A Better Stage

"Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl" ...a book I just cracked open with incredibly low expectations. I mean, after all, it was free. It's not a common thing when free gear ends up being much to brag about. But, this...this book is a treasure.

With language that makes you actually feel like you're on a Tilt-a-Whirl sometimes, your head feels like it's spinning as your mind tries to keep up. N.D. Wilson invites his readers to view their lives as if living in the form of a narrative and likens our world to the Carnival.

He writes, "Step outside your front door and look at today's stage. Speak. God will reply. He will speak to you. He gave you senses. Use them. He will parade His art. He will give you a scene, a setting for the day. He will give you conflict to overcome, opportunities for your character to grow or fail."

How often do I step out my door, onto today's stage, without any regard to this great narrative I've been cast in? All too often.

Lately, I've found myself longing for a better stage. A better setting.
Too often lately, my stage has merely been filled with props, and not fellow characters. Props of facebook, cleaning, books, packing, shopping, laying out. (Wow, to actually write that makes me feel even more shallow). But where's the climax of my days? Most stories' climaxes involve characters and conflicts between them. Who wants to watch a one-person story where all she does is conquer silly props, silly tasks? No one. It's not a good story. People make stories good. Not inanimate props.

I want a better scene. I want to write a better story. I want to speak and wait for God to reply. I want to lose myself in the art He parades around me -- and what more beautiful art has He created than the human?