Who all read Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury in high school? You know, the story about the book burners? (A movie called "Equillibrium" was based roughly on it. I highly recommend watching it. It has Christian Bale in it...)But anyways, I loved this book when we were "requested" to read it. I've read it multiple times. I can't say much about it for fear of spoiling it for you, but I will say that human emotion is only fully appreciated and grasped when it is gone.
One day while I was strolling down the aisles of OPEN BOOKS-- a tiny little second hand book shop a block away from school-- I saw RAY BRADBURY in big gold letters on the front of a book with a haunted house plastered on it's cover. Cool, was my reaction. If you know me, you know that I like monster stories and such, so I snatched it off the shelf and read the back. It turns out, "From the Dust Returned" was in fact a connective story about the family that inspired the ADDAMS FAMILY, which was developed by him and his buddy Charles Addams. Crazy huh? Bet you didn't know that.
So as I push through the artistically frayed pages and the over-gushified prose, I learn about One Thousand Times Great Grandmere (a 3000BC year-old mummy lady), Timothy (a Human child born to "unliving" parents and abandonded at the house), and all kinds of relatives with wings or webs or relocatable souls -- and even Rameses' royal undead cat. Weird, right?
Then, on page 117, when the "Oldest Darkest Undeadest Leader" of the house is explaining why they as creatures are in danger from the rest of the world, he tells us of the impending war. What impending war? OUR WAR. It blew my mind that Ray, someone who has no particular views on God whatsoever, could capture the post-modern effect on Christianity.
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"War?" Timothy glanced up. "What war?" And then clapped his palm over his mouth and blushed. "Sorry."
"No need, boy. Listen, now, let me provide the history of the rising tide of disbelief. The Judeo-Christian world is a devastation. The burning bush of Moses will not fire. Christ, from the tomb, fears to come forth should he be unrecognized by doubting Thomas. The shadow of Allah melts at noon. So Christians and Muslims confront a world torn by many wars to finalize yet a larger. Moses did not walk down the mountain for he never walked up. Christ did not die for he was never born... Does the unholy or holy win? Ah, but look: the answer is neither none or what? Not only is Jesus lonely and Nazareth in ruins, but the populace at large believes in NOTHING. There is no room for either glorious or terrible. We are in danger too, trapped in the tomb with an uncrucified carpenter, blown away with the burning bush as the east's Black Cubicle cracks its mortar and falls. The world is at war."
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Ray's words astound me. The way he says things! Have you ever had that experience where someone says something to you and you reply, " I never thought of it like that" or "I've never heard it said like that"? That's what this is!
"Christ did not die for he was never born..." Does he mean he literally believes that Jesus was never born? I don't think so. I think he means to say the world has made up their minds that he was never born so therefore his death and ressurection mean nothing to them.
It doesn't take John Piper or Jerry Jenkins (ha) to enlighten us theologically. In this case, it's someone who has been around for a while, who keeps his eyes open, and likes to write fanciful words. Hey, obviously right? You're reading what I'm writing...
What are your thoughts?
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