Getting Literary Again
I promise every new post is not going to be about a book I’m reading. I’ve just read (or really listened to) some really good ones lately – the most recent being Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee – the much anticipated sequel to the classic To Kill a Mockingbird. Warning: There are spoilers coming. Even if you haven’t gotten around to reading the new one, you surely studied Scout and Atticus Finch in high school. In the iconic first novel, Atticus Finch, a prominent lawyer in the Great Depression era sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama, defends a young black man accused of raping a white girl. Although his defense was unsuccessful, his sympathies for the black man caused many problems for him and his family in the still racist deep south. Finch’s elementary school-aged daughter Scout has a front seat as it all unfolds.
Scout is a twenty-something young lady who lives in New York City and goes by her given name (Jean Louise) in the second book. She comes back to visit Maycomb and has to adjust to the backward ways of her small hometown. She knows that the racism she witnessed as a child is still alive and well, but is shocked when she sees evidence of it in her father. Up until this encounter, Jean Louise held Atticus Finch up on a pedestal. She believed all of her brave idealism came from her father and felt her world crumbling down around a man she no longer felt she knew. She felt betrayed and alone and made preparations to run away and never come back. It was only through much thought and conversation with her father that she was able to understand that Atticus felt like he had to make some concessions to be able to live and do business in Maycomb. She still didn’t agree with him, but was eventually able to come to terms with the fact that, even he, the great Atticus Finch, was not perfect. His pedestal was, in essence, destroyed.
Seeing Jean Louise’s utter disappointment at her father’s failures reminded me of one who never fails – Jesus. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor 5:21 NIV He is the perfect God, the perfect Savior, the ideal friend and the intercessor without reproach. And unlike Scout’s rude awakening, there are no unpleasant surprises with Him. God’s word assures us in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” NIV Do you know Him? If so, I would love to hear your stories of His unfailing goodness. If you don’t know Him, I would love to tell you about Him. Respond here or email me at [email protected] so we can encourage each other. I look forward to hearing from you.