Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Hey Evil... Bring It On

I've encountered evil in so many forms and disguises.

Last year I started reading the trilogy The Golden Compass.  It was about the time the movie premiered.  Phillip Pullman writes a compelling story about a child that will save the world.  The child has strong parallels with Eve; she will have to make a choice that will save or doom humanity.  The second of the three books is darker than the first.  It left me unsettled and prompted me to read about Pullman.  His goal, he says, is to kill God because he believes the story of salvation is a lie.  In the trilogy, the child's journey is to get to heaven -- a heaven that is really just an alternate world -- and kill God who is really just an angel that outsmarted the other angels and claimed the throne for himself.  I didn't care to finish the trilogy, so I have no idea if they succeed or not.

I didn't stop reading the trilogy out of fear; if something as simple as a child's story can shake my faith, I don't really have faith.  I stopped reading because Pullman's goal disgusted me.  The fact that his work is intended for children made me cringe.

When I talked about this trilogy and my reaction after a SALT rehearsal, my friend Scott gave me this perspective:

"Imagine two adjacent rooms.  The door is open between them.  One is full of light; the other is dark.  Did you ever notice that the dark never spills into the lighted room, but that the light from the other brightens the dark?"

He's right. 

So to the Phillip Pullmans of the world, all I can say is "BRING IT ON!"  The Light will ALWAYS outshine the Dark.

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