The Narnia Chronicles…what has not been said about them. I think they are fabulous. They are tremendously well written, the story line is just fantastic it always keeps you guessing. The best part is the underlying sense of hope the entire series brings to the reader. Hope of a better future, and that there is something or someone better out there taking care of things. The mere humans and animals may be smart but Aslan knows best and has it all together, what a relief!
I guess the thing I would have to say that stands out the most besides the story itself is the style of writing. C.S. Lewis has such a fun style, he uniquely talks to the reader as if he were sitting in front of you telling you the story himself. This immediately engages the reader, although it catches you off guard the first time. But it is something that you do not find everyday. This lovely conversation he carries begins to include the reader in the story in such a way that you are not necessarily involved in the story but you took part in keeping it going somehow. Sort of a sense that, if you do not keep reading the story it will not finish. The reader completes the story by reading it.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Chrissy Jaeger-Four Loves
As I was reading The Four Loves of C.S. Lewis I began to realize that the introduction to this book was pivotal and possibly the most important part of the entire book. C.S. Lewis tells us essentially that our nearness to God comes in two manners: in our likeness to him (given to us freely and completely and does not actually change our nearness to him, even though it originally gives us an immediate nearness to him). Then there is our nearness by approach. This does change through life.
Our likeness of him is what we can see through our passionate (non-lust) love for another. If it is self-less and joyful and all of those it makes us near to God only in our likeness to Him, but not in approach. We falsely believe that because we are being more like God we are becoming more near to Him. My question is how can we become more like him during our life if he is not building it out in us as we get closer to Him and we are changed in our likeness as we see Him better and approach Him?
Our likeness of him is what we can see through our passionate (non-lust) love for another. If it is self-less and joyful and all of those it makes us near to God only in our likeness to Him, but not in approach. We falsely believe that because we are being more like God we are becoming more near to Him. My question is how can we become more like him during our life if he is not building it out in us as we get closer to Him and we are changed in our likeness as we see Him better and approach Him?
Ethics of Elfland
The essay written by Chesterton on the “Ethics of Elfland” started off slow but as I finished the essay I found myself amazed at the new way I viewed life. As Chesterton started I struggled with his fanatical belief in Elfland over the reality of this world. In fact I was truly bothered by his notion of taking repetition as weird- not fact. I was thinking that just because you imagine something that doesn’t make it happen. But, then I understood what he was saying, and it blew my mind. First, to understand and believe in Elfland is to believe and understand our world better. It is the myth that displays reality in a way we could not have experienced it otherwise. So, Elfland is more real because it sheds more truth.
Also in his idea of repetition not being fact, or law I realized Chesterton wants us to see that Elfland is so great because they realize it could be different. This is the possibility of anything being anything. Chesterton goes further to say that possibly the reason why there is repetition in this world is simply because God never gets tired of the same thing over and over- like a child. But, things could be different, they could be changed if God decided. So, we should appreciate what things are because it could be something different, and that is exactly what myth and Elfland help us to appreciate.
Also in his idea of repetition not being fact, or law I realized Chesterton wants us to see that Elfland is so great because they realize it could be different. This is the possibility of anything being anything. Chesterton goes further to say that possibly the reason why there is repetition in this world is simply because God never gets tired of the same thing over and over- like a child. But, things could be different, they could be changed if God decided. So, we should appreciate what things are because it could be something different, and that is exactly what myth and Elfland help us to appreciate.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Susan Watkins -- Growing the Animals
In Class Reading #5 (Space Trilogy)
One idea that's mentioned in Perelandra really caught my eye-- the idea that just as Maleldil was growing and teaching the Queen in wisdom and knowledge, she was supposed to grow and teach the animals of the planet. She always spoke to Ransom about the animals lovingly and tenderly, with a lot of concern for their happiness and well-being even though she didn't "own" them like we do with a lot of the animals on Earth. She cared for the little dragon-type creature that befriended Ransom, the various bird type creatures, and even the pod of fish that carried her on their backs.
