but when? When does Obi-Wan give me my lightsaber? When does Gandalf tell me I need to leave for Rivendell? When does the radioactive spider bite me, or when does Hagrid knock down my door one day and say 'Guess what, Matt? You're not only capable, but were born with the natural ability, to do extraordinary, supernatural, unexplainable things?'

It feels like it's taking forever.

Worse than that, I feel like I'm going the wrong direction. Even though I know it takes time and patience to get there - it's a long path, indeed - I feel like I'm going down the wrong path altogether. Like in 'The Fellowship of the Ring' when the Company is nearly brought down by the mighty blizzard on top of Mt. Caradhras, as they're going the wrong way in the first place. I'm not acting like Jonah, though, where God told him to go one way, and he's going in the other - no, not at all. I feel like I'm out at sea without a map. Lost in the forest without a guide. Wandering a mountain range without so much as a path.

But (and here comes the kicker)... is that such a bad thing?

Think about a story that begins with the hero in Nowheresville, doing nothing, with no adventure, no lover, no nothing. Where do we learn the most of that person? Where do authors and filmmakers take the time to develop their characters? In the first scenes and in the first chapters. Where do television producers take time to tell back stories, to develop personalities, to make you care about the people they've created? In the first season. In the first Act.

So what is the Author of eternity doing and planning during my first chapter, or rather, my first book?

A lot of the time, our favorite characters are thrust into circumstance that later lead to the rest of their story. Luke's home is attacked, the storm visits the Destiny Islands, word of Voldemort rising again startles the Wizarding World, etc. But they all start from somewhere, do they not? 'From humble beginnings...' we hear often.

My prayer these days is that God is developing me like a hero in an epic story. That He is using this time of seemingly inactivity to shape me into the person - the man - I was created to be, prepared to do the things He has prepared me to do, and the stories He has inspired me to tell. My prayer is that when the day does come that the Ring falls into my hands, that I know what to do with it. When I take off with Han Solo and Obi-Wan Kenobi, that I understand the ways of the Force. That when I stumble through the wardrobe in to Narnia, I'm wearing a coat to keep me warm and safe. That when the time comes, I'm ready to take up my cross and follow Him.

That is my prayer. It's exciting to think about the future, and the good things God has planned for us. Let us not, however, forget the crucial step of character development. Without character development... well, we're just in a crappy movie like 'Avatar,' aren't we?

So it is, eventually, that Peter Parker becomes Spider-man, and saves the city and wins the heart of Mary Jane. Frodo Baggins saves Middle Earth. Luke Skywalker redeems his own father, and puts an end to tyranny in the Galaxy. Harry Potter defeats the Dark Lord. Sora understands the light that exists in the human heart. Link defeats Gannondorf, Abraham Lincoln becomes the President that sets the slaves free, and Jesus Christ raises from the dead, and ascends into Heaven.

I wonder what Matt Walker will do?

Harry Potter and Jesus - Connecting the Dots

Warning: this blog post contains spoilers for Harry Potter, Lost, Narnia, The Princess Bride, Star Wars, Saw, and Lord of the Rings. You've been warned!

This past month at my church, we've been doing a series called Dot 2 Dot - "Connecting the Dots to see the Big Picture." The whole idea behind it all is how God can use seemingly insignificant, tiny things and people as a part of his big picture, working them all together for the story He's trying to tell.

I have loved this series because of that very idea - the tiny, seemingly unimportant things actually being very significant when all is revealed in the end. Don't you love that, too? I think most people, Christian or not, love that aspect of stories, books, movies, television, etc.

How did 'Lost' remain on air for six seasons? After plot twist after plot twist; after turn after turn; after revelation after revelation, we find out little details we learned early on were significant after all. We see the identity of the skeletons in the cave revealed, we find out what the island is, and we find out that Jack Shepherd and the Oceanic Six have a crucial role to play.

How did JK Rowling get professors of literature to read a Scholastic Childern's novel series? After seven whole books in the Harry Potter series, we see that, thousands of pages prior, we learned the secret (knew all along) to the defeat Voldemort, who up until now sent fear to those who dare speak his name. We see that a friend-turned-foe-but-not-really was actually fighting for righteousness all along. We see the secrets of the Hocruxes revealed, and we see that not only Harry, but all his friends and allies had crucial roles to play.

