I don’t know whether book clubs bring out the best in me or the worst. The book selections can be so . . . dark! I mean, I’m not some chipper girl who only reads sickly sweet stuff! O contraire, mon frere! But the Christless imagination goes in some terribly depressing places!
I want to clarify. Christians know about darknesses that unbelievers may never dream of. But Christians have Christ!
Those without Christ . . . I wonder if they see just how depressing their versions of hope can be. 🙁 AND, sometimes they purposefully write books without hope! Oh, the ACHE WITHIN—and occasional fury without.
Shock value is just not as valuable as some people presume it is!!!!! GAH!
Anyway. Ladies and gentlemen. Let’s not get too depressed about it. Let’s just add our voice to the mix.
As Christians, we know darkness, turmoil, sin, and the depths of depravity. But we can do more than wallow or explore it. We can put it in its place: in better perspective and under the feet of our Risen Lord.
Am I saying be preachy all the time? No. Am I saying you need to preach in the first place? Nope. But let’s allow hope to linger. Let’s dream of healing and better things to come.
Do what you can and I will, too. 🙂
PS. It’s occurred to me that maybe we should pray more for book publishers and book marketers. I mean, I’m not a book-banner. Rather, I pray discretion can be involved in publishing books! (My book club brought in a professor who lamented modern book challenges in libraries and schools. Um. Some terrible books are being written! Let’s fill schools with LITERATURE! Let’s put shock value back to a lower estimation! Am I crazy about this?)
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“But the Christless imagination goes in some terribly depressing places!” Of course the Christless imagination goes into darkness because it avoids the light of Christ! This is its plan and intention–to convince us that this reality is true when we know it is not. A variation of the big lie, as always….