Don't Get TOO Attached....11 of 40

So, another day missed due to Henry been clingy and having to work and being too tired to write when I got home from work, oh well, it happens. Just brings me back to the point that Sundays aren't counted in the 40 days of Lent so I do have a bit of leeway. Add to that the fact that there is really no one to punish me if I don't actually get to 40, and I am doing all right. I still plan on getting to 40, I'm just saying I'm not getting put in detention or getting my hands smacked if I fail.

Anyway, onto other things...

I have this friend at work who gets highly involved with fictional characters. In addition each character that she becomes especially fond of tends to be killed off by the author, which is just plain bad luck if you ask me. In one book series 3 of her favorite characters were dead before she ever read the books that they were in, but she didn't know that, and she got attached, and she got her heart broken when these characters were laid to rest. Each one died a heroic, sacrificial death, but each one cut her deeply. Now, in the world of Batman a Robin is going to die tomorrow and again my friend is hurting, because she has grown attached to this character. In her [and the character's] defense this Robin has transformed from angry little brat to an honest to God hero.

If I am to be completely honest I tend to needle her needlessly about her attachments to these characters, partly because I tend to think it is ridiculous to get so attached to these fictional characters, but the more I think about it the more I wonder, is it really that ridiculous? After all isn't the mark of a good story that we come to care about the people in it? Aren't we meant to want what is best for the heroes and want the bad guys to get theirs? Isn't the mark of a good creation that we hang on every twist and turn worried that they will make it out of various precarious situations? And if I'm honest how many times have I cried while watching a movie, when someone is hurt, or when someone makes a breakthrough, or when someone who is in pain is saved? And is that much different than what my friend feels? She may tend to grieve a little more outwardly [and loudly] than I do, but it is still grieving over characters who are only real on a page or a screen or in our minds.

Now, knowing myself I will probably continue to mess with this poor girl, because with my friends it is one of the ways I show affection, but maybe next time I will come to the realization that I too have walked too closely with certain made up people, and that I too miss them. Maybe I will remember that I still long for the return of Malcolm Reynolds and crew, that I wonder what happened to Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko, that I would show up at midnight if there was ever another Harry Potter book, especially if it focused on Albus Dumbledore, who death I wept over. Maybe, just maybe I will be able to send condolences to her instead of mockery, or maybe my hypocrisy will win out once again and I will just chuckle over her ridiculous attachments to fictional characters, and completely forget my own.

Peace and Love,

Pastor K