We see it in Narnia, we the Pevensie children stumble into a brand new world - four seemingly unimportant orphans who were to become kings and queens of the realm. We see it in Lord of the Rings' Middle Earth, where Aragorn, a seemingly unimportant and mysterious ranger of the forests and plains surrounding the Shire, is actually revealed to be the heir to the throne of Gondor. Heck, we even see it in the popular horror franchise, 'Saw! (mature content warning on that link)' Despite being overly gruesome, horrifically grotesque, and atrociously vulgar, we see a complex tapestry of brilliant story and plot twists take shape in a world where people hide in fear from evil. It is revealed who his accomplices were. It's revealed who he was working with, and who has carried on his work after his death. It's revealed that a detective who had been working to find the killer since the beginning actually has a crucial role to play. (Just take my word for it... you probably shouldn't see it. ;) )

We see it all around; we see see little dots being connecting in ways we'd never see coming. Why do we love it so much when a tiny forgotten detail turns up to be something important?

Because we long to be that dot.

We all have probably hear Romans 8:28 before. "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Or, as 'The Message' says it, "...we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." Every detail... every seemingly significant detail... every small, little thing... can and will be working into God's story for good, for those who love him. Wow, huh?

Let's look at someone who was seemingly insignificant, but who turned out to save the world from Sin, set captives free, justify the world, and bring about the end of the reign of evil on Earth. Jesus Christ.

In the dead of night, on a chilly night, a virgin girl, not even married yet, but engaged, gave birth to a child. Despite that being a physical impossibility, it happened, quietly, in a barn of all places. A single angel from heaven informed this girl, Mary, who this miracle child would be, and what she should name him. She followed the angel's instruction, and named the little newborn 'Jesus.'

Jesus was raised as a carpenter. A rugged job for the son (or step-son, as it were) of the rugged man who was Mary's husband, Joseph. Carpenters weren't exactly taught the fullness of Jewish law like other, more 'important' children of religious leaders or what-have-you, but Jesus was meek and humble before starting his ministry.

But, eventually, start it he did. And it was a shock to the world.

Some of the things he said, some of the things he taught, the people he criticized, the people he healed, the people he saved from the grave itself spread like wildfire across the area, and later on, literally, across the Earth. Governments feared him. Religious leaders abhorred him. People loved him, but there were some who wanted him dead.

And in the end, they killed him. Or so they had thought.

Which leads us to the plot twist: the Resurrection. The savior is dead, and in his grave. His people grieve as evil sweeps across the land. In JK Rowling's final book in the Harry Potter series, we see Voldemort, the Dark Lord, invoke the dreaded Unforgivable Killing curse, the Avada Kedavra, and kill Harry Potter, as he stands before him, preparing to die without a fight. Then, he, Voldemort, is seen gloating over the body of Harry Potter, who was supposed to be 'The Chosen One;' the one who would save the Wizarding World from the evil one. We see Voldemort displaying the limp body of Harry to his friends and allies, who all recoil in horror as they see his body, before them, dead. He was not dead, though; no, not at all.

When all hope seemed lost, when the end seemed near, when all was about to end, Harry sheds his Invisibility Cloak (a veil or sorts), and is standing, fully alive and standing before the Dark Lord. His allies cheer - 'HE'S ALIVE!' they scream.

Wand in hand, standing in the radiant, shimmering sun rising over Hogwarts castle, it's down to Harry and Voldemort - the climax has arrived.

Maybe it's just the little boy in me, but I love 'Final Showdowns.' Sure, epic wars and big battle scenes are awesome, but there's something about two individuals, locked in combat, that seems to awaken to little warrior in me; the little boy that used to own the plastic lightsaber, the foam sword, and the Nerf gun.

We see Luke engage in lightsaber combat with Vader. We see Frodo and Gollum struggle on the teetering ledge over the fires of Mt. Doom. We see Jack Shepherd and The Man in Black, disguised as John Locke, duke it out on a mountaintop on The Island as a storm wreaks havoc around them. We see King Peter face King Miraz and Aslan, the White Witch. We see Inigo Montoya duel Count Rugen, the man who killed his father. And, as I was talking about a moment ago, we see Harry face Voldemort.