This is a great image. It demonstrates how we as intelligent creatures reflect God in our actions and behaviors. Here, He is a caretaker and teacher for the Queen just as she should be for her animal subjects. The Biblical account of creation says that God "gave" all of the animals to Adam, but here in our fallen world they have been abused and our relationship with them is damaged beyond recognition, possibly beyond repair.
What would our world be like if we really treated animals as the Lord treats us-- as cherished creatures worthy of our protection and love? I've seen amazing things happen when a loving human has a loving dog-- there is a relationship there that seems much nearer to true friendship than an owner and his property. Would we find ourselves in a world like Perelandra, where the creatures around us had our true respect and wonder while we had theirs as well? Can we ever approach this world after the fall has happened, or will it forever be a missed possibility that can only be explored in books?
One idea that's mentioned in Perelandra really caught my eye-- the idea that just as Maleldil was growing and teaching the Queen in wisdom and knowledge, she was supposed to grow and teach the animals of the planet. She always spoke to Ransom about the animals lovingly and tenderly, with a lot of concern for their happiness and well-being even though she didn't "own" them like we do with a lot of the animals on Earth. She cared for the little dragon-type creature that befriended Ransom, the various bird type creatures, and even the pod of fish that carried her on their backs.
This is a great image. It demonstrates how we as intelligent creatures reflect God in our actions and behaviors. Here, He is a caretaker and teacher for the Queen just as she should be for her animal subjects. The Biblical account of creation says that God "gave" all of the animals to Adam, but here in our fallen world they have been abused and our relationship with them is damaged beyond recognition, possibly beyond repair.
What would our world be like if we really treated animals as the Lord treats us-- as cherished creatures worthy of our protection and love? I've seen amazing things happen when a loving human has a loving dog-- there is a relationship there that seems much nearer to true friendship than an owner and his property. Would we find ourselves in a world like Perelandra, where the creatures around us had our true respect and wonder while we had theirs as well? Can we ever approach this world after the fall has happened, or will it forever be a missed possibility that can only be explored in books?
Susan Watkins -- Loving and Letting Go
In Class Reading #4 ('Til We Have Faces)
I have been learning a whole lot about love the past few years. I've been learning that it's far more simple in some ways and infinitely more complicated in others than anything else I can imagine. Just when I think I'm starting to figure it out and get good at it, I realize that the whole time I haven't been acting out of love but out of selfishness.
This is why Orual's story is basically the story of my life. I go through every day feeling victimized, abandoned, like a martyr in this cruel world only to realize with a shock that my perspective is pitifully skewed and I am nothing more than selfish. I think that I am loving the people around me when all I am trying to do is control them.
There's a quote I heard once that goes, "If you love someone, let them go-- if they come back to you they're yours, if they don't then they never were." Brad Brewer wrote a song that has a similar idea whose chorus goes like this:
Though her eyes and though her face
Are beautiful to you
You know her heart, you know her mind
Were never yours to lose
So give her away again
As if I weren't getting the message loud and clear enough this semester, my friend Paul read a poem that he wrote which just struck me to the heart... it's called "my sin" and although I can't quote it perfectly it goes something like this:
tucking you into bed
my love
i finally see the true desire of my heart
oh, that you could love a man more than God tomorrow
Isn't that what we really want a lot of the time? We want someone who will love us above and beyond everything, absolutely everything, else in the world. Indeed, society tells us that this is what "true love" is. I beg to differ, though-- to love another person more than anything else in the world is to love an idol. Humans are merely symbols, incomplete reflections of something out there that's perfect-- and to love them instead of the real Perfection is setting outselves up to be disappointed, without fail.
And so I concede the point that I argued against in our last class-- perhaps longing is an essential part of love. To really love someone is generally to desire their company. However, I maintain that true love tempers longing with altruism-- a desire for the Beloved's utmost good and not our own happiness. Thus sometimes the best way to love someone, really love them, is to allow them to leave. To be joyful that others out there in the world will have the chance to be touched by that same person who touched you so deeply. To be thrilled that he or she will, out there in the world, find life and happiness with or without you. This is love.
