CSFF Blog Tour: Fearless Day Three

So we finish up the blog tour for Robin Parrish's Fearless.

I admit, I've been sweating this entry simply because for a while, I was worried I'd have to admit that "I got nothing" (so sorry to the grammaticians out there). But as I thought about it tonight, I realized that I could say something. So bear with me and keep in mind, these are the rambling thoughts of a guy who hasn't read the book. If my thoughts don't intersect with Fearless in any way, it reflects poorly on me, not on Mr. Parrish.

You remember two days ago I said I wished I had read the books? Well, I thought about why tonight and I came to a realization. The reason why is because I can resonate with the basic plot of the books.

From what I understand, the basic premise of Parrish's books is that a group of people have discovered that they've been given special gifts and abilities. Just that idea alone is enough to pique my interest because really, who hasn't wished for specials gifts at one time. The plot resonates because it touches a deep desire within me.

And if you think about it, it's obvious that this plot resonates with a lot of other people as well. Look at the smash hit Heroes: ordinary people wake up one day to discover they have incredible powers and have to "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World." Or X-Men. Same basic idea, namely seemingly ordinary people given tremendous abilities.

Or think of the current literary juggernaut who's been dominating the world the past week or so, dear old Mr. Potter himself. I think part of the reason why those seven books have so captivated people's imagination is because of the way they kick off: an ordinary little boy finds out there's life beyond his cupboard beneath the stairs, to learn he has special gifts and abilities and possibly a heroic destiny.

These stories spark our imaginations because they touch on a deep seated yearning inside us. I want to be special. I want to have unique powers. I want to be a hero.

But usually, sadly, there's a counterpoint to that desire, one that drags us back to reality. The reason we yearn for that is because we believe, deep down, that we're not special. We have no unique powers. We're anything but heroic.

When we think that way, we've missed something important. It puts me in mind of 1 Corinthians 12:12-20, which reads:

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit, we are all baptized into one body -- Jews or Greeks, slave or free -- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

"Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members of the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body."

In other words, we may not all have incredible powers. We may not even think we have special powers. But we all have unique gifts given to us by our Lord.

More than that, we are all heroes in His eyes. Think of what Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:9 - "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." Notice that Pete doesn't say some of you were chosen, a couple of you are royal priests, a minute quantity are God's own people. He says "you." All of you. Together. You're all chosen, royal priests belonging to God. To paraphrase a bit, you're all heroes.

Martin Luther once said (and I'm paraphrasing here; I really need to find this quote someday) that a housewife changing a dirty diaper is giving God as much glory as an archbishop giving a sermon. What he meant is that God is the one who has called us to be where and who we are. He has given us each unique gifts and abilities to carry out that calling, be it "superhero," pastor, writer, housewife, clergy, or whatever. We are heroes in God's eyes when we carry out that calling, using the gifts He's given, to the fullest of our potential.

You're all heroes. You all matter.

So there we go. Does it have anything to do with the book? Ya got me, I dunno. But that's the danger of giving a pastor an open forum.

Go check out what the other participants had to say:

Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Merrie Destefano
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John Ottinger
Lyn Perry
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

Next month is Legend of the Firefish. Don't worry. I've placed my order with Amazon already. I (hopefully) won't have to wing it when we do this again.