Ending on a Good Note

I went to hit some golf balls last weekend with my dad. At the end of these outings we always practice putting, which eventually turns into a putting contest between us. My dad always wins (although I am getting much closer). This time, on the last hole, I completely botched my shots and just did not do well at all. So, my dad made us do one more hole on the reasoning that you should not end on a bad note.

I have also been reading through the minor prophets of the Old Testament and have been struck with one repeating feature. To start, they are typically very negative. The prophet is laying it on the Israelites (or other nations); 'it' being how mad God is at them and all the terrible stuff He is going to do. We get a very detailed account of all the ways they have sinned and rebelled against their God. But then at the end, almost as an afterthought, the prophet adds how God will restore Israel (For example: In the 9 chapters of Amos, only the last 5 verses are positive), that the sin leading to punishment is not the end, that despite all the bad stuff going on, the real end will be a good note.

I guess God doesn't even like ending on a bad note.

This pattern can also be found in many psalms. The psalmist may be crying out to God verse upon verse, lamenting the sufferings of his life and the absence of God, but as he nears the end of his prayerful song, he begins to turn to God's goodness and the hope of restoration.

I wonder why this is. No matter how bad we are doing at something, whether that is golf (or any sport), musical performance, life, etc. why must we end on a good note?

I asked my dad this after our putting game, and I think it took him a little by surprise. And the more I think about it the more unnatural questioning this phenomenon seems to be. Why wouldn't you want to end on a good note? But he basically told me that it's good for morale, especially when that last shot is the one you are most likely going to be thinking about all the way up to the next time you hit a ball.

Cognitive psychology does show that you remember the first and last items of a sequence the best - like an inverse bell curve:

They call this the serial position effect – the culmination of primacy and recency effects. The experiments are usually memory recall tests (i.e. having subjects try to memorize a list of words and then waiting a few minutes before writing down the ones they remember – people generally remember the first couple of words and the last couple the best), but I guess you could loosely extrapolate those findings to something like a practice round of golf. Maybe that last shot really does stick with you more than all the other crappy ones you hit.

But I think ending on a good note arises out of something deeper than a desire to boost our morale. It surpasses any attempt to cognitively trick ourselves into believing things are better than they are.

We know that things are better than they sometimes seem to be. Or at least that they will be better.  We know that there is something better in us or around us that we can connect with.

And I'd say that that seeming afterthought in the minor prophets is not an afterthought at all. Instead, it is the central element of the prophet's message. The culmination of the prophet's entreaty is that hope of restoration. The prophets know that the end will be a good note – or rather a chord of faith, hope, and love that is pleasing to both God and man. It is hard to imagine the dissonance resolving, but the prophets and the psalmists have left their reminders that it will happen. Good will win out in the end.

God not only wants us to end on a good note, He is in fact that very good note, present at the beginning and the end and beyond each.   

Twilight: an explanation...and insight

I admit – I read Twilight.  Just the first book in the saga so far, though.  I still don’t know exactly why.  It could be that I just want to be culturally relevant, but I have also started watching a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer lately and I am finding in myself a growing sense of vampire fascination.  I am being sucked in like the rest of America…someone please help! (Although I am not so far gone that I am watching True Blood yet.)

I am not going to use this space to bash Twilight or praise it (although I will admit at the outset that I tend toward the former – the writing style is excruciating, the story nearly unbearable, and Buffy is simply a far superior indulgence into vampire lore).  I will admit, though, that as much as I find it unpleasant, I still find myself at the end of the day wanting to read more – I don’t know whether that is to get through it quicker or because it is in some way interesting.

And that is the question that haunts me – why is Twilight so popular, so interesting to so many people?  What is it that has gotten so many people to read and talk about this story?  (I am sure the answer to this lies partly in the help that several very good looking actresses and bare chested actors contributed in their cinematic support of the story).

This especially troubles me when I think of Christianity – the religion I try my best to be a part of – and how it has become so unpopular.  I am not going to throw statistics out (you can trust the countless statistics thrown at me, or just google it), but clearly Christianity is falling far behind Twilight in the popularity scales.  Whether Christians think it is important to be popular or not, this still holds great consequences based on the millions of people who have unpopular, unfavorable impressions of Christians before they even know any personally.

So, how do we Twilightize Christianity?  How do we at least get people interested in what it is about?  How do we get people talking about it?   Well, there are probably many (bad) ways of doing that – even Hitler is popular (sorry to pull out the trump card there).  And I in no way think that marketing Christianity is a good idea.  Is there a way to make Christianity not necessarily popular, but favorable?  Is that even an important aspect of the religion?

As I thought about this, I thought about what made Twilight popular.  Here’s what I came up with:

It is like a delicious milkshake (by the way, I think that a rich, perfectly blended chocolate milkshake is the best human equivalent to intoxicating blood for a vampire): it tastes good, goes down easy, fills you up, and doesn’t leave you with a bad taste in your mouth (unless you are lactose intolerant).  It is very simple and easy to read, and it is romantically captivating.  It doesn’t necessarily challenge us but rather shows us an entrancing, pleasing story.  It leaves us feeling warm and fuzzy inside.  And it has vampires.  But is this really something we should copy as Christians?  Is this really what our message is about? 

I would say no.  Sure there are parts to a relationship with Jesus that are full of encouragement and the warm feeling of knowing God is with you, but that is not even half the story.  Christianity is challenging, convicting, and though very much worth it, not an easy ride.  Following Jesus often does not taste good, does not go down easy, and although it fills our souls and hearts, it often leaves our bodies wanting.  We don’t even have to read past the crucifixion to see how unpopular and unfavorable Jesus was.  The gospel is not always something people necessarily want, but it is something we all need.  So, how do we represent this unfavorable message to those who naturally reject it?  How do we serve bland bread and bitter wine to a population that is sucking down delicious milkshakes and fatty hamburgers?  I figure Twilight must have something to offer, so I decided to look at the book from a different view.

What do the characters in Twilight teach us about being accepted by the world?  How do they connect with such a broad audience so easily and have the opportunity to share their story with that audience? 

They are authentic (perhaps unrealistically so) and for the most part are overwhelmingly honest, at least within the Bella/Cullen circle.  They are relatable and connect with their audience on some level by doing and understanding normal human things even though no character is any more excessively normal than any of us.  They are loving and in pursuit of love no matter what it takes.  The characters, primarily Bella, have found a better, more meaningful existence even in the midst of the dreary drizzliness of life – something we all so desperately hope for.  And all this has to have some impact, some value or meaning to millions of people.

The Christian message may not be a popular one and this may not be all that Christians need to have the opportunity to share our story, but I think these are good lessons to take from the book.  We as Christians often don’t know how to connect with those around us, especially when we fail to be authentic, loving, and truly fascinated by the better life we have found in the midst of dreary days.  Granted, I haven’t read the whole series, and Christianity is much more nuanced than a fiction book, but I think the value in authenticity, honesty, relate-ability, and love will do nothing but help us be better Christians, and more ‘popular’, or more well received people as well.

Further (related) reading: Luke 9:57-10:37