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Sunday, August 27, 2017

Fantasy Series: Fantasy is Addictive

Frankly, I did not mean to write this entire blog post in the style I did, but as it turned out, I felt led just to publish almost the whole thing in story format instead of as an article.  Maybe it will at least be easier to read...

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     "Susie, have you completed that assignment on the French Revolution?"
     Susie hastily slid The Return of the King into her desk, picked up her pencil, and was bent over the history book which lay before her, resting her left forefinger beside the paragraph which she was reading, when Mom opened the bedroom door. Mom was pleased to see her being so diligent, but repeated her question as Susie looked up from her book, apparently surprised by her mother's appearance.
     "No ma'am," she answered, pushing away the guilty feeling which told her she should have been working on her research paper instead of reading Tolkien's classic. But that book was just impossible to put down...

     "It needs to be finished by tomorrow, so please be diligent, dear. Are you understanding what you learn about it?" Mom sat down on the bed and looked interested.
     Uh, oh, thought Susie, scrambling to bring her mind back from Middle Earth to 18th century France. "I - uh - yeah, I guess so."
     "I'm afraid I've forgotten a lot of the details," Mom said encouragingly. "Could you refresh my memory?" She suspected that Susie was not paying attention to her history lesson and wanted to find out just how much she knew about this major event in history.
     "Uh, sure, Mom. Well, the king disappeared - I mean, the people didn't like their king, so they locked him up, and - uh - they decided they didn't believe in God anymore, and they killed lots of the nobles and rich people. And - and - they set up a new government - and I guess that's about it," she finished, realizing how lame the ending was, but not knowing what else to say.
     Mom's face was grave, but her tone was kind as she said, "Well, Susie, those were some of the main elements of the Revolution, but I thought you would know a little more about it by now.  You've been studying it for a month."
     Susie was getting desperate. Surely Mom couldn't expect her to know all about those crazy French people who lived so long ago! Seriously, what did the French Revolution at the end of the 1700's have to do with Susie Withers in the beginning of the 2000's? "I guess I could think of a little more," she admitted, racking her brain for more facts, but only turning up incidents from The Return of the King. An inspiration came to her and she was filled with relief. "Oh, yeah, they locked up the queen and the rest of the royal family too, and the Dauphin - the prince, you know - disappeared. Most people say he died, but some said he was carried to America and would come back someday."  A second later she added, "But he never did."
     Mom still was not impressed. "Susie, have you actually been studying?"
     The question took Susie wholly by surprise. "Yes - of course!" she answered, flushing bright red. But then she added, "Well - not as much as I should." Mom looked extremely disappointed. Susie couldn't handle it any longer. "History is just so boring, Mom," she exploded. "I mean, it's just stories about dead people, and it's not any different from what's going on today. I'm tired of history. Why can't I just read more interesting stuff?"
     "Like this?" To Susie's horror, Mom pulled out the book she had hidden.  Susie didn't answer; she was too ashamed. Mom went on, "Susie, history helps us understand the present. Trying to understand the present without any understanding of the past is futile. More importantly, when we study history we see how God has shaped the world: how He raised up nations and disposed of nations; how the Gospel was carried, often in amazing ways, to all parts of the world; how He has always had a remnant of people serving Him, no matter how dark the rest of the world was. How can you say history is boring?"
     Susie was ashamed but sullen. "It just is, Mom. I guess I know it's important, and all that, but it's so boring to read. Maybe some people like it, but I want to read a story that pulls me in - a story that feels real. History, and stories about real life, just don't do that. The same kind of stuff happens in all of them."
    Mom sighed and lifted her eyes for a moment in silent prayer before answering, then said, "Susie, do you know what an addiction is?"
     Susie felt like she had just gotten a whiplash; this conversation had changed with zero warning! "Um, yes, I guess I do." Then seeing she was supposed to explain it, she said, "It's where a person wants a certain drug really, really bad, and will do anything to get it, and they're miserable without it."
     "Right," Mom said, "with one addition. A person can be addicted to anything, not just a drug. You can be addicted to TV, to soda, coffee, sugar, exercise, sports, or - " she laid the book on the desk right on top of the history book "- reading fantasy." There was dead silence for a few seconds, then Mom continued, "Actually, you can be addicted to reading anything, but at least 90% of the 'reading addictions' I hear about are fantasy addictions."
     "But I'm not addicted to this," Susie said stubbornly.
     Mom's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, really?" Susie was silent, so Mom spoke again. "If a person was neglecting their good food all the time and instead drinking sodas and eating candy, cookies, cake and ice cream all the time, would you think they might have a problem with being addicted to sugar?"
     Susie couldn't help grinning at the example. "Yes, of course; that's an easy one."
     "Well," Mom said gently, "when I see my dear daughter neglecting her school, telling me outright that she thinks learning about God's providence in history is boring, and ignoring her little siblings because she's too busy reading, I think she may have a reading addiction. And when I give her books like The Hiding Place and God's Smuggler, or The Deerslayer and The Heir of Redclyffe, and she says those are boring too, I think she may have a fantasy addiction."
     Susie's face was red again because she knew all this was true. She had  been snappy with the little guys when they took her time away from reading her favorite fantasy authors, Lewis, Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander, and others. She knew she had neglected her schoolwork because she was too interested to lay down her fantasy book, and that she had even convinced herself she was too sick to do chores or school when she had a very minor cold, because she couldn't wait to finish the series of fantasy books. Worst of all, though she had faithfully read her Bible every day, she had been distracted by remembering what she read the day before in her current favorite book; and only occasionally had she been roused to full attention when she ran across a passage which might be compared to a scene out of a fantasy story. Tears of shame began to gather in her eyes, but she looked down and remained silent.
     Mom sighed. "Susie, dear," she said softly, "you want to do what is pleasing to the Lord, don't you?"
     "Yes, Mom," Susie murmured.
     "I want you to pray about this and honestly follow through with what the Lord shows you to do. Remember, dear, the only way to break most addictions is to completely stop the behavior. You can't balance an addicting drug that is unnecessary to your life - you must get rid of it altogether. Addicting literature is the same way. It's too powerful for you to balance, because in its essence, it is truth out of balance." Susie looked up in surprise. "Yes - those authors aren't inventing much; they are just making up stories based on real human emotions and events, taking God out of them, and adding magic. You can't balance fantasy, dear, because it is outside God's created order, so it is outside of balance."
     She stood up and walked around to the back of Susie's chair to hug her daughter's slumped shoulders. "I'm sorry Dad and I let you start reading these books and exposed you to this addiction and struggle. Please pray about it and honestly resolve to do what God would have you to do, by His strength, when He shows you what to do. Don't read the books during this time; they will just draw you in and cloud your thinking again; but honestly evaluate whether they are honoring to God and helpful to you. Will you do this?"
     The tears were trickling down Susie's cheeks now. She knew that what Mom was asking her to do was right - if she was a Christian she should be willing to follow whatever the Lord had for her to do - but it would be incredibly hard to give up those amazing stories, and she had an uncomfortable feeling that this was precisely what she would have to do if she promised. But it was right to promise... She sat still, thinking, trying not to cry.
     Suddenly she turned around and wrapped both arms around her mom's neck. "Yes, Mom; I will!" she said through her tears. Mom gave her another hug, then slipped out of the room.
     When she was gone, Susie closed the history book and stared at The Return of the King. Then she went to her bookshelf and slowly carried all her fantasy books to the school desk and piled them up, one on top of another. They made quite a stack; she hadn't realized how many she had collected. She stared at them for a few moments, then slowly sank to her knees beside the desk and began to pray.



