CommentaryThe faith in THE EDGE OF LEGEND
I didn’t want to force the faith of Ant’s story. When the amazing, gracious Will Leitch read it to give his endorsement, I asked him to let me know if any of it came off as too preachy. When his email came back with that all-too-kind blurb, he added, “For the record, I don't find any of this book too preachy at all. I think you should be pretty damned proud of it, actually.”
I figured he really meant it, too, because he used a swear word.
There are several elements of faith in EOL, but in constructing the book’s narrative, I took caution with them. Sometimes – pretty often, actually –Christian books become too much about the message and too little about story. I didn’t want this to just be a “Christian” book, same as I didn’t want it to just be a “sports” book. I wanted it to, first and foremost, entertain. That is what good books do. So I allowed it to simply be what it is: a book sharing a great story about a guy who just so happens to be a basketball player who just so happens to have this incredible faith in God.
It wasn’t easy. The incomparable Jeff Pearlman provided some blunt, brutally harsh, but all-too-needed criticisms. They probably saved the book.
In the end, I just tried to honor Ant’s story.
All that said, at the beginning of this whole dream, Ant’s faith is what drew me to his story the most. It drew me because of how he lived his faith. No, the guy’s not perfect, but he lives with a phenomenal balance between his faith and basketball and life in general. Discovering the depths to which it went in his life changed me, and my life, and my faith. If it had that impact on me, I had to believe it could touch others that way, too.
I sensed that this guy’s faith wasn’t something that just happened by accident. Thankfully, my instincts were right, or else, there would be no book.
However, it is good to recognize where his faith really comes through in this story, and that’s what this is for.
- Since Ant was first conceived in his mother’s womb, his life was governed by faith in God’s favor. By that I mean the favor that it seemed was possessed by guys like David and his son Solomon – pre-idol-worship, anyway – and Moses and Elijah and Joshua. Favor that killed giants and brought down walls and parted seas. From the time Anthony Atkinson Sr. learned that his Vivian was pregnant, he went to God, begging him for, and believing for, a boy.
- Senior failed as an athlete because he lacked the proper work ethic. He envisioned Ant creating a future with sports because he would work at them the right way. He put Ant through hell, but it was never without purpose, and Senior made sure not to go overboard. He was responsible. He communicated with his son the way I imagine God tries to communicate with us. We go through tough crap, and sometimes we get all worked up about that and think, “Why are you letting this happen, God?” Likewise, Senior put Ant through some tough crap, so much so that one day Ant asked him, “But Daddy, don’t you say that God will always help me?” Senior’s response to that was breathtaking, and it’s a response that clearly went on to govern the rest of Ant’s life.
- When he was a junior in high school, Ant transferred from a class 4-A state championship contender to a 1-A private school the basketball program of which was, historically, an absolute joke. People ripped into his family for that decision. Until then, the Wilson area public felt like Ant was one of the best players to ever come from the city. When they made that decision, everyone told him and his family that they had made the worst decision possible for his future. And through all of that, the Atkinson felt, as the psalmist writes, peace that passed all understanding. They believed God was leading them to the new school. What happened next left little doubt that they were right, and left most of those critics silent, if not embarrassed.
- Like all of us when we were kids, Ant got by mostly on the faith of his parents. He believed in God in his heart, but that faith was tested a million times over when he got to college. I can’t give away too many details, but I can tell you this: From age six, he’d worked to have a future in basketball, and in two years, it was taken from him. How he dealt with that, and how he found God in that, is like what happens to many of us: it’s not until hitting our lowest that we’re completely willing to look somewhere beyond humanity for help.
- Ant’s return to Wilson and subsequent two seasons was the thing that great movies are made of. If this wasn’t a true story, and if I hadn’t researched it myself, I probably wouldn’t believe it.
- Fittingly, Ant’s faith manifests itself most powerfully as the story hits its climax. In the moments that made him, the Division II nobody, the most celebrated basketball player of 2007, Ant bowed his head and reminded God of a promise He had once made. What happened next is what enthralled the sports world and provided the foundation for this book.
My favorite part of the book, I think, is the epilogue. I don’t want to give anything away, so I won’t say too much more other than that it is my favorite, and it’s one of the coolest faith-based experiences I’ve ever heard of. It was one of the most profound moments of Ant’s life. The wonderful irony of it is that if his first goal, the first thing he’d prayed for all his life – to make it to the NBA – had happened when he wanted, he may have never had this experience.
That’s what faith’s all about, I think. Experiencing things, and loving them, especially when they are something we never dreamt of asking for.
Reader Comments (3)
In a way, I was surprised by the faith element of the book, but in a refreshing way. Flet like it was very thoughtfully and naturally woven into the fabric of the story and helped tie it all together. Think it will strengthen some people's faith and cause others who may be doubting to stop and re-examine what God can do in their own lives.
Glad you felt that way about it. My goal was to keep the story as natural as possible. I didn't want to preach, and I didn't want to force people to see God in it. God comes through naturally in his own way in everything, and the same is true here. Glad you liked it!
Wow. All I can say is that I cannot wait to read this book!
Thank you again for writing it.
I'll let you know what I think more deeply after I read it. :)