Kill Your Darlings: Game of Thrones Revisited (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

I stopped reading after the first book.

I was told I should read them all: HBO was going to make a TV series out of it, and I would be better able to follow the story. "It" was the immensely popular series, THE GAME OF THRONES. The title refers to the endless (and often terrible) things people will do in pursuit of power; the alliances that are made (and broken); all the acts people will perform to feed their all-consuming need to rule. But I didn't stop reading for the reasons you may think. I stopped because the author kept killing off characters.

Among the foundational things writers are taught, there is a maxim ---usually credited to William Faulkner, but the practice goes back much, much further--- "Kill your darlings." It's an editorial act, eliminating the author's personal favorites; characters, usually, but it could also be elements, words, phrases, etc. The idea is that, quite often, these actually detract from the story being told, rather than supporting it. The best writers do it all the time. And it is very rare for those assassinated darlings to ever return.

I didn't stop reading THE GAME OF THRONES novels because the author was killing off his darlings, though. I stopped because he was killing off mine! He had killed off so many of my favorite characters by the end of the first novel, I couldn't go on. I have since learned from friends who continued to read the books: he kept killing them off.

I am not naive. I know that, in real life, the "game of thrones," whatever form it takes, is serious business. The desire to rule can be very intoxicating to those who "play." It's just that I believe there is someone else in the picture, someone not present in THE GAME OF THRONES novels.

As we see in this week's Lectionary selection from 1st Samuel, God is very serious about who leads His people. He expects obedience and loyalty from the one who occupies the "throne." But God is patient, as well (This is so important for us to understand for our own lives). He gives the leadership chances to get it right. True, He may already have laid His plan for who will replace the leader(s), but that is not the end of it.

In this week's scripture, God says to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel." God then removes His spirit from Saul and bestows it on Jesse's youngest; the runt, David. But, David did not immediately ascend to the throne. In fact, God allowed Saul to occupy the throne for quite a long time after He had already decided to replace him.

The TV show, "Kings," portrayed this aspect, so well, in its Saul-like king, Silas. When informed that God had decided to replace him, Silas (portrayed by Ian McShane) did everything possible to retain the throne, including breaking even more of God's commands. Sadly, the show only lasted 13 episodes. But its retelling of the David-Saul clash (set in modern times and located in a place that looks a lot like New York City) was wonderfully done. ( http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1137462/ ). I highly recommend it.

Though not explicitly stated in scripture, it is obvious from reading it that Saul had a long time to choose true repentance (as opposed to "I'll repent so I can keep the throne"). But he did not do so. The throne meant more to Saul than his relationship with God. For Saul, the game of thrones was over. God had already decided to take the throne from him. But, for a good long while, Saul could still have chosen to relinquish the throne, with all the games surrounding it, and sought forgiveness from God for his disobedience.

“God doesn’t look at things like humans do. Humans see only what is visible to the eyes, but the LORD sees into the heart." (‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16:7‬b ‭CEB)‬‬ God exhibits grace toward even those who have broken covenant with Him, patiently waiting, giving them a chance to repent. And therein lies the true difference between many an author of novels and the author of our salvation:

God Wants His darlings to live.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Fourth Sunday in Lent (March 26, 2017)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=27

1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
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I hope you can join us Friday morning at Lectionary Breakfast: food, fellowship, prayer, scripture, and "a robust exchange of ideas." Continuing at the Waco, "Egg and I" restaurant, we usually get going around 8:00-ish and find it hard to leave by 9:00. It's the laughter; I blame the laughter for not sticking to the clock 😂

Oh, sure, someone's in charge, but only God is on the throne.

Blessings,
Steve

[A version of this reflection appeared three years ago about this time. I've made a few changes that I hope has improved the reading of it. The message, however, remains the same.]