Joseph's Literary Future, Part III

For a child to know that there is sin, sadness, evil, disappointment, deception, consequences for sin, fleeting happiness in sin, poverty, selfishness, and greed in this world makes them shrewd - not polluted. Knowledge with a proper persepctive and guidance will lead them to more fully undesrtanding the world, its temptations and who they are in Christ. But knowledge without the proper perspective or guidance will lead children to take up worldly ideas of life.

Now, where it gets sticky for me is in actually discerning which books/music/art/movies are "reflectional" and which are actually "sensational". What I have gathered is that it is not true that Christian = Reflectional and Secular = Sensational. As I said before, I have read "Christian" novels that are sensational in that they encourage young women to lose themselves in a silly love story that only makes them discontent with their own life, or encourages them to lust after some boy like so-and-so did in the book. I have heard "Christian" songs that have an awful lot to say about themselves and not much about Jesus; or that lack skill or beauty. Or even Christian movies (say, "The Omega Code") that don't have a point. What about that movie will lead me to reflection that changes my heart?

Aaron and I both listen to "secular" music quite a bit. We love their willingness to disucss life - its beauties, attractions, pleasures, but also its disappointments, hardships and surprises. Nonchristians know about life, that's for sure. And there are many lessons to be learned from the author of a song who has messed up his entire life by pursuing vainly all the pleasures of this world, and is still hopeless by the end of the song. It makes me think about my own life and what I'm pursuing, and it makes me praise God for redeeming me and giving me peace and true life. Or the movie "Braveheart". It is exceptionally graphic (and is a "borderline" movie in my opinion), but William Wallace inspires us to think about what is truly important, what we're willing to die for, and what we truly live for.

Charlotte says that one key thing is that if you're not reflecting on whatever you're reading/watching/listening to, then you won't glean anything anyway. It doesn't matter if it's a "great" book or an "awesome" song. If you don't think about it and study it, it might as well be a "sensational" book. It's produced the same shallow results.

I am most willing to acknowledge that the line is fuzzy for me. What is okay and what isn't? What is too graphic? What focuses too much on sin or its pleasures? What is age appropriate? Is there a different tolerance level for boys and girls, and each individual? Does the moral always have to be obvious?

Aaron and I have much to figure out, but we are working through these principles. Aaron put it this way: "When children are very young, they need fairy tales and storybooks to help them develop emotionally and morally; and when they're older but still young, fiction is the step between childhood and adulthood. They're not ready to enter the world and face its reality. Fiction helps them with that."

My husband is a genius. :)