Finding Your Plot in a Plotless World: A Little Direction

The world fell apart for author Daniel de Roulet the moment his son was diagnosed with autism. In Finding Your Plot in a Plotless World, de Roulet takes a closer look at those devastating moments in everyone's lives and the journey that follows. What do we do when our sense of God's plan for our lives crumbles around us? How do we find our plots in a seemingly plotless world?

For answers, de Roulet looks to stories--those of our own culture and the Bible. Along the way, de Roulet encourages readers to be authentic as they tell their own stories and leaves them with hope that God reveals himself through our messy lives.

EXCERPT

Let me make something clear: I am convinced that for Christians, even in the darkest night, there is joy in the morning. God does work all things together--however unlikely the parts--for good for those who love him. But the roads of our progress from darkness to light will often be through murky or unpleasant waters, and our discoveries may not be as whole or as resounding as one could hope. But talking about the whole journey--darkness and light--is being honest to the condition of being human, and perhaps we can help others to begin to make the leap between the difficulties of the now and the promises of the not yet. Successful storytellers and teachers tend to meet their audiences where they are--not where they want them to be. There are times for all of us, Christian and non-Christian alike, when the world seems dark and senseless and morning seems far off, and these times are often when God's plot is the most relevant.

And so this book talks about a journey from plotlessness to plot. Its chapters are meant to be guides for both reading God's stories: narratives that I think God uses to reach down into our own experiences and tell us about himself, and our own stories: the words that we use to tell our experiences to each other and, I believe, to God.

From the Back Cover

How do we find meaning when our sense of God's plan for our lives falls apart? Daniel de Roulet found himself asking that question nine years ago when his son was diagnosed with autism.In Finding Your Plot in a Plotless World, de Roulet takes a closer look at those moments in which we lack direction, feel disconnected, and search for answers--moments when the world seems plotless and we can't find our place. He explores the role that storytelling plays in helping us to recover God's plot for our lives. "There are times for all of us, Christian and non-Christian alike, when the world seems dark and senseless and morning seems far off, and these times are often when God's plot is the most relevant," writes de Roulet. By linking stories from the Bible with our own cultural stories--through fiction, film, poetry, and song--he walks with us on a journey toward purpose and meaning within God's story.De Roulet's message will resonate with twenty-first-century Christians who live in a postmodern world that connects more closely with story than modernist arguments of faith. This book will help them bridge the divide many have built between spiritual and secular realms to allow biblical stories and our culture's stories to enter into dialogue with one another.The result is a book that encourages us to be authentic as we tell our stories and leaves us with hope that God reveals himself through our messy lives.