Mar. 29: The Author of Life

I just saw the movie “Stranger than Fiction”. I know, I am behind the times; it came out in theaters months ago but I’m just now catching it on DVD. Great cast: Will Ferrell stars as the main character supported by Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Queen Latifah and Maggie Gyllenhaal. It is the story of IRS agent Harold Crick who lives a precisely regimented, lonely and dull life. “Harold’s life was filled with moments both significant and mundane, but to Harold those moments remained entirely indistinguishable…”
Things get interesting when he begins hearing voices; a voice—a narration, actually—of his life.

He discovers that he is the main character of a novel and the voice is that of the author as she types the manuscript. She is narrating his life as she creates it. The plot twists when he discovers this famous and quirky author always kills off the main character is some clever way, and he must somehow find her before she writes the end of his story.

King David wrote these lyrics to his Opus #139:
For you, O God, created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
(Psalms 139:13-16)

I won’t give away the ending. In a particularly poignant scene Hoffman’s character, a literary scholar and expert of comedy and tragedy, explains literature to Harold.
“Harold, I’m sorry, but you have to die.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s her masterpiece.”
“You’re asking me to knowingly face my death?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t we just try to see if she will change it?”
“No. Harold, in the grand scheme it wouldn’t matter…no one wants to die, Harold, but unfortunately we do. Harold, listen to me, you will die, some day, some time; heart failure at the bank, choke on a mint, some long, drawn-out disease you contracted on vacation. You will die, you will absolutely die. Even if you avoid this death another will find you, and I guarantee that it won’t be as poetic or as meaningful as what she’s written. I’m sorry, Harold, but it’s the nature of all tragedies; the hero dies but the story lives on forever.”

Do you trust God, the Author of your life, to write your best story? We will all die, it is unavoidable, but will we live? Jesus offers life abundant, life to the full, and a home with Him in heaven forever. When we accept Jesus He re-writes our story!

For those seeking to write their own story the professor’s words ring with truth: “Even if you avoid this death another will find you, and I guarantee that it won’t be as poetic or as meaningful as what (God’s) written.” For those who are in Christ, who have "died to self", Jesus changes the direction of the plot line.

~ Father, thank you for my life, for the story you’ve written so far, and the re-write you began when I accepted Jesus. I trust you with the rest of the story—thanks for giving me just a peek at the ending. Amen.