Who's the Hero? Thoughts on the Hunger Games Series

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Do not continue reading 

if you plan to read the Hunger Game books or if you have not finished the books!

     I just finished the Hunger Games series last night.  I closed the final book and tried to name the emotion I felt.  Satisfied.  I was satisfied.  
     Suzanne Collins is an incredible writer who created a page-turner with surprises so shocking that I actually gasped out loud once or twice.  However, she is not writing from a Christian point-of-view and that makes working out the tension between good and evil (sin) difficult.  She writes of a society gone terribly wrong with no Redeemer in sight.  That makes swallowing the story line and facing the incredible evil a problem, and although Katniss sparks the revolution, she is NOT the hero.
     Although Katniss is willing to die for her sister, her positive qualities are limited.  She feels compassion towards the Avox she did not save, and Rue, the little girl who reminded her of her sister.  Although she is smart, intuitive, resourceful, brave, and fierce, she is also quick to anger, selfish, distrustful, and suspicious, and she knows it. The girl on fire, fueled by hatred and revenge, becomes a murderer, a survivalist, a manipulator, yet her behavior is completely understandable considering she almost starved to death when 11, watched her mother descend into deep depression, broke the law daily to save her family, and acted as an adult simply to survive the cruel society into which she was born.  The girl's got baggage, but it's important to remember, she is a girl, and she is a survivor.
     Gale is no better.  He starts out angry and then becomes vengeful, creating traps that play on human sympathies in order to kill others.  Even Katniss is uncomfortable with his methods.
     Peeta, on the other hand, is the only one in the series who seems to have a grasp of what the society has done and is capable of doing to ruin all that is good about humanity.  In book one he says, "'I don't want them to change me in there.  Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not.'"  Despite President Snow's "hijacking," it is Peeta who is able to NOT become that monster.  When even Katniss stoops so low as to  call for a Hunger Games for the children of the Capital, Peeta, arguing with Haymitch, is appalled at "the atrocity he could become party to."  (Book 3).  While Gale is the one who brings Katniss the arrow to assassinate Snow, Peeta is the one who takes the nightlock from her.  
     Peeta.  I closed the book, and I was satisfied because of Peeta.  In the end, he redeems her.  He loves her unquestionably, faithfully, and unconditionally.  He never gives up on her.  He cares for her and those around him.  He does what is right, what is good.  He sees beauty in the darkness.  He never kills anyone in the book unless by accident, even when brainwashed.  Peeta.  It sounds like Peter, to me, and if so, it means "rock."  Peeta is a rock -- unchanging, steadfast.  Peeta is hope.  Peeta does not become the monster, never crosses that line, redeems Katniss with his love, and in the end, redeems the humanity that has become reduced to a Darwinian world of the strongest and most deadly survive.  Peeta makes Katniss and the world around him a better place, and that is why I am satisfied.
     


     For a different opinion, see Why the Hunger Games is Flawed to Its Core.  I respect N.D. Wilson very much, and I've read all his books.  However, I don't agree that Peeta is a wimpy, passive guy.  He's a teenager trapped in a hopeless system.  Yes, I would have loved it if, in the first book, Katniss cut out her arm tracker and saved the other tributes from the bad tributes, but then what?  The Gamemakers could have killed her off quickly, and then the books would be over.  Finally, I disagree that revolutions aren't started by small things like berries.  In that moment, she decided it was better to kill herself and Peeta than to let them win, to force her to do the unthinkable -- kill her friend.  That was a huge act of courage that could indeed spark a revolution if such a terrible world existed and that entire world was watching live, but that is just my opinion.  

NOTE:  Considering the darkness of the books, I think parents need to be very wary of allowing children younger than 13 to read them.  By the third book, the author is describing the tributes being used as sex slaves, and we must remember -- the tributes are children.  Alcohol and drug abuse, brutality, murder, evil -- all of this is dark and takes maturity to work through.

Mommy Diary -- Who Am I?

     I came across this journal entry a few weeks ago written when my boys were almost 4 and 21 months (they are 13 and 10 now).  After working as a high school English teacher and the office manager of a hotel management company, staying home with whiny kids and little adult interaction was, well, hard.  I've pondered this journal entry, read over it a few more times, and thought, maybe, just maybe it might help a mom who is struggling like I was.  2 Cor. 1:3-4  says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." May you be comforted.

