How Do I Interpret It?
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.
John 1:10-11 NRSVUE
Not everyone is a reader, so this particular thought exercise as a spiritual exercise may not apply. But if you listen to your books on tape (ha!) or more likely, as a digital audio file, you can still apply the same sorts of questions to the material. This also applies only to fiction. If you are an imbiber of primarily non-fiction, there is a limit to what you are being asked to interpret. Though, as we all hopefully know, history is written by the victors and that does put a heavy bias into even non-fiction. It does feel safe to say that we all consume media of some sort. And recently I ended up asking some questions because I had a thought about my favorite book.
You might think that the obvious answer to “what is your favorite book?” would be the Bible for all pastors, everywhere, throughout the course of history. I can confidently say that although it contains the books I read the most, whether we’re considering how many times (repetition) or length of books (total pages), that the Bible is not my favorite book. My favorite book, for better or worse, is Tacky the Penguin. People who work in elementary education and librarians and avid childhood readers about my age tend to know this book. It is a good book. It is a book written for children. It is a book to which I have begun to apply a number of theological and allegorical interpretations. Because I do not do so with any seriousness, it is a thought exercise. A “what if” that stretches my mind, uses my imagination, and gives me deeper things to ponder. In logic they call it reductio ad absurdum- taking a thought all the way to the absurd to prove or disprove an idea.
This isn’t intended to be like school where you have to remove the joy from reading by applying literary analysis to everything you read. However, there are times when you catch a glimmer of a thought and decide to follow the thought all the way through. I didn’t just pick up a children’s book for fun. The impetus for this particular line of thought came about because I thought about preaching about Tacky using John 1:1-18. Yes, it is part of ordination paperwork to preach on this passage. No, I did not ultimately do so. It felt a bit too sacrilegious to compare Tacky to Christ in a sermon. That’s what newsletter articles are for. A stronger comparison is that the other penguins might be the pharisees. For those of you who haven’t read it and would like to, click here to have it read to you.
In the story, not only do we have penguins who have been named Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect, but that is how they behave. They are very letter of the law, they think they are doing the right things with no space for any other interpretations, and they seem to think they are better than Tacky. It could be argued that they would value piety over righteousness. Except, maybe, they are more like the disciples. They start out thinking that social norms are the way to live and the only way to live until Tacky becomes a part of their lives. And when faced with potential danger, they all run away. The disciples definitely did that too. And then they are saved by Tacky who put his life on the line and did not do so because they deserved or earned that salvation.
Is this a lot to put on a children’s book? Yes. Do I think this is what the author intended? No. Is it still part of how I will now always read this book? Also, yes. Do I think that Tacky is a perfect representation of Christ? No way. For me, the bigger theological take away is still that God made each of us to be exactly who we are. We do not have to meet anybody else’s expectations to be a precious child of God who is loved, of sacred worth, and has gifts and graces. This is a message that I take away from Scripture too and a lens through which I tend to view any media I consume. If something does not agree with that message, if something promotes hatred, oppression, or intolerance, especially of those who are different, there is a lack of joy in consuming that media. There are things that I think are important media, but I will not seek out to watch or read ever again. Kaffir Boy, Requiem for a Dream, and Schindler’s List being among a few that I think tell important stories and speak about real and profound issues, but that hurt my heart more than I can bear.
So, this has turned out to be a much deeper topic than I thought and there might someday be a part two (C.S. Lewis has much to unpack on writing allegory). But for now, let’s leave it at this: Scripture is our primary source of knowledge about God, but if you look close enough, most media attempts to teach some moral or lesson. What are the lessons you would take away from the media you choose to consume? TV, movies, books, podcasts, the news, and memes all have something to say. What are you hearing? And how do you interpret it? Does it feed your soul? Does it espouse the ideals of Christian living? Does the lessons it teaches match with how you interpret Scripture?
Some questions you might ask to get started include, but are not limited to:
What, if anything, do characters in this story represent?
What situations in this story are like those in Scripture? In my life? Happening now in the news?
Is there a moral to this story? What lessons am I learning?
What does this story inspire me to do or be?
If I were in this story, what would I do the same as the characters? What would I do differently? Have I ever been in a similar situation? What did I actually do?
A final thought and warning. Doing this may ruin something that used to be your favorite. But I’d also argue that if it can’t stand up to a little scrutiny, maybe it doesn’t need to be your favorite.
