You can't make this stuff up...

Star Wars - The ultimate space fantasy for a 7 year old kid. A young man learning to use his father's light sword to defeat the very evil Darth Vader with the help of a kindly old grandfather, a bad ass space pirate, and his furry alien sidekick who kind of looks like your teddy bear on steroids. There's a princess and a space battle, and then, literally with seconds to spare, the young man's new best friends come out of nowhere to save him so that he can make one of the most unlikely lucky shots of all lucky shots, thus destroying the Death Star and saving everyone he loves. How about that for a story?!

I think I've always been drawn to that ultimate story. Star Wars set the bar so high for most kids of my generation that I think we've all been trying to top it ever since. Bigger explosions! Bigger suspense! More sexy damsels! Better looking space pirates! Better dialog! Better special fx! But never that sheer surprise of that story that seems so familiar to us and yet was something we never saw coming. You can't outdo that. Once it's been done, you have to find something else that is even better - but not the same.

LOST was an original story too. A group of survivors of a plane crash trapped on a mysterious island. The story dealt with issues of life, death, redemption, betrayal, love, etc... all the good things a story ought to deal with. And yet, when it came time to go big or go home, many of the show's fans felt as if LOST had let them down. What expectations did they have for the show's finale, I wonder?

LOST was a fantasy and a bit of fluff, but it dealt with some heady human issues. Unfortunately for its ultimate success, it's formula was always to keep something back - to hide some aspect of its truth and wisdom from viewers so that they kept coming back for more... but also, by hinting that there was some other truth and wisdom hidden away from the audience, the show promised its audience some answers to things that quite frankly could not have answers without improving on real life. I mean, really, what did the audience think the writers were going to disclose about the Island that would have solved all the shows mysteries and explain its mythology and mystery all in one fell swoop to the satisfaction of all people? Such expectations about a fictional show are at best, unrealistic. And those few writers that have had the misfortune of trying to meet those expectations have ultimately fallen on the sword of hubris.

I bring all of this up because there is one story that trumps both of these stories, and the best part is that its a true story. A true story that is more heart pounding, thrilling and entertaining than Star Wars and that has an ending that beats the mystery and thrills of LOST? Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying.

I think the story is somewhat familiar to you all. A world of corruption. A once proud race brought to ruin by its own greed. An oppressive regime. A people crying out to be saved. And, of course, the all important prophecy of a savior that will bring the people out of ruin and defeat the evil empire! That is the background in which we find our savior Jesus Christ on the road to Jerusalem after three years of fulfilling the prophecies concerning him.

But this is where our true story diverges from the rest and that is what makes our story so much better than any human scripted drama. Because like most humans today who pay $12 to go to a theater for some light entertainment, the people of his time expected Jesus to arrive in Jerusalem and administer the beat downs of all beat downs on the corrupt rulers of the City and the oppressive Empire that held them all in thrall. They were expecting a kind of real life battle royal - where Jesus, the savior, would bring forth all the power of Heaven to bear on the earthly power of Rome in a winner takes all kind of fight. And Jesus did enter Jerusalem as a mighty and triumphant savior and the people did rejoice. But what they didn't know, and what most people still can't understand, is that this story had a very different ending in mind - an ending that would solve all the mysteries and explain its mythology and mystery all in one fell swoop to the satisfaction of all the people.

Instead of liberating the people from Rome, Jesus liberated them from death. And in order to do that, he had to be arrested, tried, beaten, and horribly murdered by the same corrupt officials that everyone had been expecting Jesus to beat down. There was no last second reprieve of Jesus crying out, "Father, please!" and then God dumping Pontius Pilate down an endless pit into the center of the Death Star. This was no fake sacrifice. This hero really died. Brutally. And his followers were scattered, demoralized, heartbroken and probably hunted.

But the conclusion is what makes this story incredible... Jesus defeats death and returns to Earth even more triumphant and radiant than anything the people could have ever imagined.

The thing that always strikes me about this story is that it is the Ultimate Story. There is no other story like it, nor can there be. Anything similar will always fail in comparison to the original... and so the only way the story can be topped is by finding something that is even more over the top, even more truthful, even more moral, even more compassionate, even more hopeful, even more good news than this one. From a writers stand point, I can assure you that no such story exists - nor will it ever.

So when people question my faith by throwing logic at me - how can you believe a story that's 2000 years old and often contradictory in parts? - I think about what they have to say and then I remember that tearing down a story is nothing unless you can find a better story to replace it. I can find flaws in Shakespeare, but that takes away nothing from the brilliance of his prose. I can find flaws in the Bible (or at least they seem like flaws to me) but these flaws can not diminish the fact that the story of Jesus is so perfect and so integral to history and explanations of life that no amount of flaws can diminish its essential truth.

Or to come full circle... this is a story you just can't make up. We're human. We just don't create stories that are better than the truth.