"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and hope. Then you will call upon Me and come to pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.'"
Recently, I finished reading the phenomenon series "Twilight". I am not saying that this series is phenomenal. In the midst of reading, I was extremely terribly frustrated; in the end, I wasn't satisfied. After searching and reading almost everything on Stephanie Meyer's website, I still wasn't fulfilled. I can't pinpoint these feelings: there's nothing about Bella and Edward that makes me want to be them. I can't fathom a world where anything so terribly unreal could even be considered legitimate. Harry Potter never did this to me. When the seventh book was done, I was content. JK Rowling could have her characters in her mind and I was happy with the way it ended. Meyer's perspective is different. I think it has to do with her writing style. As a reader, it was easy to get caught up with knowing what the characters were going to do (even though the only one I really appreciate now is Alice). This whole ordeal is very difficult for me to sift through. I think of myself as a internal processor: I need time to think through situations before I know what to do. I can come to great conclusions during a conversation, but I need to think things through. This blog is turning into my internal processor.
So, with saying all of that, I can't help but feel that there is a spiritual stronghold present. Meyer has declared on her website that she is a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, essentially meaning she's Mormon. And that's it. She claims that there is a correlation between her beliefs and these books. Mormons claim to be Christians - and therefore belief in Christ is enough? I think not. As a Christian, I can't see her faith in Christ in the books. So far, the only things I can perhaps work with on this point are this:
In Twilight, Bella has the option to choose between good (avoiding Edward) and evil (falling in love with Edward). At this point in the book, there would be nothing to write about if she had chosen what was good for her. This is similar to Eve's decision in the Garden of Eden. The difference is that Bella didn't have someone telling her which one to pick. She had the opposite: Edward told her not to pick him.
In New Moon, Edward sacrifices himself for the good of Bella's life. Wait, though: it doesn't do good. Christ sacrificed himself for us and it gives us joy - this sacrifice created the opposite.
Later, in Eclipse, sensuality comes out in handfuls as Bella tries to tame her physical reactions to Edward's presence. As a young adult who has dated, I understand this moral dilemna. I haven't actually had a conversation quite like what Bella and Edward had in his room during a "kidnapping" incident. However, the fact that this said discussion had to occur disturbs me. The couple decides to wait until they are married - but Bella still secretly doesn't want to commit to Edward that way. As if being transformed into a vampire for eternity isn't committing? Come on girl! What are you thinking??
As I said, I don't understand where these things are coming from. I needed to see them in writing to verify what I know I'm trying to say - and I'm beginning to see the light (thank goodness!). In conclusion of this rant, I needed to prove to myself that Christ's light is different than the dark demonic "representative" shown in Twilight. I want to be done with this. Shake it off my hands. I need to distract myself: all those teenage girls need to be distracted. Life doesn't happen like this! It's never sparkles and dazzling. It just can't always be like that. There is happiness down the road - but eternity in heaven is so much more worth living for than this false ideal of a 'forever' with a boy. Boys can't fix everything (see post #1). Christ can only suffice, and thus my theme proves itself once again. EVERYTHING.
getting a haircut is interesting. it's not like buying a car or a house. each day, you have the option of making it look different and even over the next couple of weeks, it creates character of its own. so, here's a question: why do i always make a bigger deal out of these things? it'll be different in a few days and it will eventually grow out.
