Don't Be a Blockhead

So my last post was a little swipe at the boringness of football season, so maybe I'm trying to cosmically make up for that here. 

My church is having a "Kickoff Sunday" this week, celebrating the return of Sunday school, choir (oh yeah, we still have a choir), and our Wednesday evening activities. In order to try and cement this into their collective minds, I have been running at a football each Sunday morning, while announcing the date and festivities, only to have my lovely wife pull it away at the last minute, causing me to fall down, just like sad-sack comic strip character Charlie Brown.

Some have expressed concerns that I was going to break a bone if I kept this up. Others have politely hinted that, at some point, the congregation at large will begin to doubt my intelligence if I continued falling for the same gag. Hopefully all the bruises have been worthwhile and we will have a great turnout on Sunday. 

Either way, no regrets. After all, pratfalls are funny. Always have been, always will be. 

 

But have you ever thought about the theological ramifications of this recurring gag? Not surprisingly, I have. And not surprisingly, I'm going to share my insights. Let's just start here: you can’t pin all the blame on Lucy because Lucy can’t help it. Look at the above graphic; she’s taking no joy at all in what she’s doing. It’s just her nature. If you look into dark void of the soul of Lucy Van Pelt, you’ll see nothing but a fierce hunger for nickels, for affirmation of her own beauty, and for making Charlie Brown fall down in front of a lot of people. And, while it’s easy to blame Chuck himself for being such a stupid kid (albeit a “good man”),falling for the same trick again and again, we should be careful not to be too smug. Because we do the very same thing.

Sure, it's pathetic (and kind of a blockhead move) for Charlie to fall for the same old lie (“This time, I’ll actually let you kick the football”) for like fifty years of newspaper run, but you’ve got to remember that in those fifty years, Charlie Brown did not age. Therefore, he (ostensibly) gained no actual wisdom. What’s our excuse?  

Ultimately Satan only has one lie. He uses the world’s values and the desires of the flesh to prop it up, but “This time, it will be different” has been his mantra from the beginning. “Yeah, God said that you would die if you ate that fruit and every single thing he’s ever said has come to pass, but this time, following the appetites of the flesh will end with you gloriously kicking the game-winning field goal (or something equally satisfying).” “Sure, the last time you gave in to rage, bitterness, lust, drunkenness, or covetousness, it ended with a rift between you and God—a rift that damaged more than one relationship and grew until you finally repented, but this time will be different. This time, we’ll keep it under control. Just a little bit of hate, a little glance, a little taste. It won’t end with a huge, painful fall onto your back.”

It’s easy to frown and shake our heads when we see the obvious manifestations of this behavior, for example, when addiction blinds people to reality. The gambler who thinks this time she’s due for a pay--out while she spends the mortgage money, the alcoholic who insists he can have just a couple shots and keep it under control. But the fact is that all of us tend toward Charlie Brown stupidity when it comes to our own pet sins. Everyone. Even the Apostle Paul describes his own feeble struggles against his Charlie Brown mentality:

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing.   Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God-- through Jesus Christ our Lord!  (Rom 7:15-20, 24, NIV)

Not only does the apostle artfully and fully describe the problem in that passage—he also identifies the solution: Jesus Christ, who gives us the victory. As we lay there on our backs, looking up at Lucy, it’s easy to say to ourselves, “Next time, I’ll remember how badly this ended, how awful I feel, what damage was done.” But we won’t. The solution is not to keep doubling down on our inner Charlie Brown, giving him more and more responsibility. It’s to saturate ourselves—our thoughts, the firstfruits of our time, our attitude and motivations—in Christ. 

Did you spend less than ten minutes praying that you would not fall to temptation today? If so, you may as well have put on a yellow T-shirt with a black zig-zag because you’re setting yourself up to go down in the most sad-sack possible way. Has it been two weeks since you’ve really been in the Word? May as well shave your head to go with that T-shirt and start embracing the sort of “Everything In touch I ruin” ethos of old CB.  Because, in our own strength, we will fall again and again, while continually chiding ourselves for stupidly believing Lucy-fer’s lies. 

