Showdown

So, if we were to look at each day as a chapter in an unfolding story, how would we define the

characters . . . the conflicts . . . the plot . . . the heros . . . the villains?

What happened yesterday?

Was it random? Was it connected to something today?

Who are we in this unfolding, mind-blowing (and sometimes mind-numbing), narrative?

As I've been working with my friend for the past couple of months to help him get to where he wants to be, I've switched from storyline to random and back to storyline several times.

This happens for one reason: I designate myself as the hero, the main character, and the writer all-in-one.

In other words, I want my cake and I want to eat it too.

Then, there are days that I can just sit and melt into the story as a support character. I don't have to be the hero, the villain, or the writer. I can just be a supporting character whose only goal is to be of maximum support for the main character.

My friend doesn't want what I think is best for him, that's a given. So, I can do several things.

Kill myself out of the story. Keep trying to designate where the plot should turn next, even though it's not compatible with the rest of the characters, or . . .

Rely on the writer's genius and creativity.

As a believer in a God whose constantly writing new stories and making editing moves on old ones, I can rest in the knowledge of the writer's creativity if I choose to.

What does that look like?

Conflict happens in every story. It's got to. That's how characters grow, and that's also how characters die. And, I haven't died yet.

When the two cowboys face each other in the empty street and everyone's hiding inside where it is safe, and the two guns are drawn . . . one makes it and the other doesn't. One character exits the story. That's how stories work.

But, there's always a story that leads up to the moment of the drawn guns. There's an unresolved rivalry, or romantic jealousy, or someone's brother was killed thirteen years ago . . . and it's time to get revenge.

In my experience with the narratives of life, I've been both the character who survived and also the character who exited early.

In the story I'm currently in with my friend whose trying to get off the streets, I'm about ready to go all out, guns blazing, and have a showdown. That's the feeling I get when I think I'm writing the story.

The natural human tendency is to be the main character, the hero, the prince, the cowboy who rides off with the beautiful town whore whose been betrayed, ridiculed, and toyed with all her life. Even though she's a mess, the cowboy thinks she's worth it. They ride off in the sunset to start over.

Yet, throughout the scriptures we find a God who is constantly pulling the characters to be people who are supporting roles, out of the spotlights and into the hearts of fellow human beings. The real conflicts we see when reading the scriptures are within the characters. They're not randomly dropped down from the sky.

And every once in awhile, we read about a character in the Bible who - while everything that could go wrong does - recognizes this God as the writer and hero of the story.

When we take a look at the stories we're involved in, do we designate ourselves as the writers? What about the main characters? What about the hero? What about the villain?

I'm becoming more and more convinced that when I let the writer decide where the plot should twist and turn, I become more than happy with my role as a supporting character. My eyes soon open to the fact that the main character is the writer, and that I don't have to beat my head against the wall trying to determine what all the other supporting characters should or shouldn't do. 

As I share today with this friend of mine, and before I even start rehearsing my lines, before I start entering into dialogue and action, I want to remember who the main character is and who I am.

I am stepping into a story that was already unfolding way before I arrived on the scene, and this story will keep on going long after I die of the gunshot wound during the showdown.