A book that is rocking my world: Interview w/author Lael Arrington: Godsight

I read several books a month, some for Christian Momlogic, others because I can't imagine not reading them. I'm lucky when a book hits both categories. GodSight is one of those. I met Lael Arrington, a beautiful woman whose body is marked by RA. She was once a beauty queen and she's still gorgeous, but she's also intelligent, a thinker. Lael's new book Godsight: Renewing the Eyes of Our Hearts is a striking book. The cover alone draws you into the content, but it also challenges readers to see things in a very different way. It's one of the books that you underline, put on your shelf, and pull it back out later to read all over again. Lael joins CML today to talk about the book and her life.

Suzie Eller: Lael, I love the cover of this book. What's the inspiration behind it?

Lael Arrington: C. S. Lewis wrote: "If we consider the staggering nature of the rewards promised... it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”

That is why I wrote Godsight—to turn our imaginations to the “holiday at the sea.” To explore how God overcomes the seduction of our imagination and grows our vision for him and his kingdom. How that vision torches our passion for him. The artist who conceived the cover, Josh Dennis, presents the silhouette of a person who has trekked up the final sand dune, and arms high, revels in the glory of his ocean-front view. Although Josh was not thinking of Lewis’s quote when he designed the cover, I can’t imagine a better illustration of celebrating that "holiday at the sea." What a remarkable “coincidence.” A gift from the Great Artist.

SE: You immediately address what goes on in our thought lives. In fact, I believe you called it "the seduction of our imagination.” What do you mean by that?

LA: I mean not only the overwhelming barrage of images that stoke our desires for what we don't have, but also our attempts to fulfill those desires on a screen, whether in our heads or in the real world. The Journal of Sex Research reports that among one sample of college women in a committed relationship 80% had romantic fantasies about other men. In a Today’s Christian Woman reader survey, 34% admitted to accessing the internet to deliberately view porn sites, including many not merely checking out what their husbands were viewing, but pursuing their own pleasure.

And what of our daydreams to be rescued, to rescue others, to win the lottery or be a rising star in our community or workplace? Godsight encourages the reader to overcome the temptation to escape real life into the privacy of our imagination—our daydreams and fantasies—and escaping into the comfort and stimulation of our movie screens, TV screens, and computer screens far more than we need for recreation.

SE: I have to admit that this chapter was the most personal for me. I love where I'm at and what I'm doing, and who I'm with, but I constantly live in the future. One day...when I write my next book. One day...when Richard completes his Masters' and licensure. One day... when I'm financially able to do whatever I desire for others. Not any of these things are bad, and yet they steal from me. It keeps me from living totally in the present, and enjoying what I have and where I am right now.

Why do you think the seduction of our imagination is such a challenge in today's culture?

LA: That great New England preacher, Jonathan Edwards, has written that we live from our affections—our desires. It’s true. Our imaginations stir our desires, and our desires make our lives go round. They write checks on our bank accounts and entries into our day-timers. We imagine it. We want it.

Our imaginations feed off the images we see in the real world. In today’s culture we see so many more images of “all the kingdoms of this world and their splendor” than any other generation in history. In “Psychology Today” we are reminded that until the recent past a person could live their entire lives without encountering more than five beautiful women. Today our lives are wallpapered with images of things we'll never have and adventures will never live. Before Martha Stewart and HGTV I never knew how plain my table looked.

SE: Ack! I never considered that my table would be in the equation. : ) For me, not a temptation. But I know that it's pressure for others.

You are my friend and I think I know you well, but you shared some very personal battles. Why was the seduction of your imagination such a challenge for you personally?

LA: When I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis I could see my world shrink as surely as Alice’s down the rabbit hole—a life of chronic disease and pain. No cure. I felt that I had all this sparkle and talent and intellectual ability that was sinking beneath the fatigue of chronic disease and the routines of baby care and daily life. I prayed St. Lael's prayer of resignation:

Lord, I know I should be happy with my lot.

If this is what you want for me,

Then give me the grace to settle for it. Amen.

But just doing my duty didn’t always do it for me. I yearned for so much more life than I was living. I had been a child of the King so long that alcohol, drugs, illicit sex—the way-out-of-bounds escapes held no attraction. Just as well. The thought of trying to shimmy with a limp isn’t pretty.

I’m a creative person. I could write fairly engaging stories in my head. Stories often inspired in part by movies, music and TV where I could still ride the sunbeams, rack up the successes, and receive the attention and appreciation I longed for.

I liked to think I was indulging in a gray area of behavior, but I began to sense Jesus wagging his head at me. And when I would try to resist the impulse to fantasy, it was as if someone widened the screen of my imagination and turned up the volume. The story dragged me into it. My desire for escape was often stronger than my will to say no.

SE: Friday we'll continue this interview with Lael where she continues to talk about relevant faith, how she walked away from being a "cosmic blonde", and where life led her as she lived in the reality of the moment.

Lael is the radio host of Things That Matter Most KSEV Houston. She is a prolific author and speaker. If you want to connect with Lael Arrington or check out more about her book, check out her website.