How Reading a Vampire Book Showed Me a Picture of the Holy Spirit - First Comes Brokenness...

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Bella begins to reconsider her desire to become a vampire during her honeymoon. Maybe not the whole idea, but certainly the timing. She’s enjoying her ‘human’ experiences with her new husband far too much to think about the suffering she knows accompanies the transformation from human to vampire. It’s much easier to be with her Perfect Lover than to even think about becoming like him.

Like any other anticipation of discomfort, if we can find ways to delay it, we will. But in times of smooth sailing, we rarely have the capacity to choose such a transformation, especially if it in any way involves pain. Therefore, we first must be broken.

That opportunity crops up pretty quickly for the newlyweds. Edward and Bella enjoy precious little bliss after their wedding and into the honeymoon before crisis strikes. The unthinkable occurs, something none of the Cullens and certainly not Bella ever believed possible. Bella finds out that she is pregnant with her husband’s – a.ka. Edward the Vampire’s - child.

I must take two short rabbit holes before continuing – sort of ‘on the record’ thoughts. First, at this point in the story, I was disappointed in Edward for the first time. I totally get his protective nature over Bella and the horrors of what this creature could do to his new beloved bride, however his lack of concern for the child’s life irritated me. I guess, however, since I have worked in a crisis pregnancy center and have seen first hand – this isn’t an altogether unheard of response from a baby’s daddy. Oh, and the movie version (Breaking Dawn part 1) during which Edward is yelling at Bella about it! Ha! Sorry, but that was a screenwriter oops if you ask me. No matter what Edward is feeling, he’d NEVER yell at Bella like that. Sure, he apologized, but, eh… I digress. What I must make clear is that this part of the analogous Edward has nothing whatsoever to do with our Perfect Lover Jesus. He’s always and every time for life no matter what you have to do to fight for it. He’s the one who put it there in the first place – He’s the life-giver. And He knows/sees the bigger picture, which in Bella’s case leads her down the path of becoming like her beloved.

Second rabbit trail, and on a similar note, Bella’s fierce defense of her unborn child is admirable. The overtones make for a decided and pointed pro-life message that is refreshing and needed in today’s culture.

Alrighty then, moving on!

For those of you who don’t know the story, discovering the pregnancy cuts the honeymoon short and they rush home so the whole family, and particularly Dr. Cullen, can determine what exactly Bella carries. Their concern is that if the child is more vampire, he or she would not have the willpower to be a ‘veggie’ vampire like the Cullens, and therefore be an uncontrollable monster instead of cute little half-breed baby. In deciding what should be done, the majority vote is to destroy ‘it’ as soon as possible because of the catastrophic ‘what if’s. Bella, along with her new advocate buddy Rosalie, ward off the well-intentioned (which now that they are home from the honeymoon also includes best friend/werewolf Jacob) with fierce determination, set on carrying the child to term.

Despite the fears of what he or she could become once born, the immediate problem is as superhuman as the child is in at least half of its DNA, the baby grows at an exponential rate that wrecks havoc on Bella’s mortal body. In short, it is (unintentionally) killing her from the inside out. Besides breaking Bella’s ribs with every turn, the baby also drains Bella of all and any nutrients, starving her. Mere weeks from the discovery, Bella has become a hollowed out shell, living purely on the purpose to ensure her child lives.

Far from the paradise she envisioned when she wed her Perfect Lover, Bella’s unyielding commitment to life ironically leaves her broken.

Do you know how she feels?

The Bible never ever tells us that accepting our Perfect Lover Jesus will result in a perfect life. First of all, what does ‘perfect life’ even mean? But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, the Bible actually tells us to expect troubles. Sounds like a raw deal when you put it that way, eh?

But what we forget sometimes is that in marrying our Perfect Lover Jesus, we’re set on the path to birth life. And just like a normal human pregnancy, pain precedes that birth. We don’t get the life without the pain.

How determined are we to hold on to the life our Perfect Lover Jesus offers? Even if it is just the promise, before we can hold anything in our hands?

Do well-intentioned nay-sayers sway your determination? Are you ready to give up over a few broken bones? Will starvation convince you to throw in the towel?

Or do we do what Bella did – focus so completely on the outcome of life – that we accept any suffering necessary to make it reality?

Even if it means our death?

Keep your eye on the prize, Dry Ground friends! See you Friday for more How Reading a Vampire Book Showed Me a Picture of the Holy Spirit!
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