Whole, broken, bent
I went on a book bender last night. It was an audio book. I have lots of emotions and have bawled and laughed and cried and yelled and quoted from this book this past week. I found in my Facebook memories for today this quote from a meme:
“I tried everything to get to sleep last night. Well, everything except closing the book and putting it on the nightstand. Let’s not get too crazy.”
We live through the stories we tell, the stories we read, hear, experience, and watch. It’s all useful. I wanted to say, all good, but it’s not all good, in the sense that some stories are whole and healing, some are broken, and some are bent or twisted.
Whole stories have conflict with a resolution where someone learns truth and acts on it; a whole story includes enough to tell that the results of good acts will be good. Whole stories include conflict, yes, but show accurately that healing can and will come with forgiveness, and that evil will lose in the end.
Broken stories have conflict with a resolution or progression towards resolution where someone learns pain and suffering and the resolution is more pain and suffering—these stories hurt. They bring attention to really painful things, as whole stories also do, but in broken stories the results are not good, not healing. The resolution isn’t a solution; it’s a continuation of brokenness, sometimes an increase of it. 1984 feels like that to me.
Bent or twisted stories take good and bad events and attitudes and mix them in ways that mislead. You can tell yourself a story in which someone abuses someone else and has no negative consequences to either party, but it’s not true. Real life always has consequences; abuse leads to pain and suffering. Does that suffering have to go on forever? No… but a twisted story may try to convince you that forgiveness is impossible, that healing cannot happen, that exercising power and authority lead to only the best results. These are wrong. A broken story shows realistic consequences; a bent story takes actions and tacks on impossibly positive or impossibly negative consequences.
Jesus Christ teaches us that everything we do brings results. Our own experiences in this life back up this idea. If you touch the hot stove, your hand will burn. If you truly forgive someone, they may still hurt you, but you don’t have to carry hatred in your heart. You can let go of bitterness. Is it easy? No. Is it possible? Yes.
Broken stories have a place alongside whole stories. Whole stories teach, encourage, show good by example and evil to be avoided or overcome. Broken stories are salt in the soup of education. It doesn’t take much broken story to overwhelm with sadness and discouragement. They should instead be used to spur us to action, to change our circumstances or to better understand someone else’s experiences and point of view.
Bent stories should be avoided at all costs. They lie.
