I love
books. Ever since I was a kid books have
held a special place in my heart. You can imagine how excited I was to discover
the library! I can remember my mom
putting me on a local bus at the tender age of 6 or 7 (it was safe back then!)
to visit my Aunt Elsie some blocks away.
The first thing we would do when I arrived is stop at a little extension
library. Wow all those books for the
reading! For me, the library was right up there next to the candy store on my
list of favorite things.
I still love
books and I still love to get them at the library, so when my girls suggested
maybe I’d like a Kindle, I wasn’t interested.
They bought me one anyway. (They
never DID listen to me!) I was glad to have that Kindle when we lost power for
a week after Hurricane Sandy and the library was closed.
Because they
were free, I downloaded a bunch of books on my Kindle that I had never read,
like “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, and some I have read and wanted to read again, like “Jane
Eyre”. I also downloaded a few recent
books that were free that I’d never heard of, like one I’m currently reading
called, “Titanic 2012”. It’s a silly
book really, but I’m engrossed. That’s
what happens when you have 5 hours of darkness to kill every night!
The premise
of the book is interesting. The author
takes the true story of Titanic and gives it a completely different spin. The book flips back and forth between the
past when Titanic was launched, and the present aboard a ship preparing a
diving expedition into the hull of Titanic itself. That is interesting in itself.
Here’s where
it gets a little weird. The characters
suggest that Titanic was deliberately sunk in order to destroy an alien life
form bent on reproducing itself within the bodies of the passengers. (I told you it was weird!) This alien life form somehow survived the
sinking and now, inhabiting the body of one of the crew members on the modern
day expedition, it is returning to collect it’s eggs. By now you are undoubtedly wondering why I’m still
reading this book and where I’m going with this blog! Hang in there, I’m getting to it!
I was
thinking about how cool it was to take a real life story, like that of Titanic,
imagine some alternate reason why it sank, and write a book about it. Think about the fun you could have putting
new spins on things like why the Lincoln Tunnel was built (aliens wanting a secret
passage into Manhattan), or what would happen if the Statue of Liberty was
alive. Okay, so my imagination isn’t as
creative as the author of “Titanic 2012”.
It occurred to
me as I was reading that people do this kind of thing all the time when it
comes to the events surrounding the life and death of Jesus as recorded in the
Bible. They prefer the alternate
story. Like the one where the disciples
stole Jesus’ body. Or the one where
Jesus, a mere man, managed to self fulfill all those prophecies about his death
written in the Old Testament – like none of his bones would be broken, or that
he was laid in a borrowed tomb, or that the soldiers would cast lots for his
garments. Somehow these alternates seem
more plausible.
I’m always
amazed at how many people will read the writings of Buddha, or the Dalai Lama,
or Zen masters, but will refuse to read the Bible to examine the story for
themselves. They will adamantly affirm
that they don’t believe it, but when you ask, they usually haven’t read it either.
Why is
that? Because to believe what the Bible
records requires a choice, a choice many don’t really want to make. If they read it, they will need to decide whether
they will believe it and deciding to believe it will require a change. Better not to read it at
all and adhere to the alternatives, even when the alternatives can be as
ridiculous as alien invasions.
If you’ve
NEVER read the New Testament because you’re convinced it can’t possibly be true,
maybe it’s time to stop believing in unchallenged “alien” alternatives and read
it for yourself. I DARE YOU!
No comments:
Post a Comment