It's kind of like a butterfly-- if you sit and wait in a field long enough, a butterfly will come and land near you. The anticipation is a kind of special, tense beauty. The landing and lingering of the small creature is a kind of exhilarating, joyous beauty. The nostalgia and rememberance of the butterfly once it has left is a kind of sweet, sad beauty. All of them are equally phenomenal and precious once we come to appreciate them... but to chase and forcibly catch the butterfly is to risk damaging or even killing it, and losing out on the depth of all of those beauties because we are too caught up in the chase. Better to sit, and wait, and love.
I have been learning a whole lot about love the past few years. I've been learning that it's far more simple in some ways and infinitely more complicated in others than anything else I can imagine. Just when I think I'm starting to figure it out and get good at it, I realize that the whole time I haven't been acting out of love but out of selfishness.
This is why Orual's story is basically the story of my life. I go through every day feeling victimized, abandoned, like a martyr in this cruel world only to realize with a shock that my perspective is pitifully skewed and I am nothing more than selfish. I think that I am loving the people around me when all I am trying to do is control them.
There's a quote I heard once that goes, "If you love someone, let them go-- if they come back to you they're yours, if they don't then they never were." Brad Brewer wrote a song that has a similar idea whose chorus goes like this:
Though her eyes and though her face
Are beautiful to you
You know her heart, you know her mind
Were never yours to lose
So give her away again
As if I weren't getting the message loud and clear enough this semester, my friend Paul read a poem that he wrote which just struck me to the heart... it's called "my sin" and although I can't quote it perfectly it goes something like this:
tucking you into bed
my love
i finally see the true desire of my heart
oh, that you could love a man more than God tomorrow
Isn't that what we really want a lot of the time? We want someone who will love us above and beyond everything, absolutely everything, else in the world. Indeed, society tells us that this is what "true love" is. I beg to differ, though-- to love another person more than anything else in the world is to love an idol. Humans are merely symbols, incomplete reflections of something out there that's perfect-- and to love them instead of the real Perfection is setting outselves up to be disappointed, without fail.
And so I concede the point that I argued against in our last class-- perhaps longing is an essential part of love. To really love someone is generally to desire their company. However, I maintain that true love tempers longing with altruism-- a desire for the Beloved's utmost good and not our own happiness. Thus sometimes the best way to love someone, really love them, is to allow them to leave. To be joyful that others out there in the world will have the chance to be touched by that same person who touched you so deeply. To be thrilled that he or she will, out there in the world, find life and happiness with or without you. This is love.
It's kind of like a butterfly-- if you sit and wait in a field long enough, a butterfly will come and land near you. The anticipation is a kind of special, tense beauty. The landing and lingering of the small creature is a kind of exhilarating, joyous beauty. The nostalgia and rememberance of the butterfly once it has left is a kind of sweet, sad beauty. All of them are equally phenomenal and precious once we come to appreciate them... but to chase and forcibly catch the butterfly is to risk damaging or even killing it, and losing out on the depth of all of those beauties because we are too caught up in the chase. Better to sit, and wait, and love.
Susan Watkins -- Muffing the Signs
In Class Reading #3 (Chronicles)
I think that of all the Chronicles of Narnia, The Silver Chair would have to be my favorite. The speech that Puddleglum gives about the dream of Narnia and Aslan being far preferable to the reality of Underworld just blows me away every time... but aside from that, I think the book incorporates several themes which are just so relevant to our everyday lives. One of my favorites is Jill "muffing the signs" that Aslan gave her.
Aslan, the benevolent ruler of Narnia, is sure to give Jill very clear and detailed signs that she should follow in order to successfully locate the Prince Rilian. It's clear that He wants her to succeed-- we know from earlier books that He is kind and good, and we also know the He loves Caspian and would be concerned about the king's son. His provision begins even at the very begnning of the story, though Jill has already displayed some less-than-honorable traits like pride. He desires to care for her during her adventure, though an adventure it will be.
