'LOST" A Book Review

"The Gospel According to Lost", by Chris Seay

If you watch the show “Lost” you know that the show is filled with mystery, unanswered questions and loose ends. Many of those questions have not and seemingly will not get answered. The Christian faith is filled with mystery, questions that we do not have answers to. The problem, within the church, seems that we are afraid of questions. We are afraid of asking things that we do not know about. I cant help but think part of our fear of questions is the fact that we may not like the answer, even if that answer is as non-threatening as, “I don’t know”.

There is a real sense of security in being certain, or even thinking that I am certain. And many times I would rather not know something that would make me question what I think I am certain about. I would rather believe a lie in security, than know the truth and be set free.

I like what the author says in the opening chapter, “The purpose of this book is not to erase the mystery, but to allow each of us to seek a posture that celebrates the things we do know and to embrace the mystery of things that have yet to unfold. We may find that the unknown is more valuable, meaningful and useful in stimulating the imagination than the know.”

The television show lost is about a group of people whose airplane crashes on an unknown island. The characters in the show are varied and unique. In each chapter of the book the author tries to tell some about each of the main characters.
I liked the way he attempted to describe each of the characters, but was disappointed in most cases of what he had to say about them and how it tied in with the ‘gospel’.
Some of the illustrations he used were unclear and a lot of the writing seemed to be choppy.

Two exceptions were in his discussion of ‘Sun and Jin: Patron Saints of Discontented Fisherman”. Where he makes the point that marriage brings out the best and worst in each of us, then quotes Dr. Joyce Brothers, “My husband and I have never considered divorce…murder sometimes, but never divorce.” And then Ghandi who said, “I first learned the concepts of nonviolence in my marriage.”

The other exception is the chapter on Benjamin Linus, who, for the most part, is the evil person in the story. The writer says clearly that the problem with Linus is that he does not love, he manipulates and uses people totally for his own purposes. Which I feel fits his character in the show perfectly.