April 8, 2003
     Yesterday was such a bad day.  My kids whined all day.  I kept losing my patience.  I didn't get anything accomplished.  I went to bed feeling defeated -- a failure as a mother. 
     Depressed!  My husband constantly reminds me that 1st and foremost, I'm staying home for my children -- not a clean house.
     Why can't I get that through my head?  I constantly evaluate my days -- my worth and value-- by the fruits of my labor.  What I can see that I got done -- but when I die, I want to say that my children know the Lord -- that we did our best to teach them about Jesus and His word -- that we tried to teach them honesty, character, integrity, determination, responsibility.
     Lord, help me to see it -- to remember it -- to believe it.  Help me to forget about clean toilets (well, not forever) and get it down to my bones that I am here for my children -- I am home for them!  Then Lord, if you want to teach me how to keep a spotless house, so be it.  If I never learn, give me a peace about it.
     I mean, I want a house that is clean, comfortable.  I don't want to be embarrassed every time someone stops by -- but I need balance -- and I need to go to bed after a day when nothing got accomplished with peace because I took good care of my children.
     Lord, help me to be patient.  Especially with my oldest son with all his energy and three-year-old inquisitiveness.  

I am...
*John 1:12-13 -- a child of God
*John 3:18 -- not condemned
*Ps. 139:13 -- created by God
*Ps. 139:14 -- fearfully and wonderfully made
*Ps. 139:16 -- seen by God before I existed -- all my days are ordained by God
*Romans 8:16-17 -- God's child, heir of God, co-heirs with Christ
*Col. 1:13 -- rescued by God from the dominion of darkness
*Eph. 2:8-10 -- saved by faith -- not by works -- created to do good works
*2. Cor. 5:17 -- a new creation
*Rom. 12:1  -- a living sacrifice
*2 Cor. 5:21 -- the righteousness of God

Stop looking to the world for affirmation.  If I really believed these Scriptures....I would stop feeling so incompetent -- so ugly -- so guilty all the time.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and I am not condemned.





Note:  My only edits are in italics -- I removed names.

A Commercial for Commercials -- Using Commercials to Train Your Kids in Critical Thinking

     Usually, our family is not much of a television watching family.  However, we have watched the Olympics every night since the opening ceremony.  We have been eating in the living room (which we never normally do) and rooting for the United States with all our hearts.  Watching the Olympics has given us lots of opportunities to discuss hard work, adversity, perseverance, determination, and many other virtues.  On the flip side, the commercials are giving us opportunities to teach our kids some other lessons.  Take, for example, the following scene:
     A man walks into a bar and orders a beer.  A girl notices his choice in beer and is instantly attracted to this man.  She walks over to this man, alluringly.  My husband and I crack up laughing.  
     Actually, we really did crack up, and our kids wanted to know what was so funny, so we asked, "What is this commercial saying?"  Buy this beer -- get this beautiful girl.  Then we discussed, "Is that realistic?  Do you really want to date a girl who is attracted to you because of your beer choice?  Is a bar the best place to meet the girl you want to spend your life with?  Where would be a better place to meet a girl?"  It was an interesting conversation, and my husband and I still crack up every time we see this commercial.
     Today, I was thinking about our discussions about this commercial and others and realized that such discussions are good in other ways as well because we need to teach our kids to think critically about the world around them.  The world bombards them with so many messages, and so much is simply untrue.  Today, I saw this:

That's a really a funny "quote," but at the same time, incredibly sad.  
     Our kids need to know that they should not believe everything they read in print or the internet.  They need to be aware of how advertisers are trying to sway them -- manipulate them.  They need to understand how television shows are insidiously chipping away at family values and replacing them with ideas that are not Biblical by using emotional manipulation and humor.  They need to realize that many people do not hold the same beliefs as they do and how to handle opinions that explicitly contradict their own.  
     As our family watches commercials, I'm thinking about how we can examine the messages those commercials are trying to send in order to help my boys know better how to evaluate the world around them critically with the ultimate goal of strengthening and developing their faith.  Yep, we can train our kids even when watching commercials.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Introduce Your Kids to Classical Music the Fun Way: Classical Kids CDs

     If you want to introduce your kids to classical music in a fun and interesting way, try the Classical Kids series.  The Classical Kids series introduces kids to composers and their music through dramatized, interesting stories.  Children will learn about the composer's life and work while his music plays in the background.  
     Our absolute favorite is Beethoven Lives Upstairs:  A Tale of Genius and Childhood.  This story chronicles a young boy with twin sisters who is grieving the loss of his dad.  Beethoven moves upstairs in his father's old office.  The boy corresponds with his uncle about Beethoven's demanding, erratic behavior, but in the end, the boy learns to care for Beethoven and his quirkiness.
     Another favorite is Song of the Unicorn:  A Musical Journey Through Medieval Times.  This one is a Merlin tale featuring Jeremy Irons, playing more than two dozen exerpts from the pre-Baroque era.  There are Gregorian chants, Celtic songs, and traditional English songs.  In this story, a young prince and princess must journey deep into the forest to find a unicorn to save their sick mother while avoiding Morgan-le-Fay who wants the unicorn for the power it will give her.
     In Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery:  A Tale of Venice and Violins, young orphan Katarina arrives at the orphanage where Vivaldi is the music director, accidentally breaks a treasured violin, and ends up searching throughout Venice for clues to her past.
     We own eight out of the ten in this series.  We also own:  
*Mozart's Magic Fantasy:  A Journey Through "The Magic Flute"  (Introduces children to opera.)
*Tchaikovsky Discovers America:  A Tale of Courage and Adventure
*Hallelujah Handel:  A Tale of Music and Miracles (features Katarina from Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery)
*Mozart's Magnificent Voyage:  Tales of the Dream Children
*Mr. Bach Comes to Call:  An Adventure in Time and Space