Harry and Voldemort face each other. Voldemort, though still boasting his foolish pride, is actually quaking in fear because he realizes this could very well be the end. With one flick of his wand, he casts, once again, the Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse, at Harry.

Harry, though, cannot be conquered.

With a flick of his own wand, he casts the Disarming Charm at his enemy, which does more than makes him loose drop with wand. It disarms him for good. The evil one is dead. Hogwarts celebrates their freedom and victory.

Harry Potter. The orphan who started in book one as the little 11 year old boy who lived in a closet under a staircase with his horrible Aunt and Uncle. A person probably can't feel more insignificant than that, can they? Harry was seemingly unimportant, but that's been a recurring word here in this blog post, hasn't it? 'Seemingly.'

He discovers that that little scar on his forehead - that little mark, that little dot - plays a crucial role to the story he's found himself in. He discovers that a prophecy has been made on his behalf, and that he has an absolutely crucial role to play in the destruction of the Evil One and the saving of the world from Death (Eaters...).

I think a lot of us feel like Harry Potter sometimes. Nothing we do could possibly matter. Serving in this small capacity couldn't possibly mean anything in the 'big picture.' Allowing God to use me in this tiny way can't be worth anything.

Oh, but it can!

Never believe you are insignificant. As Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us, God has plans for you. BIG plans. GREAT plans. For Hope, and a 'good future,' the NCV tells us. " I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." The Message says.

God KNOWS what he's doing! It's up to Him to connect the dots, and he will. It's up to you to remain faithful, to keep your heart, mind, eyes, and ears open to God, so that he can connect your dot to the right dot it needs to be connected to. Trust him - He knows what He's doing.

Thanks for reading!

Mischief Managed,

-Matt

Hope

The final days of Summer are upon us. The days are hotter than ever here in the south, but, as television commercials and signs hanging from the ceilings of our favorite department stores will remind us, it is coming to an end. People of all ages are preparing to return to school. The once young and naive children of parents are growing up and moving out. Relationships are beginning and ending inexplicably. Everything has that 'end of Summer' feeling it it... which is never a happy feeling.

I've realized that a lot of people I know have had these 'blues,' but it seems so inappropriate to call them that; no, it is inappropriate to call them that. Several good friends of mine seem to be, quite simply, loosing heart. I have friends who feel trapped where they are right now - desiring, deeply, to leave the home they know, and go to bigger and better things. I have friends who are just the opposite - after being uprooted from the home they loved, they're in a completely new world, feeling alone, friendless, and like they don't yet belong where they are. I have friends whose minds are racked with thoughts of their beloved, and those who have been hurt by people in the same position. I have friends who feel like they cannot trust their parents. I have friends who feel like they are alone. I have friends who have no idea where they're going on the road we call life, and I have friends who simply have become so disconnected with their own hearts that every day that passes is miserable; they're just working for the end.

It breaks my heart to see, not just my friends but, anyone like this. I'm here, to tell you, if only in text-form, on an unpopular internet blog, that this is not all there is.

"You've been hiding in the bedroom, hoping this isn't how the story has to go. It's not the way it goes. It's your book now. You are Golden." says Switchfoot. Like I said in a few posts back, you are a masterpiece created by the Almighty Himself. With that knowledge... what kind of story do you think God is telling through you? Have you ever thought about that?

"Life, you'll notice, is a story.

Life doesn't come to us like a math problem. 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 a story through and through.

If life is a story, what is the plot? What is your role to play? It would be good to know that, wouldn't it? What is this all about?

If there is meaning to this life, then why do our days seem so random? What is this drama we've been dropped into the middle of? If there is a God, what sort of story is he telling here? At some point we begin to wonder if Macbeth wasn't right after all: Is life a tale "told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"?

No wonder we keep losing heart.

We find ourselves in the middle of a story that is sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, often a confusing mixture of both, and we haven't a clue how to make sense of it all. It's like we're holding in our hands some pages torn out of a book. These pages are the days of our lives. Fragments of a story. They seem important, or at least we long to know they are, but what does it all mean? If only we could find the book that contains the rest of the story." - John Eldredge, 'Epic.'

If there's one thing I've learned from reading authors like Eldredge, listening to speakers like Perry Noble and Francis Chan, and spending time with God himself, there is one thing that has become abundantly clear: we are in a story. And stories have endings, don't they? Does that scare you? Does the idea that your story has an ending intimidate you?

