My Favorite Fairy Tale

Verse:  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know
in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. - 1 Corinthians 13:12

Topic: What happens after this life?

Personal Piece: All my life I've had a particular interest in stories that are "out of this world". Whether it be fantasy or science-fiction, superheroes or futuristic dystopian societies; I have always loved stories that took everything I knew about the world and threw it out the window.  The stranger the world the more it attracts me.  But by far my favorite worlds to escape to are those in fantasy settings.  Even though science-fiction can get far wilder there is something magical (pun intended) about a good fantasy.  I love dragons, the renaissance feel of a good sword fight, the witty dialogue, the adventure.  As I launch the process of my 2nd novel I have recently been asking myself a lot about what makes a good story.  What is it that keeps me reading a story or watching episode after episode?  What changed that made me lose interest?  Along with those question has come another question far more profound...but I'm getting ahead of myself

Thought of the Week:  Let's be honest we all long for it: a world that is black-and-white.  To be able to look at someone and be able to instantly categorize them as good or evil.  If you were a kid prior to the 21st century then you probably grew up with stories that were filled with black-and-white. Growing up in the 90's my siblings and I, always knew who the villains were, we never had to worry about our favorite characters betraying us and the villains were never redeemed.  Villains were villains and always would be and our heroes never wavered to do the right thing.  That's what we long for isn't it?  To be justified in our anger towards villains, to know without doubt that the people we look up to will never fail us?

Then in the early 2000's someone did something that had not really been done before.  They wrote a story from the villains perspective and everything about storytelling changed.  Fourteen years later stories have become filled with grey and black-and-white has gone by the wayside.  Now don't get me wrong I love seeing villains redeemed.  I love seeing how they were hurt too and just made the wrong choices.  I love seeing my heroes struggle in the same ways I struggle.  That's what makes me connect to them.  I think it's normal for us as humans to long for something more.  We connect with fantasy because we want to believe that there is something beyond this mundane life we are living.

Even if that other world is full of evil it's gotta be more exciting then eating, sleeping and going to work everyday.  We want to find a secret world in our wardrobes, find an old hermit who tells us we were born to be a Jedi, get our Hogwarts letter in the mail or become the unexpected voice of a rebellion.  Now I want to tell you the story of my all-time favorite "Out of This World" story are you ready?  Once upon a time there was a prince and a princess who lived a in a perfect and beautiful kingdom.  They had everything their heart desired.  One day the princess was tending the orchard in the garden when a stranger showed up and placed both her and the prince under a horrible spell.

The spell caused them to forget who they were and corrupted their sight.  No longer could they see the beautiful world that they had grown up in, the trees of the garden were replaced by horrid buildings, the sun stopped shining as much as it used to and they no longer recognized their father.  The spell effected their hearing as well so they could no longer hear the truth when others tried to remind them that they were royalty.  The prince got a job in the inn and the princess found that her body was something that others were willing to buy.  They lived in poverty and in constant fear that what little they had would be taken away.

Now here's why this story is my all-time favorite:  It is 100% true.  You are that prince or princess. Your sight and hearing have been corrupted by the spell of sin.  We all love stories of good vs. evil - well you're living one right now.  There is a secret world hiding in your prayer closet, you were born to be a spiritual warrior, you can pick up your letter from any book store, and you are the voice of the rebellion.  You just have to open your eyes to see beyond the layers of this world.  You have to allow your heart to be awakened to the truth of who you are.  You are a prince, a princess, a son, a daughter of the King of Kings.  You are in a gray world that crashes every day with the world of black-and-white.

There is such a thing as pure evil and pure good but we are creatures of gray that are caught in the middle.  What we tend to forget though is that it is ultimately our choice which side we join.  Yahweh did not create us to be mere pawns that just float wherever the battle drags us.  We weren't meant to ride the tsunami to whichever shore it happens to take us.  We were created to choose a side and fight for that side.  Unfortunately, to choose not to fight is to choose the side of evil.  We are all predisposed in our blindness to live in darkness.  It is far harder to live in the light than it is to live in the darkness.

Ask yourself: why do the heroes in dystopian stories fight back once they find out that the people are under some kind of mind control.  Their friends and family are happy but they are not free.  In the same way those who live for themselves are living under the illusion that they are free but that is only because they have believed a lie, been born into a brainwashed world.  If you have accepted Christ then you are awake to the truth.  You have stopped taking your daily injection of lies and are seeing the world as it is.  If you are still resisting Jesus then you not seeing.  You might be with the majority but that is only because the enemy is keeping you on his drugs of pleasure.  He's keeping his eyes on yourself so that you will not see that there is something beyond your seeing.  Open your eyes.  It is time to awaken to the truth.  To know who you are and see!

Digging Deeper: For more on awaking to who you truly are check out Ted Dekker's Forgotten Way study found here.  If you would rather read the Forgotten Way in fiction form you can check out a number of his novels.  Including AD 30 and AD 33 which are historical fiction taking place during the time of Jesus.  The Books of Mortals Trilogy about a young man in a future dystopian time who finds a vial of blood that awakens him to the truth of the world he lives in.  The Circle Series about a man who finds he is connected to another world through his dreams.  The Seer Series by his daughter Rachelle Dekker also deals with this theme of hidden identity.  It is about a woman who grew up in a society that told her she was worthless until she meets a man who wakens her to the truth of who she is.

The apostle Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:11 that we are aliens and strangers in this world and Jesus tells us in John 17:16 that we are in the world but not of it.  This is not our home and these are not our true bodies.  Our true bodies do not decay or feel pain.  We are only borrowing the things of this world until we are allowed to return home.

Challenge:  I really challenge you to take Ted Dekker's Forgotten Way course.  I am halfway through it and it is truly eye-opening and life changing.