God is the Hero of our Story
In the novel, , Neal Stephenson makes the unusual decision to name the main character Hiro Protagonist. Which is either brilliant or a bad joke depending on the persuasion of humor you find compelling. Hiro is the hero of the story, of course. A hero cut very much from the modern anti-hero cloth. This work of fiction predated and predicted much of modern tech culture.
Hiro is a hacker who lives two lives, one as an elite free-lance hacker in the world of the Metaverse, a technologically advanced version of the internet that resembles many modern implementations of virtual worlds. Off-line, Hiro is a pizza delivery driver, working for a Franchised-Organized Quasi-National Entity known as Uncle Enzo’s pizza. It is weird and wonderful, but the story isn’t for everyone.
In real life, we often see ourselves as the hero of our story. It’s not something we talk about, but we envision that the story we’re living revolves around us. This is normal. We are inherently self-centered. It’s comical if you take a step back. There is no way we’re all the great mover of a grand scheme of which we’re the center. The world doesn’t work if everyone views their lives as if the world has to revolve around them.
That’s okay. We’re not NPC’ s either. We have a real life. It has meaning and purpose. None of us are wallpaper. We don’t have to be at the center of everything to make a difference. It’s actually more mentally healthy for us if we can keep our life in balance by pursuing a purpose that is bigger than ourselves.
About a year ago, a conversation I had online led me to consider thinking through my own spiritual origin story. Questions like: “How did I come to believe?”, “How did the aspects of my faith develop over time?”, and “What is it that causes anyone to believe in something?” Big questions and important questions. Questions on which life hangs.
In the process of thinking about these things, I decided it would be interesting to write what I called a “Spiritual Autobiography.” This was not about my life as much as it was about my spiritual life. I wanted to examine the way different events impacted my own spiritual development. As such, I made the conscience decision to omit specific details including proper names and places. The point of this being that the story wasn’t really about me, but about God in me. God is the real hero of my story.
I first published this story on Kindle Vella, finishing it up in September of 2023. It was a fun and engaging experience and I loved sharing it with my kids when it was done. They mentioned how they learned several things about me that they never knew. Some people read it online as well, and for the most part, it seemed to be well received.
Most people don’t read on Kindle Vella, but via eBook or print book. Because of this, I decided to release this story as a book and it came out at the end of last month. Getting There From Here is of course a play of words on the old saying, “You can’t get there from here.”
The meaning of the title is to contradict that saying, because, in fact, with God you can get there from here. When you make God the hero of your life’s story, you can find a way through the darkness. He’s the way out of the wilderness. He’s the hope for the hopeless and He’s ultimately the secret to finding true meaning and purpose in our lives.
God is the hero of my story and if you’re interested in reading about it, you can pick up a copy here. If you don’t have the spare change it takes to purchase it, just let me know and I’m happy to give you a free copy.
Originally published at http://seeinggodclearly.com on April 19, 2024.