We do not own A Classical Kids Christmas and Daydreams & Lullabies.


     We often listen to these CDs while in the car on the way to the museum, the zoo, or any other location that is about 30 minutes away.  Each CD is about 45 minutes long.  


     I highly recommend this series for all ages because, quite frankly, I like them, too, and it's fun to hear a song, later, and recognize it.

Write It Down: Journaling for Your Kids

      The scrapbooking craze began right before my oldest son was born, and I jumped on the bandwagon with all my heart ready to make wonderful scrapbooks filled with journaling in my own hand.  I would create photographic treasures that would live on forever.  I bought albums, pages, special pens and pencils, stickers, templates, punches, rulers, and more.  When he was seven years old, I finished his baby book, and it's truly a work of art.  My youngest son just turned ten, and if I'm lucky, I will start, ahem, finish his baby book before he goes to college.  Can I just say that perfectionists should not be allowed to scrapbook?  However, there is one thing I have been good at -- writing things down.
     I suffer from a bad memory, and I knew I wouldn't remember all those cute little things my boys would do and say.  I wanted to remember them, though, and so I decided to write them down.
     Before both of my sons were born, I purchased blank books to write in.  Each boy has a separate book so someday I can give it to him.  These books were not fancy; in fact, I bought one of them at the Dollar Store and two others at WalMart.  Each of the books begins with the story of his birth.  From there, I have written down lots of firsts -- first cereal, first steps, first visit to church.  I've also recorded their faith journeys which we were able to read to each boy before their joint baptism this past February.  I've written down funny moments galore:  the time my oldest brushed his newborn brother's hair with a toilet bowl brush or scribbled on a stranger's white car with an orange crayon.  I've noted the hilarious things they have said that still crack me up, like the time my youngest was working on his manners and said, "Mommy, I do not like this chicken you made.  Sorry, Ma'am."  I've written about staples in my oldest's head while his dad was in Chicago, and the concussion my youngest got on the basketball court.  I recorded the day my oldest decided to retire the stuffed bear he slept with every night for eleven years, the day I realized his voice was changing, and the day he became taller than me.

     Most importantly, though, those little books are filled with love from this mother's heart:  I love you, I'm so glad God gave you to me, you are so special, I thank God for you, I am so blessed to be your mom, I am so proud of you.
     So, if scrapbooking is not your thing, consider buying a journal and recording all those little moments because over time, they add up to a treasure that will live on forever.  It's not too late to get started!

Are All Teenagers Bad?

     A few years ago, my oldest son and I had a conversation about teenagers.  I'm not sure how it came up or what we were talking about, but I remember vividly this comment:  "Well, that's because they're teenagers, and teenagers do stuff like that because they're, well, bad."  I looked him squarely in the eye and said, "Son, you will be a teenager in a few years, and on the day you turn 13, you will not magically turn 'bad.'"  Thus began our children's education on the nature of teenagers because teenagers are NOT all bad.
     However, for some reason, teenagers have gotten a bad rap.   Society has told us that the teenage years are filled with anger, sullenness, rebellion, and irresponsibility.  Teenagers are considered lazy,  mouthy, morally irresponsible, and incapable of being well-adjusted. Is it possible that we get what we expect?  Somewhere along the line, did we allow moodiness and hormones to become an excuse for bad behavior?  Do we expect the worst and so we get it.  "Oh, he's a teenager.  What do you expect?"
     I expect that my son is not going to be that kind of kid, that's what!
     Benjamin Franklin became an apprentice to his half-brother at the age of 12.  At age 17, he left his brother, a printer, and ran away to Boston.  He got a job working for a printer, went to London, published an almanac, retired at age 42, studied electricity, invented things, became a politician, and helped found our nation.  Today, a seventeen year old is still considered a "baby."  When I married at 22, everyone said, "Why are you getting married?  You're still a baby."  When I was teaching high school at age 22, I was told I was a baby.  What have we done turning 22-year-olds into babies?
     Recently, our church held VBS with about 200 children attending and about 60 workers.  Many of those workers were teenagers.  Our youth pastor told the kids that society portrays teenagers as incapable and with that many teenagers helping VBS, something was bound to go wrong.  However, because of them not in spite of them, VBS went well.  They did a good job, and they should be proud.  This "speech" made an impression on our son, and I want to say, for the record,  "AMEN!"  Teenagers are not all bad.
     So what does the Bible say about youth and teenagers?


Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.   1 Timothy 4:12  (NIV)


When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.  1 Corinthians 13:11  (NIV)  Notice here that there is no in between age filled with angst and irresponsibility.  Paul does not say, "And when I was a teenager, I was an irresponsible rascal and talked back to my mother."
     
13I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.  14  I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.  1 John 2:13-14  (NIV)  (Underlining is mine.)
     Let's start teaching our children that young men and women, otherwise known as teenagers, can be an example for other believers, can put childish ways behind them, can be strong in the Lord because the word of God lives in them.  Teenagers can be self-disciplined, self-controlled, responsible, dependable, and hard-working.  Teenagers can make a difference in this world for the Lord, so let's start treating them that way.
     Oh, and by the way, my oldest son turned thirteen in May, and I am proud to report that at this very moment, he is helping his father unload a moving truck for a single mother and her two children.  Why?  Because teenagers are NOT all bad!  



     For further reading, Dr. David Alan Black wrote a book called:  The Myth of Adolescence: Raising Responsible Children in an Irresponsible Society.  However, I believe this book is out of print.  He wrote an article summarizing his beliefs called Want to Reform Your Youth Ministry? Reject Adolescence!  


     The authors of Do Hard Things, Alex and Brett Harris, have a wonderful blog.  These articles on the Myth of Adolescence are excellent!  
The Myth of Adolescence Part 1 and The Myth of Adolescence Part 2

     Finally, Sheila Wray Gregoire wrote an excellent blog post called The Curse of Low Expectations for Teens.

A Hole in My Bumper -- Reflections on Sin

     There's a hole in my bumper.  On the day after Christmas, I was backing out of a tight squeeze and hit the base of one of those light poles that they stick right in your blind spot.  I got out and looked at my mangled bumper in complete and utter shock.  I cried all the way home.  


     I really don't care what type of car that I drive.  I don't.  I just want it to work.  After I smashed my bumper, though, I realized that rust doesn't bother me.  Paint flakes don't bother me.  Age doesn't bother me.  Big gaping holes in the bumper -- that bothers me.  That hurts my pride.  


     The bumper was just not doing well.  My husband taped it with silver duct tape to keep it together.  I looked at it sadly, shaking my head.  "That looks awful," I thought.  We looked into having it fixed -- $1200.  It's not worth fixing; the car is too old.  I commented that the silver duct tape was embarrassing.  One day, my husband and son, decided to "fix" my poor, sad, embarrassing bumper.  They applied royal blue duct tape to my navy blue bumper, hoping to camouflage the gaping hole.  Now, I can see the hole from a block away.  It's an advertisement that says loud and clear:  YOU smashed your own bumper.

     A few days later, I went back to the scene of the "crime."  I picked up broken little pieces of my bumper and threw them into my car.  Why?  I have no idea.  I noticed that the business had put up a sign on the pole that said, "Caution:  Not responsible for damages." 


     I realized today, that after the initial and incredible embarrassment of driving around with a blue and silver duct-taped hole in my bumper, that I don't notice it as much as I used to.  It doesn't bother me as much.  It's annoying, and every once in a while I look at it and shudder, but frankly, I've grown somewhat accustomed to it.  Sure makes my car easy to spot in the parking lot. People in 3rd world countries would love driving this car, I reason.  We'll get another car soon, I assure myself.


     Sin is that way.  It enters your life, often unexpectedly.  It's embarrassing.  You don't want anyone to know.  It makes you cry.  It hurts.  Then, if you don't get right with the Lord and get it fixed, it sort of grows on you.  Every time you see it, it's a little less embarrassing -- a little less shocking.  Next thing you know, you're pointing it out with pride.  Yep, that's just who I am.  The dude with the great big ole sin --  just like my duct-taped hole in my bumper.  


     Then, later, the enemy puts up a sign that says, "Caution:  Not responsible for damages."  Sin always leaves behind damages.  Consequences for you and those around you.  While you are picking up all the broken pieces, sin does not care.  


     Thankfully, God does care. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."  (John 3:17)    Unfortunately, as James 1:15 says, "...after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." The enemy wants to put a hole in our bumper, make us ineffective, or even worse -- bring us to death.  Thankfully, though, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  (1 John 1:9)


     So when it comes to sin, get your bumper fixed.