I played a lot of baseball growing up. I have many memories of games won and lost, practicing and playing under great coaches, and fun times with teammates. In my fading memory, there is one game in particular where I still am not sure what happened. I was up to bat, and I hit the ball. After that, things become fuzzy. I must have hit it well, but I can’t recall where it went still today. I know that as I ran to first base, my first base coach yelled for me to “go two.” So I did.
I recall there were a lot of yelling voices and cheering. As I looked toward second base, I noticed that neither the second baseman nor the shortstop were on the base. They weren’t even anticipating a throw from wherever I hit the ball. I looked to the third base coach, who was motioning for me to keep going. So I rounded second base toward third.
As I came to third base, the noise seemed to be deafening. I remember feeling disoriented. “Home! Home!” -- I think I heard that. I also think I remember some of my teammates yelling “Go! Go!” Or was it “No! No!”? I wasn’t sure. Some of the parents in the crowd seemed like they yelled, “Stay!” Or was it “Yay!!!”?? I can’t recall if my third base coach gave a clear signal. Everything was so loud and confusing. I still didn’t know where I hit the ball or who had it at that moment. Did I hit a home run? Was there an error in the outfield? Neither the third baseman nor the catcher had the ball at that moment. After hesitating a moment, I went for it. I was thrown out at home.
I didn’t know what happened. I still don’t. So much noise and yelling. What to do wasn’t clear.
____________________________
Sometimes a “truth” to direct our lives is hard to hear. We as Christians believe it’s Jesus. But Jesus in what version of the story? Which Jesus is the one who gets us home? And what about other ideals we’re given? Are these compatible with Jesus? Or are they part of another storyline?
And there is the noise of stories trying to tell us where to go, who to be, what to do. If they’re not telling us exactly in those words, they’re telling us what we should value, what is “worth” our time and energy, who the “cool” people are, who is worth following.
James Bryan Smith’s The Magnificent Story focuses on the “transcendentals” -- beauty, goodness, and truth – to be our grid to evaluate the voices. Consider these like a three-legged stool that upholds what is really real. If it’s not beautiful, good, and true, then it might be an empty story with no life. All three legs are necessary to hold up the stool. Take any one away – beauty, goodness, or truth – and it falls. What’s challenging is that “truth” is not the sole measure of the magnificent story worthy of our massive souls.
Truth is tricky.
_______________________________
In John’s gospel, Pontius Pilate famously asked Jesus, “What is truth?” It’s a question we’re still asking. And there are a lot of voices trying to answer that question.
Consider the mathematical equation 2+2=4. This is a true equation. Except for light. At the speed of light, the seemingly universal truth of 2+2=4 doesn’t work. The “truth” has limited applicability for its truthfulness.
Consider “what goes up must come down.” This is true. But only within the context of the earth’s atmosphere where gravity is a reality. “What goes up must come down” doesn’t work on the moon.
Nearly all “truth” is contextual and limited by time, vantage point, and just...human smallness. In other words, “truth” usually is only true within the story that makes it so.
Which means we need a story first to help us know and define what is beautiful, good, and true. Which means all of our stories are taken in faith. The fundamental issue is not to discover the story that is the most true, beautiful or good according to some already existing definitions.
The question now is, what story gives us a vision of beauty, goodness, and truth that transforms even the worst of human darkness?
As Smith says, we need “humble eyes” to see it. Humble eyes recognize that we are not at the center of the story. Humble eyes also recognize that our small-minded assessments of “truth” are not adequate for the largeness of the story that will satisfy our massive souls. Humble eyes are necessary to see that we might need a better story to give us a better revealing of beauty, goodness, and truth. Initially, that can be destabilizing. But, the transcendentals tell us that we need story that is beyond mere truth; we need a story that stops us in our tracks with its beauty and transforms us with its goodness.
___________________________________
Why does all of this matter? Why not just “truth”? Where’s this book going?
It matters because, as Smith will contend, God is not just summed up in explainable truths. That version of God is too small. Which only results in a story that is too small. And1700+ years of Christian thought, practice, and life would agree.
Jesus did not simply pronounce ideas, beliefs, and values that he called “truth.” We tend to shrink Jesus down to this level. The transcendentals stop us from doing that. Jesus’ life embodied divine beauty and goodness, and because of that, he was truly God. And because of that he could say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He didn’t say, “I am the truth” or “I teach the truth.” He said I am the way of beauty, the truth of reality, and the goodness that is life. All three.
Dear readers, there is a story whose beauty, when apprehended, transforms our sight. It transforms our sight so that we evaluate what is “truth” differently than before. There is a story with a goodness that, when experienced, causes us to “flip the script” about what is good and just in the world and how we bring it about.
If we’re only looking for “truth” that our small human minds and limited perspectives can apprehend, we could miss it.
