The NeverEnding Story

I watch this classic from our childhood on saturday. I'm sure i'm the only person of those who would be reading this that has seen it from start to finish anytime this last half decade. I never caught the premis until now. Yeah Fantasia is being destroyed because people are losing their dreams, we get it. But, in the end of the movie, the Child Emporess is explaining how Bastion doesn't realize that he is part of the NeverEnding Story. Just as he is enjoying their adventure, some child (or in this case a 22 yr old college student) is enjoying his. Much like the movie Last Action Hero staring Arnold the Governor except on a more mythical and entertaining level.

What if someone were watching us? What if we were part of some greater tale? Would my story be entertaining? Would people laugh or cry more? Would they even be entertained? It's a fun thought to roll around and chew on for a while.

Now, if you believe as i believe, that there is a God and that he is watching us, then maybe there is something to this notion. This leads me to realize several things:
1. When reading a good book or watching a deep movie, if written well, the reader becomes emotionally involved with the characters. We cry when they cry and we laugh when they laugh. We feel extreme highs and extreme lows as we interact with the characters. In this way, except on a much larger scale, God is watching our story. He laughs when we laugh, he is sad when we are sad.
2. When we are reading a story, many times we have more information than does the character, because we can see more of what's going on through our knowledge of other characters and their doings. We know what path will lead the character to danger, and which one will lead him away from the danger. We know this because we can have almost perfect information about the events and surroundings. In this way God knows our story from start to finish, he knows which path we should take. It's important to realize that sometimes the easist path isn't the best for us. Sometimes (many times), its the harder path that is best for us, which prepares us for a future unavoidable path that we would not be able to survive had it not been for our experience on the previous path.
3. We have no way of getting this character the information needed, and he has no way of asking us for help. This is where the difference comes in. Luckily, the reader, and in fact writer of our story, is there for us to ask. Much like we want the best for the character we are relating to, He wants the best for us. Sometimes its hard to understand in the present that something is best for us. It may be days, weeks, months, or even years before we understand. In fact, sometimes we may never understand: Enter faith. I think everyone has faith. You either have faith that there is something more, or you have faith that there is nothing more, that we are just a result of perfect conditions allowing for life to develope and evolving to where we are now. Niether of the two can be proven. I prefer the faith that gives my life meaning, that i have a purpose, that i'm not just a result of a chain of events started by nothing.