A Story

Warning: In the following post I tread very closely to the line of "nerdy English major." I will however, not apologize for this fact. I merely feel the need to warn you all. I also realize that by writing an entry that doesn't include pictures and becomes "Englishy" I am removing all likelihood that Alan my older brother will read this entry. Alan reads, but only if the word "novel" is preceded by the word "graphic", as in comic books. Sorry Alby.

So I've been thinking a lot over the past few months how life is really this great big story. It includes characters, protagonists (think Luke Skywalker Alan), antagonists (think Darth Vader Alan), climax, plot development, etc. I think subconsciously we are all waiting for some sort of "rising action" something that will either "improve" our story or in some cases just change the direction of the story. This rising action comes in a lot of ways, getting married, having kids (I know everyone says this but my nephews are actually the cutest kids on the planet. If you disagree you are actually incorrect. Your opinion is wrong), changing jobs, moving, etc. And in some instances the rising action comes as a result of some really unfortunate situations, ie Karl's health.

What is interesting to me is that all of humanity is connected and invested in the "big" story. What I mean is that when "the plot thickens" (or bad things happen to good people) every person on this planet wants the good guy to win. And we all invest in the story and empathize with its "action".

And I think this is because people just really like good stories.

Think about someone like Lance Armstrong. His story was good because he won like 37 tour de Frances. He story became GREAT when he did it after being diagnosed with cancer. I think this is because we all NEED to believe in a story. We NEED to believe that there does exist this really qualified author (there is by the way) that knows just how to rope in his reader. Like any good story, we have no idea how the thing will end but the more we know about the character the more we know about his struggles the more we want him to "win" in the end.

Right now my brother's story is reaching a point of tension but I know the Author has got something up his sleeve. Maybe more than "knowing" that he has something up his sleeve, I BELIEVE he has something up his sleeve.

Which obviously begs the question, if Karl is Luke Skywalker, who is Darth Vader...

I had to include a picture for Alan.

I think what got me thinking about all this was an email that I received from a friend of mine. Instead of me retelling what happened I just included it below. Its a pretty cool story.


My Dad had talked about Karl in church awhile back to put it on everyone's "prayer radar." Anyway he was in Wal-Mart yesterday and a sister of some regular attender asked how Karl was doing. My Dad updated them I guess on what he knew from the blog ( I have no clue who the person is). Anyway the woman had a daughter or family member with brain cancer (or at least that's my understanding) and I guess opened up her wallet and gave my Dad the $20 she had in there and asked that it gets to your brother. So, its just a little bit, but I will have twenty dollars for you to bring to your brother. I know not much, but something.