But if we are in Christ, we can rejoice with Paul, as he proclaims, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me!” That verse is so often ripped out of its context. Paul was not talking there about living out his dreams, being victorious and successful, or “making it” from a worldly perspective. To get the context right, just go back a few verses, and read these words: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things.” (Phil 4:8).   

We are to have the same mind in us as Jesus—the same grace, love, holiness, and forgiveness. How can that happen when we are so prone to fall for that same old stupid lie? The answer: Thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us the victory. We can do all things in him!

A little Bit About Meme

An Interview with Carrie Stuart Parks

There's a new book you need to read, called A Cry from the Dust.  It's exciting, full of suspense and twists, and fascinating, full of conspiracy and historical revelations. The author, Carrie Stuart Parks, is a forensic artist who has worked with law enforcement, as well as being the protege of the incomparable Frank E. Peretti.

Here's an endorsement I wrote for the book:
“Things I loved about A Cry from the Dust: the fascinating and painstakingly researched historical tapestry into which the story is woven, the frantic but intensely believable arc of events that makes you hold on extra tight, the compelling and flawed heroine who has absolutely no idea she's the heroine. Part CSI, part Lie to Me, and all relentlessly original, A Cry From the Dust blends rich characters, little-known history, and a dose of conspiracy into a very modern storytelling style. Can't wait to tear into Gwen Marcey's next adventure.”

You can buy A Cry from the Dust here (and you totally should).

I'm jazzed that our publisher is cross-promoting our books (meaning, a chapter of my book Playing Saint is featured in the back of A Cry from the Dust and vice versa) and I was lucky to have a chance to interview Ms. Parks a couple weeks ago.

You have one of the most fascinating backgrounds of any novelist I've read (forensic art). How did you get into that field?

I was an artist. My dad was the director of the N. Idaho Regional Crime Lab. He needed someone to prepare the trial charts and diagram the crime scenes. He hired me because he said I was the best artist he knew. I was the ONLY artist he knew. Ha! In 1985 he sent me to the FBI academy to learn more about forensic/composite art. Interestingly, ten years later, I was hired to teach the FBI artists. Starting in 1988, I taught forensic art across the US and Canada. The biggest thing I think I bring to the field of forensic art is my ability to teach anyone (without learning disabilities)  to draw a face:

Is it unusual for someone to be both a forensic artist and fine artist?

Hmmm. There are a couple of us. I was an award-winning artist first. Signature member of the Idaho Watercolor Society. I have a few folks that I trained that were first artists. Some of my students learned how to draw from me and went from there.

How did you make the leap from visual artist to the written word?

As a teacher, I used words as well as visuals to teach art techniques. When I started writing fine art books, I just wrote down what I said in class. When I wrote a book on signs of deception, I fictionalized some of my cases, and from that, I felt I could … just maybe … write fiction.

Were you a fan of Frank Peretti first, and then become his neighbor? Or vice versa?

I had NO clue as to who he was. He became my “neighbor” (in an Idaho sense--about four miles away.) I live on a ranch that’s been in my family since the 30s. He was my husband’s banjo-picking buddy.

Would it make you think less of me--as a person--if you knew that I went three days and nights without turning my bedroom lights off in 1988 because I had read This Present Darkness and I was freaking out that demons were flying in and out of my house? Acutally, that may be more of a rhetorical question...

Naaaa. I spent the night sitting upright in bed, terrified after watching The Exorcist. Then there’s the small matter of not swimming in ANY body of water after Jaws.

The Mormon church and its history are at the center of your debut novel; do you have a background in Mormonism? If not, what drew you to this topic?

I’ll go into a slightly different answer than what I wrote in the author notes. Or maybe I should say, I’ll explain a bit further back.

I started studying the LDS church when I became a close friend of a staunch Mormon. We talked about beliefs at length, and I got to wondering just how far “off” from Biblical Christianity someone could be and still be saved. I mean, there are some pretty meaningful differences between different Christian denominations: pre/mid/post trib, speaking in tongues, Calvinism vs Arminianism. It was a dedicated, two year study. Sadly, I determined that someone believing in the tenants of the LDS church did not know the Biblical Jesus. Jesus is not Satan’s brother, was not born of a physical union between God and Mary, and is capable of completely covering our sins, and through grace alone are we saved. This actually gave me a heart to reach Mormons. They really want to know God, to worship, to live moral lives.

