Story, Redemption, Momentary Escape, and HBO Go. . . .

This commercial makes me laugh. . . a lot. . . because if I'm more like one of the two guys in the spot, I'm the guy talking into the fan. Come on. . . you've done that too, haven't you?



It also makes me think. . . a lot. . . because of the reference to story and the way stories work in the world we now live in. I love movies. I love TV. I love entertainment. I also think that a little distraction and escape into a good story can be really healthy and really enjoyable. But it can also be unhealthy. One sign that we long to live in a better story is the gnawing dissatisfaction with the story we're in. But if those short thirty to 120 minute stories that we sit and watch become the best option for something better, then all we've done is succeeded at temporarily distracting ourselves. And when the distraction ends and we enter back into the reality of our own broken story. . . well, the gnawing dissatisfaction continues at an even deeper level. We endeavor to cap the leak that's part of our brokenness with all kinds of things - experiences, vacations, work, people, entertainment, etc. We can know it's unhealthy when we stand back and take stock, noticing that our attempt to escape our own story has continued with increased frequency, while at the same time, our dissatisfaction has gotten worse rather than being satisfied. In today's media-saturated world where our hand-helds give us 24/7 access to countless other stories, the frequency is bound to pick up.

We were made to take our place in a better story. And until we find our place in that story, we'll continue to run like hamsters on the wheel of "escape" that goes absolutely nowhere. So once again, I go back to this great painting from David Arms - "God's Story."




Thanks be to God for moving us from "loss" to "love."