Dystopian Junkie

Growing up my mom read to me and I LOVED it!  She was so great at making the characters come to life.  However, when it came to reading by myself, I just couldn't get into it.  I remember being in high school and trying to do my required reading for English class and falling asleep often. Flash forward to adulthood.  After my move to FL, two of my friends from Columbia started talking about a road trip to FL to visit Harry Potter World.  I had seen the movies, but not read any of the books.  I wanted to join them on their trip to Universal, but felt like to really appreciate it I needed to read the books.  When I did, something happened.  I began reading a couldn't stop.  What I imagined would have been boring, was exciting and I read the entire series in just a few months.  Yes, the books are written for children/teens, but at least I was reading! Now, I'm totally a Harry Potter dork and can't wait for them to open up the new section at Universal!

So, after our journey to Harry Potter World, I didn't want to stop, but I knew I should keep it on the young adult level.  Thomas and I decided to begin reading the Hunger Games trilogy before the first movie came out.  I really loved this series.  I don't know why, but there was something about this young adult, dystopian genre that kept me wanting to read.  I waited a few months and tried a few other genres that really just didn't cut it for me.  In December, when we were going on vacation, I borrowed Divergent from a co-worker. LOVED IT! I finished it before our five day vacation ended and then picked up the next two books and read them during our 10 day Christmas vacation.  Needless to say, I cannot wait for the movies to come out (the first one comes out in March).

I love the main character Tris!  She has such an internal conflict with who she is supposed to be, who she wants to be and spends a majority of the trilogy trying to find a balance.  The dystopian genre is definitely interesting to me.  So I've been getting suggestions for what to read next.  So far I've heard A Wrinkle in Time and Nineteen-Eighty-Four. What would you add to the list?

Reflection

Tonight on Eli Stone his spiritual guide (I call him that because I don't really remember the character's name) said something really profound. It was along the lines of "You had to know when you took back the mantle of prophet, that there were going to be some dark times." I'm writing my exposition paper (that's overdue) for Old Testament 2 on Jeremiah 1:4-12. Verses 4-10 are the account of Jeremiah's calling by God. Most folks who grew up in church would recognize verse 5 which says:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

As I continued on in the passage though, I picked up on something I had completely missed before, in verse 8 after telling Jeremiah he's going to have to go wherever God says and say whatever the Lord tells him to say, God tells him:

Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.

No where from verse one on does Jeremiah express fear. He had concerns about his ability to speak, and acted with humility when God called Him (see also Solomon's claim of being "just a child" before his accession), but he never alluded to being afraid. Yet the Lord, in a ominous tone offers comfort that the Lord will rescue him.

By accepting the call of the prophet, Jeremiah was accepting the fact that there would be some "dark times" in his life and ministry, which we see throughout the book of Jeremiah.

I guess I can take note from Jeremiah, and Eli, (not that I am a prophet) and prepare myself that be accepting God's call on my life, there may be some dark times ahead, however I believe that as God promised Jeremiah, the Lord will be with me.