Mind Games

Is it just happening to me, or is there a voice narrating your life, too? In the film Stranger than Fiction, the protagonist is an obsessive guy who has followed the same routine every day of his life. One morning, though, he is standing before the mirror and hears a voice describing the way he brushes his teeth. Soon he realizes that the narrator isn't just describing his actions; she is actually plotting them, and she seems to have a vendetta against his life.*

My narrator isn't so deranged. I'll give you an example of the kind of stuff she writes about me:

It was Sunday evening, night really, and she was home from church. The clock on the wall behind her was ticking persistently as she sat at the kitchen table typing on the black Dell. The strains of easy listening instrumental music were playing on Pandora. If only she'd written this blog post earlier, she thought.

Ms. Narrator's voice is pleasant enough, her tones lending a seeming significance to the mundane.

But it suddenly struck me a few nights ago that this voice lending significance to each and every action is only one of the voices vying for a place in my mind. There is definitely another voice, belonging to a deep-sounding, worldly-wise man. Think: Screwtape.

You really think you matter? That you can make a difference? The world is a big place, and you are just one out of billions. Who's to say you have a better life than any one else? Is there really such a thing as truth?

The skepticism of Narrator II is intimidating. The questions he asks seem as vast as the universe. (He calls it a "multiverse.") You hear him, too?

But Ms. Narrator's endless chatter strikes me as naive. Yes, my life and actions matter, but perhaps not to the extent she imagines.

I've come to believe that somewhere between his skepticism and her idealism lies the reality of it. There is yet another Voice narrating, a still, small voice. And I'm so often wont to tune It out because I like to play this game with Ms. Narrator and Narrator II. Yet the Voice is speaking all along, overriding others' narrations, to imbue my each experience and very existence with meaning.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2).

*Disclaimer: Illustration from film not to be considered an endorsement.