Know Jack #347 The Unseen Hand

 “The Great Oz has spoken…pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”

From the Wizard of Oz

There is a certain amount of magic and wizardry that goes into writing a novel. The author must be able to transform himself into the people in the story to figure out what they are doing and why they are doing it. Then, he must transform back again (not always as easy as it sounds). The author must be able to project himself through time and space and remotely view the setting his characters are moving around in, all while commanding the weather.

Generally speaking, to be really believable in his role, the author must remain out of sight behind the curtain while letting his voice come through. Of course, there are great stories in which the author is the narrator, but even then, he is usually in disguise.

I have spoken before about selling the lie you are telling by using more truth than falsehood, requiring the writer to research his subject. When the lie doesn’t make sense, the story becomes too outrageous and readers like me will lose interest. There’s a famous author (who, as sales attest, knows more about the game than I do) whose books I stopped reading after the third one because it seemed her protagonist had taken a semester or two of every subject known to man and so was always prepared for every crisis.

I’m a fan of old westerns. Have you ever noticed that John Wayne’s movies tended to have a core of actors that appeared in every movie in some role? Another famous author is well known for pretty much the same thing. He has stock stereotypes that are in every book. The fools, the evil, and the ignorant savages in his books are endowed with the beliefs and politics the writer dislikes. On the other hand, the heroes, and good guys all come from a certain part of the country and share the author’s views.

There’s nothing wrong with that except for some readers (like me) noticing and putting the book down never to buy another. I learned as a young man the television had a Power button that was capable of exiting the screen. Books aren’t much different.

Which, finally, brings me back to my main point—author invisibility. Hide inside the characters, but don’t pull their strings. Use the character’s senses/actions/dialog to let the reader see the scene, not the author standing behind the curtain telling them what’s going on.

Writers have favorite word choices, which is not a bad thing. You want readers to recognize that voice behind the curtain without seeing the face attached to it. Simply be aware of word choices and don’t fall into a rut—your voice will still come through.

My favorite thing about being an author is hiding under the bed and grabbing the reader when they are looking the other way.

Maranatha

Lost Crusader #135 Saul’s Armor

 “So Saul clothed David with his armor…And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So he took them off…and he chose for himself five smooth stones…”

1 Samuel 17: 38-40

And the rest, as they say, is history. David goes out to slay the giant with his weapon of choice. David’s refusal of Saul’s armor is not a poor reflection on the quality of the king’s helmet, his coat of mail, or his sword. David, all dressed up like the king, knew that adorned in that armor was not how the Lord taught him to face his enemies.

Most of what people “know” is information taken on authority. All those people admonishing their neighbors to “follow the science” as opposed to what they call faith, or the authority of scripture, are the blindest of the blind.

Christians employ the scriptures based on authority. That is, they believe it to be true based on their acceptance of the trustworthiness of the biblical record. However, Christians admit it whereas all our scientific friends suppose they do differently and that is patently not true (and the subject of a past blog).

Scriptural authority is much like Saul’s armor. It’s good to have, but until you really test it and prove its worth for yourself, it cannot kill giants. Many Christians are satisfied with that much. I don’t believe God is and that is why trials and tests come our way.

Knowledge based on authority has its place. If you think about the command, thou shalt not steal. You really don’t have to go out and steal a car to know the soundness of the authority behind it. Thinking about it in the context of your life and relationship with God is most often enough experimentation because in doing so you are studying to find out for yourself.

What does the scripture say? Taste and see, the Lord is good. Vicarious eating is so unsatisfying.

Preaching and teaching are good, not as an end-all, but as a springboard for living out your faith.

Jesus is the foundation of the temple that is your body, soul, and spirit, not because someone told you so, not even because you can quote 1 Corinthians 6:19, but because you have become acquainted with the Spirit of God that lives in you. You have tried on the shoes and walked around in them.

“…try me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts.”

And again.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.”

Do not try to wear someone else’s Christianity or judge it without experience. Don’t go to battle in Saul’s armor when you may have your own.

Maranatha

The Colonel #97 Unintended Consequences

 “Every government intervention (in the marketplace) creates unintended consequences, which lead to calls for further government interventions.”

Ludwig von Mises

I’ve taken many courses in government and history, but an economics class was where I first really encountered this idea. While unintended consequences certainly apply to economics, the idea is as just as valid in most interactions. It doesn’t matter what the fly intended, if it brushes a web, the spider’s coming for it.

When wages were frozen by law during WWII, employers wanting to raise pay to keep the best workers began paying for employees’ health insurance. The increased benefit was not considered a raise in pay and was not only allowed but became the norm. Obamacare and today’s astronomical healthcare costs are unintended consequences of that decision.

But this blog is not about healthcare or the monetary cost of unintended consequences. It’s about something far more important and closer to home—freedom.

The Department of Homeland Security, headed by an unelected Secretary, has determined that misinformation, disinformation, and malicious information are the number one threat to this country. To battle this perceived threat, they have created a Disinformation Governance Board to monitor communications. Like most governmental agencies, they not only write the rules but are also judge and jury.

They say that they intend to guard us from “false” information disseminated by the Russians and the Chinese (implied in this is the notion that common people are too ignorant to detect foreign lies). That may be what they intend to do, but what unintended consequences will the creation of the board spawn?

What if citizens on social media start saying things about the government that the board decides is disinformation? Facebook jail could become a very real place where re-education takes place. What if textbooks are found to contain disinformation? The Department of Education could decide to end the States’ authority to decide curriculum altogether. What if any speech that doesn’t conform to what the President’s staff approves as truth becomes disinformation?

