Fiction lecture 2 or so

The subject for the day is Gilbert Morris. GM has written about 4,329
novels, most of which are historical and follow the Winslow family from
the Mayflower to .... I believe the most recent one is in the Great
Depression. No, no, not the Clinton years... the 1930's.
To put this in perspective, I read my first Winslow book at Lifestyle
Christian School.... probably 92 or so. And I read the most recent one
last week. I will be 27 soon.... so that's a lot of books, folks.
The first ones were captivating... wedge shaped jaws and piercing blue
eyes ... (the Winslow eyes)... but after about 30 of these guys it gets
a little old. I mean, in my family, (and the gene pool may be a little
dicier, but hey) I don't know if 2 of us even have the same color
eyes....
And after a while, you get older. But in Morris world, if you live
uprightly, you can be 70 and only have little strategically placed
silver streaks in your hair... and still carry the beauty of your
youth. UNLESS you drink. Then you start looking like a "hard woman" by
25 or so.
Here's what happens: you're usually raised in an upstanding Godfearing
family. Because Winslows have to be saved by age 30 or they get killed
in an avalanche or a shootout and just get saved on deathbeds. Winslows
are not permitted to go to hell. So you're raised right. By someone
probably with blue eyes and a little silver streak. Then, when you're
an adolescent, something happens. You get kicked by a horse, or your
daddy loses his money, or a war or something. Still, it seems like
maybe you'll be okay. Until you're a teen.... 18 usually. Then you fall
in love with the wrong guy, or worse, a "hard woman" (they know how to
stir a man) or maybe you run away to be in a.)circus b.)Broadway
c.)cock-fighter's league. By the time you are 25, you are well on your
way to destruction, and you make statements like "I don't care what he
says! I won't do it!" and that is the thrilling cliffhanger that ends
the chapter.
But then you are walking barefoot on the streets of New York, or maybe
California or somewhere and the guy/girl/nurse/pilot/boxer who finally
helps you is an evangelist. And you fall in love, maybe. Or maybe you
hear the gospel but you're such a hard man/woman that you say "I don't
care what you say! I'm not doing it!" UNTIL you're somewhere else and
your woman gets hurt bad or maybe you get kicked by a horse or your
plane crashes. So you cry out to God in the barn/Germany/hospital and
are gloriously saved. You then get married, have children immediately
and raise them to be good Winslows.... but then....