A Look Back

Phil Lollar continues looking back by considering the playful power of names. A rapid gathering of citizens, travelers, professionals, and supposed experts introduces such unlikely names as MacThusla, Brink Chetley, Howard J. Weasel, Morton Dunkey, and the crowded legal firm of Dunkey, Dunkey, Dunkey, Dunkey and McCormick. The wordplay reflects the mixture of adventure and comedy found throughout Odyssey.

His attention then turns to Whit's greatest invention, the Imagination Station. Its journeys have carried visitors into both biblical history and other defining moments. One traveler watches a battered American flag remain standing through a fierce attack, while another desperately tries to warn that President Lincoln is in danger. Other journeys place visitors among Moses and the Israelites as God parts the sea before Pharaoh's pursuing army.

At Bethlehem, travelers witness the birth of Jesus and hear Joseph give Him the name Yeshua. When the family must flee to Egypt, gifts from the visiting Magi provide what they need for the journey. Another visitor stands near the tomb as Jesus calls Lazarus back to life, seeing grief transformed into astonishment.

Digger Digwillow's journey follows Jesus during His final days. At first, Digger does not understand why a man riding a donkey has attracted so much attention. He soon sees the Last Supper, hears Jesus warn Peter of his coming denial, and watches the trial and crucifixion. The experience carries him from confusion to grief as he recognizes that an innocent man - and the Son of God - is giving His life.

Phil then remembers people whose lives begin a different kind of journey when they place their faith in Christ. As a boy, John Avery struggles to understand how a loved one can remain hopeful after becoming blind. She teaches him that both roses and thorns can have a purpose and that happiness does not come from merely reading words in a Bible. When she explains that true joy begins by inviting Jesus into his heart, young John asks her to help him pray.

Years later, Connie returns from California after a season of confusion. The trip has helped her decide who she wants to become, and she tells Whit that she wants to ask Jesus to forgive her sins and live in her heart. Whit, who has prayed for this decision, kneels beside her and helps her begin.

Connie's mother also recognizes that she has been depending on the faith of people around her without truly trusting Jesus herself. Seeing how Connie faces hardship reveals the emptiness of that borrowed faith. Beside Connie and her own mother, she asks to be properly introduced to the Savior they know.

Eugene's decision comes after a long intellectual and spiritual struggle. In a nearly empty Whit's End, he asks Jack Allen what he must do to be saved. Before he can pray, Connie arrives and learns what is happening. Bernard and Tom soon appear as well, each drawn to the important moment until Eugene has a much larger audience than expected.

Surrounded by friends - and conscious of the absent Whit who has influenced him so deeply - Eugene tries to address God with his usual grand vocabulary. Jack gently tells him to speak from his heart. At last, the normally eloquent Eugene admits that he has no adequate words and responds simply and personally to God as his new Father.

These remembered journeys reveal the purpose joining Odyssey's history together. Inventions, comedy, danger, and friendship all matter, but their deepest value lies in helping people encounter Jesus and begin lives shaped by faith.