I just feel like writing. it seems to plague me lately. as i do my research and posting for the book review, i find myself becoming envious of all the creative writing, etc., going on in the world of blogs. a lot more time on my hands makes me think so much of this wonderful, mysterious world around me, and causes me to muse on its idiosyncracies.

dan brown-the da vinci code---we've all heard the hype, seen the trailers and the silly soda machine boxes flaunting the mystery and supposed "truth" set forth by the controversial novel. honestly, i have not read the book and don't really plan to. but what is so interesting to me, as i peruse the numerous blogs, is the high concentration of Christians who spend mass amounts of time digressing about the book. not to mention the number of churches that are erupting with sermons on the novel; how to defend our faith against it; how to prove its innate fallacies.

as a Christian, i can see the concern in having people believe something that is wrong about our faith. but, i have just as much concern about us becoming obsessed with downtrodding a novel which is out there, is going to be out there and there's nothing we can really do to stop it. are we simply spending too much time trying to prove our Christian code against Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code? i would venture to say we are.

there must be precautions taken, and we should certainly be ready to answer any questions that people may bring up. but it just seems like maybe we should be majoring in the gospel, how to defend it DAILY, not simply when something threatens our belief system. if we were lost on a desserted island, alone, with no human challenges to faith, we should be immersed in the gospel. if we only associated with Christians (which i would not suggest) we should still be immersed in the gospel. if we are lost in a world that is depraved and hungry, we should be immersed in the gospel. it must be a part of our daily lives. i know that i falter in this area. i seem to have my battles that i wage. but God shows up everywhere, not just when disputes arrive.

my concern is that it will become an us verses them mentality in which we continue to alienate ourselves, as believers, from the reality that exists. this is not to say that we should become like the rest of the world, or subscribe to their value systems or personal spiritual beliefs. but we are commanded to love. living in factions dissolves the love of Christ.

frankly, i think we just need to get over it.