In the wake of the Covid pandemic and the incongruent and even contradictory information dispensed by federal and state governments, it’s easy to imagine that disinformation is anything the government is not promoting at the moment. After the shifting sands of the gospel according to Fauci, there’s no other way to determine “correct” information from one day to the next.

Congresspersons and Senators are calling this board “The Ministry of Truth” in reference to a similar body in Orwell’s 1984. The Attorney Generals of twenty states are calling it a danger to free speech and are preparing a lawsuit to oppose DHS’s decision to create this board, an action which they are calling illegal.

The official White House line is that our representatives are overreacting and spreading hysteria. Nina Jankowicz, who the government calls “nonpartisan” and “apolitical”, has said that Hunter Biden’s laptop was a product of disinformation and that the Covid Chinese lab leak story was misinformation invented to help Trump.

The government intends no harm—the board has passed the President’s sniff test. We should all take their word that their intentions are pure. After all, they only intend to protect us from our natural gullibility and foreign deceit.

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Know Jack #346 On Winning and Success

 “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Michael Jordan

In preparation for writing this, I slogged through a bunch of supposedly inspirational quotes on winning. Sadly only a few of those people idolized by millions for winning, appear to really know the difference between winning and succeeding. Michael Jordan nailed it.

Modern thought has that it’s not about winning or losing but playing the game and taking home the participation trophy. I understand writers who count it a win just to write a book. Until you’ve done it, you cannot know how difficult that is to do. Getting it published by someone else takes the achievement to another level.

However, that is not really success as a writer because the object of the game is not to write a book but to have others read your book. The book’s success is judged by the number of readers. That is not how writers measure success. I think we all have different scales for that. Most of those scales are dependent upon expectation.

Aiming high is important. Unrealistic expectations are the fast lane on the superhighway to disappointment and failure. A Little Leaguer should dream about playing in the Bigs. There should also come a time when he/she takes an honest inventory of their chances and says, “I may not be big league, but I love playing the game”. They then need to take that and enjoy every minute of the ride doing the best they can do—that may not be winning, but it is definitely success.

Success is meeting and exceeding your expectations. I consider myself a successful writer, not because I made the New York Times Bestseller List, but because nearly two years after Bayou Moon’s release, I’m still selling 15-20 a month. I never expected that. In fact, it still amazes me, but not as much as knowing Blood Moon is doing even better.

Numbers-wise, I’ve written more flops than hits, but I still have those people who buy and read everything I write and that’s success. Do I still dream about my books being #1 or movie studios calling to buy the movie rights? You bet I do and I’m not about to stop now. However, neither of those things will make me a winner or a success—I already am one.

There’s a story Jesus told about a woman who had a grievance. She took her case to the judge and was denied the justice she sought. So, every day thereafter she showed up at the judge’s seat pleading for justice. Finally, she wore him down and he granted her petition. Success is about showing up every single day and giving it your best for that day.

If you must choose between being a winner and being a success—be a success, and you’ll be much happier.

Maranatha

Lost Crusader #134 Pursuing Peace

 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:1

The Bible is filled with stories of faith and fear, success and ruin, miracles and commonplace. The scriptures contain the commands of God written on stone, the teachings of God delivered in person, and the exhortations of his ministers on the divine will. There are do’s and there are do not’s. These are all done and delivered to us for a single purpose—to restore peace with God according to the divine design. You see, humanity was meant to live at peace with God.

So, what’s the problem?

Peace with God has always, and at all times, been by personal choice. It is a peace built upon a mutual desire for love and fellowship. The scriptures are the terms and conditions that God, as the offended party, has offered as a treaty of peace and sworn by his own holiness to accept.

These conditions, like the God who offers them, have not changed since Creation. They are summed up by Jesus in simple terms, love God with your entire being, and your fellow human beings as yourself.

So, why all the pages of text?

In a word—examples. All those stories tell about the ways in which people have tried to live at peace with God. Living by conscience, by law, and by faith, in all of this, humanity on its own, has failed. Like Peter walking on water, we see the monumental impossibility of what we are trying to do and how it flies in the face of what we believe about our world.

We complicate what God has made simple because we cannot accept it is as simple as laying down our weapons and surrendering. Humanity’s war of rebellion against God began with a simple choice. I’m paraphrasing but delivering to you the Gospel, nonetheless.

God said, “If you love me, then leave that tree right there alone.” Our ancestors didn’t leave the tree alone. As a result, humanity was cursed, passing along the inbred rebellion we all know so well.

God proposed a remedy. He said, “If you love me, come unto me without reservation and love me.” The result of asking in obedience to the call is peace with God.

But…

Mouthing the words won’t do, pretending won’t make it so, even believing and positive thinking is not enough. You must admit the defeat and futility of your own efforts in heartfelt surrender to God.

At that point, God steps in. You still have to face life and everything that entails. The difference is that God is there inside you providing direction, strength, and patient forgiveness as you grow up in His kingdom.

We all are everlasting beings. After physical death, we will live beyond time, space, and matter as we know it. However, like life here and now, we will live with God or without Him—the choice is always ours.

One last note. Where does a person find God so that they might go to Him? I will let the writer of Psalm 107 tell you. (The book really does have the answers.)

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves. They (the sailors riding the waves) mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro like a drunken man and are at their wit’s end.

Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses.

When you are tossed around by life and are at your wit’s end…there is God and His offer of peace. Wise men still seek Him.

Maranatha