It shouldn't. You know why? Because it's a happy ending. It's a fairytale ending.

"And they lived happily ever after," the Creative Arts Pastor at my church, Jerry Davison, begins, "Probably the most beautiful and haunting words in the English language. Don't roll your eyes! "Cheesy. There's no such thing as happy endings - that's not real life." Put that aside for a second, and let this be true for a minute. 'They lived happily ever after.'"

When we join the family of God, when we're adopted as a son or daughter to the Father God, we change not only the entire course of our life, but we change the ending to our stories. "This fallen world doesn't hold [our] interests; doesn't hold [our] souls." Switchfoot says. Thats because this world is not our home anymore. We try and get comfortable in one place, we expect we'll feel better in another place, in a new town, a new school, a new year... we expect that we will be ultimately happy here, that we can find home here, but we know, in our hearts, there are greater things. Don't we?

"I belong somewhere past the setting sun," Jon Foreman sings. "Just a few more weary days and then..." "I'm going home, to the place where I belong." Says Jars of Clay and Daughtry. "The earth spins, and the moon goes around, green comes up from the frozen ground, and everything will be made new again." "Now I've found it... This is Home.... Where the streets have no name, all my tears be washed away.

What do all these songs mean? There is hope. There is hope in your life. There is hope in God. There is hope in your happy ending. There's something to look forward to.

Life is like a vacation. There is a lot of fun to be had. There are a lot of new people to meet. There are things to do, places to go, a whole world to experience. But sooner or later, we get this longing in our heart for home. I feel, right now, it is my job to tell whoever is reading this that if your hope is in people, in things, in this world, you will be let down. But if your hope is in God... you will not be forsaken. You will not be forgotten. "Even if my own Father and Mother forsake me, you will hold me close," Psalm 27:10 says. "Who shall I fear?" the Psalmist also says, "if the Lord is with me?"

There is hope. There will always be hope.

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing." - Zephaniah 3:17

The Shadow Proves the Sunshine...
-Matt

Masterpiece

"We are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." -Ephesians 2:10

Read that word again. 'Masterpiece.' Do you know what a 'masterpiece is?' Princeton defines the word as this: 'The most outstanding work of a creative artist or craftsman." Webster defines it as a 'supreme achievement.'

Whoa. Think about that for a second. Did you ever realize that you, YOU, are 'the most outstanding work' of God? The creative artist - the master craftsman - has named you as His 'most outstanding work?' As His 'Supreme Achievement?' Can you believe that? Out of everything our Creator God made - the beautiful sunsets, the captivating clouds of the deep blue sky; out of every creature that walks the Earth, every fish in the ocean, every bird in the air; Out of every star in space, out of every planet in the heavens, out of EVERY glorious, massive thing hanging in the universe.... YOU are his masterpiece?

Face it! You are God's favorite. Seriously! I really just want that to sink in. Out of everything God made... YOU are his FAVORITE. He put more work into you than anything else. He put more creative energy into you than anything else, and most importantly, he put more love into you than anything else. We wonder, sometimes, 'Why does God love us?' The answer should be obvious! He absolutely adores you! He is proud of you! He looks at his children, and, I believe, beams with the same love and pride that a proud parent has on their face when they look upon their own children.

And when I say 'You,' I do not mean a collective 'human race' type deal - that verse at the beginning of this blog post proves otherwise. When we give our lives to him, he re-creates us in Jesus Christ. We become, or begin to become, everything God intended for his 'masterpieces' to be - these awesome, wonderful, created sons and daughters of a Holy Father who loves us, and has BIG plans for us! And these things He wants us to do - these plans He has for every one of us as Christians - are not just random jobs or tasks. No, he looked into our hearts from eternity (before the world even existed) and said 'Oh, I have BIG PLANS for that one!'

All this may seem like very bottom line, early Christian, 'Yeah, we already know that' type stuff, but I think that we all, even myself, need reminded of the simple truths sometimes. Today, that simple truth is 'God made you Special, and loves you very much.' Thanks, Veggie Tales. :P

Anyway, I just felt 'lead' to write this, if you want to say that. I read that verse in my time with God today, and I found it so awesome, I had to write about it. I hope you got something out of it!