However, as time goes on it just seems like Jill cannot get things right. She misses the first sign because she is irritated with Eustace, and the king Caspian sails away and out of their reach although Aslan had said they should talk to him. Later on in the story, she and Eustace are both guilty of getting distracted and not listening to Puddleglum's wisdom about visiting the giants' castle. This indirectly leads to her missing the second sign, the letters carved in stone giving them directions to the Underworld lair of the Enchantress. It's only by accident that they discover them and that happens after a considerable amount of trouble with the giants. If Jill alone had been responsible for the trip, it's possible that Rilian never would have been rescued and the story would have ended quite sadly.
However, Aslan never leaves the children and never stops providing for them. Throughout all the troubles and mishaps He knows their circumstances and helps them out, directly or indirectly. I love this image because it is so like our lives and God-- He has given us such a beautiful example and instruction for how to live and live to the fullest, but if we had anything to do with it we would mess it up every time. However, He's never far from us and never out of control even in the most disastrous situations. His provision is unceasing whether we turn away or not, and He is planning a perfect ending for our story ending in salvation and emerging into Narnia from the trap of Underworld.
I think that of all the Chronicles of Narnia, The Silver Chair would have to be my favorite. The speech that Puddleglum gives about the dream of Narnia and Aslan being far preferable to the reality of Underworld just blows me away every time... but aside from that, I think the book incorporates several themes which are just so relevant to our everyday lives. One of my favorites is Jill "muffing the signs" that Aslan gave her.
Aslan, the benevolent ruler of Narnia, is sure to give Jill very clear and detailed signs that she should follow in order to successfully locate the Prince Rilian. It's clear that He wants her to succeed-- we know from earlier books that He is kind and good, and we also know the He loves Caspian and would be concerned about the king's son. His provision begins even at the very begnning of the story, though Jill has already displayed some less-than-honorable traits like pride. He desires to care for her during her adventure, though an adventure it will be.
However, as time goes on it just seems like Jill cannot get things right. She misses the first sign because she is irritated with Eustace, and the king Caspian sails away and out of their reach although Aslan had said they should talk to him. Later on in the story, she and Eustace are both guilty of getting distracted and not listening to Puddleglum's wisdom about visiting the giants' castle. This indirectly leads to her missing the second sign, the letters carved in stone giving them directions to the Underworld lair of the Enchantress. It's only by accident that they discover them and that happens after a considerable amount of trouble with the giants. If Jill alone had been responsible for the trip, it's possible that Rilian never would have been rescued and the story would have ended quite sadly.
However, Aslan never leaves the children and never stops providing for them. Throughout all the troubles and mishaps He knows their circumstances and helps them out, directly or indirectly. I love this image because it is so like our lives and God-- He has given us such a beautiful example and instruction for how to live and live to the fullest, but if we had anything to do with it we would mess it up every time. However, He's never far from us and never out of control even in the most disastrous situations. His provision is unceasing whether we turn away or not, and He is planning a perfect ending for our story ending in salvation and emerging into Narnia from the trap of Underworld.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Elizabeth Rhein-Longing-Student's Choosing
When we went over the book “Till We Have Faces,” we started about longing. What I got from our conversation was how a romantic relationship needed longing in order for it to exist. For example, a couple who is separated only thinks about the moment when they get to be with each other again and when they are with each other, they can’t get enough of one another. Because people will never have that feeling of longing satisfied, it is an essential part of a relationship. When we talked about this, I kept thinking about reality television shows like the Bachelor. The goal is to “win” the love of another and that relationship is formed in an unusual way. The fifteen women or so long for the acceptance of the one man. Typically by the end, there are about five women who have told that one man they love him. I feel like it is more their longing for him that is affecting their emotions more so than their actual love for him. Also, it seems that maybe these women are more afraid of losing acceptance and are being blinded by their longing. Because it is an unhealthy emotional environment the women are placed in, emotions are constantly on edge and it seems like when the man finally picks his woman, they both say that they love each other. Even so, when the couple is looked at afterwards, they are usually no longer together because the longing is not as strong and is not as true. This has to do with the book we went over because someone said that Orual does not love the person but loves the way they make her feel. This is similar to the bachelor because the women don’t really love the guy, they just love how he makes them feel.
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