Truth by the Book: The Neverending Story

Truth by the Book: The Neverending Story

Truth in the Land of Make Believe
by Father Ignatius Xavier
A Storyblazer Review of Movies

Truth by the Book
The Neverending Story

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Some people retreat to the world inside books in order to escape the ordinary and sometimes depressing world in which they live. Bastian Balthazar Bux escapes into a antique bookstore in order to escape three bullies who want to throw him in a trash dumpster. Once inside he meets the mysterious owner Mr. Koreander. He is reading a big book with a weird symbol on the cover called ‘The Neverending Story’. Bastian the bookworm’s eyes are drawn to this new piece of literature as a hungry bear is drawn to a camper in a tent. When asked if he can soak up the words of this new story, he is denied by the owner.

The reason for the denial is that the book is not a safe one to read. In ordinary books you become the character your reading about, Tarzan, Captain Nemo, Peter Pan, but when the book is over, you get to go back to the real world and lead your normal life. Not so with “The Neverending Story.” Despite the warning to keep the book cover closed, Bastian borrows the book and absorbs himself in its pages, literally.

The main crux of the story involves the magical land of Fantasia which is being ravished by terrible force called the Nothing. The Nothing sweeps through the land wiping out of existence anything it touches. Along with the Nothing matters, is the sickness of the ruler of Fantasia, the Childlike Empress. A young warrior named Atreyu is sent on a mission to find a cure for the Childlike Empress and to possibility find a way to defeat the Nothing.

As Bastian reads along he begins to slowly realize that the characters inside the book are aware of his presence. They hear him when he shouts in fear. When the hero Atreyu looks into the Magic Mirror Gate, he sees Bastian reading the book that he is a character in. What freaks him out the most is when The Childlike Empress tells Atretyu, “He is listening to every word we say.” Through reading the book, Bastian has become a permanent part of the Neverending Story.


It's just a STORY. It isn't REAL!-Bastian


If the Neverending Story is a dangerous book to read the Bible is most certainly very lethal. The Bible contains living words that attach it self to the human soul like a leech. It sucks out all the bad sin tainted blood and leaves its life giving spirit in place of it. It sucks up the Nothing in our souls and leaves Someone who fills it with His all-embracing presence.

As the characters in the Neverending Story are aware of its reader, the principal character of the Bible, the Lord Jesus, is aware of its reader. When we read Scripture, if our spiritual hearing aid is working properly, we can hear God’s word speaking to us personally. He doesn’t speak to us in a vague general sort of way as normal human authors speak to people in books, but speaks specifically to us in that very moment we are reading it. The Holy Spirit who permeates the pages of the scriptures interacts with the reader and makes God’s story a permanent part of his inner being.

Unlike the characters in the Neverending Story, we are not always aware of the one who is reading our lives or that we are even in a story. Our lives are an open book to God who is also the author of the book. God is an active reader who becomes part of our stories and invites us to actively participate in it along with him. God wants us to give ourselves totally to Him in freedom so that our story will be Neverending.

The words of Holy Scripture speak directly to the human person, giving the reader words of encouragement, challenge, and personal instruction. If you let the Word of God get into your bloodstream you cannot go back and lead the life you once lived because God’s story has taken root in your soul. If you don’t want God to invade your life, don’t pick up His word. It’s dangerous and not a safe book.

Copyright StoryBlazers 2009