So, this chapter raises the question. It will be the framework for the next chapters. And it's worth us pondering: How often do beauty and goodness play a role in what story shapes your life? If the “truth” you claim that shapes the story you live by doesn’t also reflect beauty and goodness, is it possible it might not be the magnificent story? What if you paid more attention than usual to beauty and goodness around you and asked yourself: “What true story does this point to?”
I recall there were a lot of yelling voices and cheering. As I looked toward second base, I noticed that neither the second baseman nor the shortstop were on the base. They weren’t even anticipating a throw from wherever I hit the ball. I looked to the third base coach, who was motioning for me to keep going. So I rounded second base toward third.
As I came to third base, the noise seemed to be deafening. I remember feeling disoriented. “Home! Home!” -- I think I heard that. I also think I remember some of my teammates yelling “Go! Go!” Or was it “No! No!”? I wasn’t sure. Some of the parents in the crowd seemed like they yelled, “Stay!” Or was it “Yay!!!”?? I can’t recall if my third base coach gave a clear signal. Everything was so loud and confusing. I still didn’t know where I hit the ball or who had it at that moment. Did I hit a home run? Was there an error in the outfield? Neither the third baseman nor the catcher had the ball at that moment. After hesitating a moment, I went for it. I was thrown out at home.
I didn’t know what happened. I still don’t. So much noise and yelling. What to do wasn’t clear.
____________________________
Sometimes a “truth” to direct our lives is hard to hear. We as Christians believe it’s Jesus. But Jesus in what version of the story? Which Jesus is the one who gets us home? And what about other ideals we’re given? Are these compatible with Jesus? Or are they part of another storyline?
And there is the noise of stories trying to tell us where to go, who to be, what to do. If they’re not telling us exactly in those words, they’re telling us what we should value, what is “worth” our time and energy, who the “cool” people are, who is worth following.
James Bryan Smith’s The Magnificent Story focuses on the “transcendentals” -- beauty, goodness, and truth – to be our grid to evaluate the voices. Consider these like a three-legged stool that upholds what is really real. If it’s not beautiful, good, and true, then it might be an empty story with no life. All three legs are necessary to hold up the stool. Take any one away – beauty, goodness, or truth – and it falls. What’s challenging is that “truth” is not the sole measure of the magnificent story worthy of our massive souls.
Truth is tricky.
_______________________________
In John’s gospel, Pontius Pilate famously asked Jesus, “What is truth?” It’s a question we’re still asking. And there are a lot of voices trying to answer that question.
Consider the mathematical equation 2+2=4. This is a true equation. Except for light. At the speed of light, the seemingly universal truth of 2+2=4 doesn’t work. The “truth” has limited applicability for its truthfulness.
Consider “what goes up must come down.” This is true. But only within the context of the earth’s atmosphere where gravity is a reality. “What goes up must come down” doesn’t work on the moon.
Nearly all “truth” is contextual and limited by time, vantage point, and just...human smallness. In other words, “truth” usually is only true within the story that makes it so.
Which means we need a story first to help us know and define what is beautiful, good, and true. Which means all of our stories are taken in faith. The fundamental issue is not to discover the story that is the most true, beautiful or good according to some already existing definitions.
The question now is, what story gives us a vision of beauty, goodness, and truth that transforms even the worst of human darkness?
As Smith says, we need “humble eyes” to see it. Humble eyes recognize that we are not at the center of the story. Humble eyes also recognize that our small-minded assessments of “truth” are not adequate for the largeness of the story that will satisfy our massive souls. Humble eyes are necessary to see that we might need a better story to give us a better revealing of beauty, goodness, and truth. Initially, that can be destabilizing. But, the transcendentals tell us that we need story that is beyond mere truth; we need a story that stops us in our tracks with its beauty and transforms us with its goodness.
___________________________________
Why does all of this matter? Why not just “truth”? Where’s this book going?
It matters because, as Smith will contend, God is not just summed up in explainable truths. That version of God is too small. Which only results in a story that is too small. And1700+ years of Christian thought, practice, and life would agree.
Jesus did not simply pronounce ideas, beliefs, and values that he called “truth.” We tend to shrink Jesus down to this level. The transcendentals stop us from doing that. Jesus’ life embodied divine beauty and goodness, and because of that, he was truly God. And because of that he could say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He didn’t say, “I am the truth” or “I teach the truth.” He said I am the way of beauty, the truth of reality, and the goodness that is life. All three.
Dear readers, there is a story whose beauty, when apprehended, transforms our sight. It transforms our sight so that we evaluate what is “truth” differently than before. There is a story with a goodness that, when experienced, causes us to “flip the script” about what is good and just in the world and how we bring it about.
If we’re only looking for “truth” that our small human minds and limited perspectives can apprehend, we could miss it.
So, this chapter raises the question. It will be the framework for the next chapters. And it's worth us pondering: How often do beauty and goodness play a role in what story shapes your life? If the “truth” you claim that shapes the story you live by doesn’t also reflect beauty and goodness, is it possible it might not be the magnificent story? What if you paid more attention than usual to beauty and goodness around you and asked yourself: “What true story does this point to?”
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