I have known Meghan for almost two years now. I first met her when she was in my prayer group in the Fall of 2012. We had bistro dates every week, and we immediately bonded over our love of Asians. She also introduced me to foggy londons a week ago, and I may or may not have had four of them since then. She hails from the land of leis and hula girls. Meghan knows how to brighten people's day, just with her adorable smile. She is sweet, creative, and passionate. She is friendly, witty, and takes life as it comes. She is incredibly intelligent and I love to listen to all of her new-found nuggets of information along with her creative ideas. She is also super cute, no matter how many times she denies it.
My passion in life is Story. It love it. So much so,
in fact, that is has become entangled with every aspect of my life. It
has shaped my understanding of this world-- and the people who populate
it-- and it is the foundation on which much of my beliefs about God and
life are built. I think I should clarify here that when I say 'Story' I
don't just mean books-- though I love a good book more than I love air
sometimes-- I mean anything that has a narrative aspect to it. Art,
music, movies, if it has a story to it, I love it. (It is probably the
reason why I am not particularly enamored of sports or abstract art or
poetry; it is heavy on emotion and action, but often time the story is
lacking. There are, of course exceptions, but not enough to belie the
rule.)
For as long as I can remember, Story has been a
passion-- or obsession-- of mine, to the point that even though I
thoroughly disliked reading and writing when I was young, I forced
myself to learn to love them so that I would gain better access to
stories. Now, of course, I could no more go without reading or writing
than I could breathing. I can express myself through the written word
far more clearly and eloquently than I ever could speaking, and through
books I am able to understand people far better than I could just by any
other means (books are, after all, little more than a story shaped by
the worldview and beliefs of the author; by reading a good book you get
the double pleasure of enjoying a well-crafted story and a look into the
mind and thoughts of an individual besides yourself. But I digress.)
Though there are many aspects of him that inspire awe
and wonder, it is God's role as Author that has captivated me.
Honestly, the title of Author seems to me to be inadequate to describe
him; what he did was so much more than simple story-telling as we know
it to be. When we as writers create a character, no matter how much
effort and time and work we put into it, we can never create anything
that is any more than a shallow imitation of life. We could spend our
whole life creating just one character, and it will never measure up to
the depth and realism of an actual human. There is a saying that each
person is the main character of their own story, something I will not
disagree with. So imagine this. There are over seven billion stories in
this world, each one featuring a main character and a rich supporting
cast, each one unique in plot and style and genre. Not only this, but
each story is interconnected with every other story that is, was, and
will be. Then take a step back and realize that not only are all of
these billions of stories interconnected, but they are woven together in
such a way that they create a larger, meta-story that has been created
for the sole purpose to bring its Creator glory. (You might say it seems
egotistical, to create something just to bring you glory. But might I
say, when we read a good book, we don't say "well done, Book, you told
your story well." No, we give--as we should-- the praise to the one
whose skill and effort made it the excellent work that it is. Why should
this be any different?) It never ceases to blow my mind when I take the
time to think about this, and I can say with confidence that this is
one of the aspects of his personality I love the most.
Ironically, it is hard for me to express in words
just how deeply rooted Story is in my soul, but I hope that these few
lines were adequate in giving at least a glimpse into my views on the
matter
Meghan, thanks for always being willing to go on crazy adventures with me and letting me take pictures of you! I love you dearly!
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