     Mom told Dad about her conversation with Susie and they both prayed for her that night. They did not hear anything from her about the fantasy books for nearly a week, but then, one morning when Dad opened the bedroom door, he saw a cardboard box sitting directly before him on the neatly vacuumed hall carpet. Inside was a stack of books which he recognized as coming from his daughter's bookshelf. A note taped on the topmost book caught his attention and he bent down to retrieve it.
     Mom came up behind him and rested one hand on his shoulder as they read it together.

Dear Dad and Mom,
I have my answer from the Lord and He is helping me break the addiction.  Please deal with these books as you see fit so that they won't be a problem for me or any of the others any more. Thank you for helping me see this addiction.
I love you so much!
Your daughter,
Susie

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     Susie had made a tough decision, but had rightly chosen to get rid of the stories which were hampering her in her spiritual walk with the Lord, eating her time, and putting stumblingblocks in her relationships with her siblings. Her honest determination to follow through with whatever the Lord showed her about the books was blessed in her life. Once those distracting stories were gone, she found that her mind was more at ease than when it had been in a constant state of excitement from the books she was reading. She could focus on her school and enjoy more realistic, well-written, edifying, informational books, and most importantly, was able to read the Bible without the constant distraction of impossible adventures, mysterious quests, and unrealistic heroes and heroines. She had more joy in serving others and learned that fulfillment in life is not in immersing oneself in a story, but joyfully following the Lord wherever He leads.

While this example may seem somewhat extreme, it is true to life in far  too many cases. I was one such case, though my story is not like the fictional Susie's. I have heard of many others - some have surrendered to the Lord and broken the addiction of fantasy; some are still struggling; and some have surrendered entirely to the world of fantasy and have no desire to be released.
Whether you are clearly addicted or not, the fact remains that these books are extremely powerful and addictive. Think carefully about this - and especially beware of allowing your children to even begin reading these books or watching these movies.


And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Matthew 5:30

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