How much of your protagonist comes from you yourself?

Gwen is prettier, younger, and slimmer! She is less secure, gets more rattled at things, and doesn’t have as … rip-snorting? sense of humor. The knowledge of all things forensic art is totally me. We’re the same, but different. (how’s zat for a dumb answer?)

Have you ever gotten a little too personally wrapped up in a case?

I have followed cases, but getting personally wrapped up is very unprofessional—in fact, the first name for this debut novel was “Superman Syndrome,” a negative term to describe someone who gets too involved. I have cried with victims and prayed for victims.

When will Gwen Marcey's next adventure be hitting shelves?

I just turned in book #2 about the Phineas Priesthood and Gwen. I suspect next August, unless something changes.

How many books in this series do you have under contract?

It was a three book deal.

How many germs of stories in your head?

Several strong ideas, one pretty complete plot. The books involve a lot of research, so I have to look for the story idea long in advance. Then I have to figure out how a forensic artist would become involved. I don’t want a “Murder She Wrote” situation where Gwen shows up and someone dies. I mean, you lose a lot of friends that way. No one wants to invite you over… I also have to like the subject because of the time I’ll be researching it. 

What are some other themes you want to explore in future novels?

I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you……….

What was it like being mentored in writing by Frank E. Peretti?

OOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh, it was heaven. I would bring over a chapter or three, sit at his kitchen table, hand him a copy and have my own along with a highlighter, pens, post-it notes, and my computer. Barb would serve munchies and lattes. I’d read, Frank would comment. I kept a few pages to show my notes (scrawled EVERYWHERE.)

Which of his books is your favorite?

Well, I have to confess that the YA series, the Veritas Project, is loosely based on my dad and I working together in the crime lab. I tend to like his later books.

What's the most bizarre case you actually worked on as a forensic artist?

I did a TV special for the History channel where I interviewed and sketched folks who claimed to have seen bigfoot…..LOL. We are consulted for local forensic artists to work on “The Dead Files.” I did refuse to work on a case where the person wanted me to age Amelia Earhart. They said she survived and was a Tupperware salesperson in New Jersey…..sigh.

If your readers take one thing away from A Cry From the Dust, what do you want it to be? Aaaah….just ONE?

Christian takeaway and emotion: a feeling of satisfaction, that even through the darkest days, God has a plan for our lives. We may not know it at the time, but someday we will. In the meantime: all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.

Non-Christian takeaway and emotion: A satisfying story with a strong protagonist, life problems they can relate to (acting out kids, divorce), and a message of hope.

Mormon takeaway: I wove actual events from the LDS past together in such a way that should they research it, they’ll be shocked that it’s true. Within this story are additional points I want them to examine: does God change his mind? Did Brigham Young and early leaders re-write their history? What happens when someone has complete power and control (in the past: Mountain Meadows massacre.)I hope they will experience a cognitive dissidence.

Cancer survivor takeaway: the humor of being bald. And how useful it can be at times. :)

 
Carrie Stuart Parks has also written and contributed to more than twenty instructional books and DVDs about drawing (particularly drawing people and faces), some of which you can find here.

Book Giveaway!

So my book Playing Saint comes out on October 7. Three weeks later, we're having an in-store event at Baker Book House in Grand Rapids. Thankfully, it's shaping up to not be my worst nightmare (i.e., me, card table, stack of my books, sadness), but I'd still love to have more people coming.

SOOOO, I offer this small incentive: if you live close enough to come,  click over to the event page and RSVP. At the end of the week, I will pick four people to receive Advanced Reader Copies of the book, a couple months before it even comes out.

If you live far away from Grand Rapids, I feel sorry for you, but you too can be in the running for a book by tweeting about the book or the event (include my twitter handle, @AuthorZBartels and hasthtag #PlayingSaint).