I read somewhere recently that fantasy novel sales are rising faster than most genres. USA Today even did a story on the genre, crediting The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and The Wheel of Time collections with repopularizing a classic literary style in popular culture.

Of course, Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings is more than 50 years old and was revived by the three recent films. C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia are also making a surge back into the mainstream with the recent release of the film The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books are literally the hottest items worldwide, not to mention the four films that have already been through the theaters.

Given less attention, perhaps only because his major fantasy series has yet to be translated to the big screen, is story-telling powerhouse, Robert Jordan. The breadth of his epic’s scope alone boggles the mind. in The Wheel of Time saga, Jordan creates another world with detail to rival or exceed Tolkein. His fantasy world is not founded on as many biblical themes as Tolkein (see The Simarillion), though the essential themes are there.

Book reviews will be posted as soon as I am able to write them. I plan to review Jordan, Lewis, Tolkein, Rowling, and possibly more as they grab my attention. There is something that cannot be explained away and dismissed about the grand appeal of fantasy epics. Something deeper than literary tools and methods.

John Eldredge has some interesting thoughts on fantasy, heroism, and epic adventure. I may try to weave his thoughts into the discussion for an extra perspective.

More to come soon…

It appears there is no limit to my holiday gluttony. Thanksgiving was a wretched exposure of my personal inability to say “no”. Christmas isn’t turning out much better. Less than 24 hours after arriving at my parents house, I am stuffed to the gills and haven’t even eaten in the last 8 hours.

I’m not referring to a slight sensation of fullness. Oh no. I’m talkin’ about the full-fledged uncomfortable, loosen the jeans, and beg for mercy kind of full. It could take days to feel normal again, and it’s not even Christmas yet. It doesn’t look good for the home team.

What have I managed to consume? Three massive crabcakes, french fries, bread, chips & queso, egg nog, and Dr. Pepper. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? Well, considering that I hadn’t eaten a whole meal in a day or so, it really wasn’t. Before the evening meal, I so famished that I ate the available tartar sauce without a chance of fish anywhere in sight. Bread was eventually served, and the rest was history.

Let me take this uncomfortably vulnerable moment to welcome all of you back to the CultureFeast blog. My name is Daniel Dessinger, and I’m the impetus behind this madness. The wonderful thing about blogs is that you don’t have to use the same voice each time you post. One entry could be thoughtful while the next drips with sarcasm. The very next could be a professional entry discussing my SEO copywriting or interactive press release writing services (nice plug!).

This holiday season, I hope to share with you the real inner workings of the holiday season – a play-by-play, if you will, of the mindnumbing eccentricities of our family’s celebration. But if that post doesn’t make it to your screen, don’t worry…

…it just might be too bizarre for words….

…and if not, it just means that I’m lazy.

it is comfortable to watch a generation prefer to communicate sincere emotion instead of mere structure and principle. but this generation doesn’t seem to know what they are really saying. or what they’re really asking for.

i watch my generation leading worship in my church, and i hear myself wonder, where are we going? where are you leading us?

i want to participate in something glorious. at the same time, i cannot follow the herd simply because it is moving. direction is somewhat important to me.

we are a heartbroken generation. we are filled with pain. looking for a place to vent. we are looking for a truth, a glory, a purpose, a meaning as powerful as the pain passed down from our fathers.
i see young men and women singing at the tops of their lungs. i am both jealous of them and embarrassed for them, as they boldly display their mania.

this generation cries out loud. heart firmly planted on sleeve. we will be heard. we will be noticed. and we will be loved. or we will scream out our lungs trying.

what was it about the message of intimacy with God that bothered me? oh yeah…. it was that i cannot fathom how a God i could be intimate with could remain holy and not taken for granted. how do i respect, fear, and love a God who desperately longs for me? the concepts are not clearly explained.

where are all the charismatic thinkers? the intelligentsia of the charismatic church?

how did i become the doubting thomas of them all? i was the one who stepped out in faith just in case it was real. just in case God was going to deliver.

now i watch them all. i am drunk by the song they sing. but i cannot join their song. i cannot participate in this. this generation doesn’t know what they are pursuing.

here is my example. today, they sang a song, that goes something like this:

God in my resting
God in My working
God in my thinking
God in my breathing
Be my everything
You are everything…. etc, etc.

Now, I know that the intended meaning of this song was probably something like God, be the reason i do every little thing, let me experience You in every little thing, let everything hold deep meaning….
That’s good and all. But watch a bunch of 20 or so year olds singing “Be my everything” over and over, and maybe you’ll start wondering if they even think about what they’re singing.

it all boils down to this: i am a part of a generation that has rebelled against our parents’ methodical way of living, praying, worshipping, loving, investing, etc. we are unstructured, emotional, aggressive, uncouth, bleeding hearts. we pride ourselves in our capacity to sing and speak from our hearts on levels of intimacy than our parents’ generation could really imagine. we believe that the truth and importance lies in how we feel. we can express how we feel in whatever way is the most cathartic since our hearts have been given priority over our minds.
what else would you expect from a generation that spends more time watching television, listening to music, and playing video games instead of reading books, debating political, philosophical, and religious issues, and sacrificing self to achieve goals?

obviously, not everyone is a “charismatic” christian, and i don’t mean to exclude the rest of you messed up people :). some people are open to spirituality as long as it is strictly unstructured. some remain loyal to hardline denominations that are losing numbers with each decade. some prefer fantasy and gateway occult activity. some are interested in being witches and warlocks. some want to be mediums and fortunetellers. some want to be prophets. some want to be pastors. some want to be apostles. some want to be evangelists.

some are still partying or working hard, trying to avoid the most important questions and issues in life. after all, who really has the answers? who are you going to trust? who hasn’t screwed you over already?

while you’re answering that question, let me take this moment to challenge each one of you. no one believes more in the importance of expressing and knowing the heart than i. but i challenge you to search beyond the feelings. there is more out there. continue to read, argue, pray, or whatever you have to do to put your thoughts into more intelligent sequence.

some people think it’s funny to joke about men as being emotional children. it’s no funnier than men or women who are spiritual infants. infancy is a natural stage, but no one was ever intended to remain in that stage. if Generation X is ever going to fulfill whatever destiny it has, then it will have to mature beyond spiritual infancy.