donald miller

i had the great privilege of attending a talk by donald miller last friday in dallas, tx. he is the author of the book 'blue like jazz' and has brilliant insight along the lines of  a jack kerouac. he talked about 'narrative' as the central framework for life because it is story that we all live within. he said that if you think your life is boring . . . you need to write a new story for your life. 

every good story has a protagonist who wants something and must face innumerable odds to get it. in fact, the story is just getting good when the protagonist doesn't know if they're going to make it. and whatever the outcome of the story the journey is what hooks us . . . because we know intrinsically, the only way to a successful story will involve courage, sacrifice and pain.  and when we watch someone struggle and overcome . . . we identify deeply with our own plight. we want to live a courageous story, we want to be unafraid, and we want a better story for our lives. 

and if we don't like the story we're currently living, we can start writing a better story for ourselves. he left us with a challenge: what is a better story we can tell with our lives?