Remember

Psalm 77:7-12

"Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?" Then I thought, "To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds."

This psalm of Asaph is an important practical way to counter valleys in one's life. Asaph calls us to remember the times in which God moved in our lives. The former days in which His spirit sparked our hearts anew. When I am in a valley I generally do not appeal to my intellect. Apologetics do have a place in the Christian life; however, in our darkest moments we do not want to hear a three step syllogism on why God is good in difficult circumstances. We want a voice to tell us that everything is okay. In particular we want one voice, God's voice to speak into our lives again. So, like Asaph, we appeal to these moments because that feeling is true, and we know it to be true. Many people think that remembering is a passive thing; however, I would argue that it is very active. It is choice. We can choose to be angry that God is not letting us experience him at this moment, or we can choose to remember that he is good in every circumstance. Valleys are opportunities to reflect, to remember again. They are also opportunities to be thankful for those mountain top experiences because they are gifts. We do not deserve them, so we are not entitled to them. Remember. Remember that God desires good for his people. Remember that He will never forsake us. More than anything, remember the cross, and the joy with which Christ carried it because our joy is found in our crosses. Do not refuse them. Welcome them with open eyes and let the world see that Christ is Lord of all.

Ben Pearce: Outside Reading 5 Blog 15

Charity in Mere Christianity

In Mere Christianity, Lewis gives a multi-faceted definition of charity in relation to love. Lewis says that charity is not just giving alms; it is not just an emotional response; it is not just liking someone enough to help them out. Charity is love in the most Christian sense. It is about deeply caring for someone’s condition and well-being. He goes on to say that simply liking someone makes charity easier, but it is more than that. In fact, we don’t have to like someone for charity to be in effect. It is all about the simple action of love that is demonstrated in word and deed. Lewis takes the fake it till you make it approach here. He says we should act as if we love someone even if we cannot find it in our hearts to actually love them. This will lead possibly to some sort of emotional conditioning which will associate that charity with that masked love. This may lead to interesting results however, so the best course of action is to actually love someone. The difference between a Christian and worldly person is that a worldly person treats someone kindly because they like them, while a Christian treats someone kindly and ends up liking them. Lewis notes that this is the best way to grow in our love for God as well. By loving others, we demonstrate that we have a genuine love for God who instructed us to care for others. “If you love me, you will do my commandments”.

Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind

   I watched Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind during one of the philosophy movie nights. I have seen this movie a few times, and every time I find something new. The ever occurring theme however is the idea of humans playing god, or if a human was as powerful as god. In the movie, Joel falls in love with Clementine, however a third of the way through the movie we discover that this is not the first time, and that Joel has chosen to erase her from his memories, as has she of him. I am a firm believer that our past teaches us lessons and that everything happens for a reason. I think that god has put our lives on a certain path so that we may learn from it and grow as a person as a result of these experiences; they shape us.
    However in the movie, Clementine, Joel and a few others shown, have their memories erased. If it was truly as simple as just erasing the idea or memories of a person, I do not find as much problem of erasing a person, as I do with erasing all the things you have learned and associated with that person. In the movie there is the scene where Joel sings Oh My Darling, but later on, after he erases the memories of her, the song is gone too. If we all had the power to delete people, what would be left of us? We would be fragmented humans with so many gaps in knowledge. If a parent had a tragic death and we deleted them, so too would be all the things they taught us. I think many people like to think the role of god would be fun to play, yet this movie shows a side not many have fully thought out, and that is why I appreciate this movie.

Space Trilogy - Perspective

    Something that really stuck out to me when I first read Out of the Silent Planet one thing that really stuck out to me was the idea that all three species have their own role on Malacandra. The Hross, Sorns, and Pfifltriggi are each known for their talents, and they almost never compete with each other. This really stuck out to me because I was equating the creatures with races, or cultures, that we have. In our modern day every person has to rush to be the best, and constantly work against each other, rarely together. 
    The main difference the Hross point out about Malacandra compared to earth, or Thulcandara, is that we are bent. The truth and Right thing to do is often cloudy and we are bent by too many emotions, societal pressures and who leads us. On malacandra their mythical leader was highly respected and obeyed. Who is our leader on earth? Do we follow our respective presidents who can be corrupted, or our more immediate authority figures such as mom, dad, or boss? This makes me think about God's originally plan, or what we would be like if we were less emotional and more rational beings. Would we stick to pursuing things for the greater good, and letting each culture contribute in the way they can? The current world we live in fosters the idea that competition and being 'bent' is the only way. 

Space Trilogy - Utilitarian

In Out of The Silent Planet there is a theme of sacrifice in the beginning that I found quite interesting. When Ransom and Devine finally Weston of their plan of kidnapping him and taking him to this planet in space for the sake of sacrifice, Weston was appalled at first. Ransom said "you cannot be so small-minded as to think that the rights or life of an individual or of a milltion individuals are of the slightest importance in comparison". Yet when later asked why he is doing this, he does not even know, "it was no idea of ours. We are only obeying orders." This is amazing. Ransom and Devine have not met the leaders of this new planet, yet they are told about a possible sacrifice and their earthly moral code says its okay for one or millions because the trade off is so much better. Yet they are not aware of the trade off. When there are times that call for people to make hard choices, some which require great sacrifice, and here we see that Ransom has no objections, I find this interesting because so many people want change, but are never fully willing to do what is required.

Space Trilogy

Something I really enjoyed when reading the first two books of the space trilogy was Lewis's word choice. When he describes space and the planets, he paints a world totally opposite of our preconceptions. The use of Ransom's dialogue and thoughts are a good perspective because he is our perspective. He paints space not as a void but as the womb of infinite potential. He doesn't say that there are stars and planets around him, but rather hand picked gems, "celestial sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and pin pricks of burning gold". It really is a nice start to the series, by turning your preconceptions on its head and opening your mind to the new scenery you'll be exposed to. Lewis in his science fiction books does this a lot and I think that is one reason why they are so successful.

Ben Pearce: Outside Reading 4 Blog 14

The Screwtape Letters and Politics

“We, in Hell, would welcome the disappearance of democracy in the strict sense of that word, the political arrangement so called. Like all forms of government, it often works to our advantage, but on the whole less often than other forms. And what we must realize is that “democracy” in the diabolical sense (I’m as good as you, Being Like Folks, Togetherness) is the fittest instrument we could possibly have for extirpating political democracies from the face of the earth.”

            In this passage, Uncle Screwtape discusses what the result of democracy is on a democracy. He is clear that democracies are good things in and of themselves. They are moral things which allow a person choice in deciding who represents them, but there is often a problem with that. I am relating this quote to our modern political climate. This election, we were given the option for president of choosing either a demagogue or a traitor. This is the end result of democracy Uncle Screwtape was referring to. While a person may pretend to want a free democracy, they still desire something else. Therefore, that democracy is used to destroy itself.

Ben Pearce: TWHF 2 Blog 13

Jealousy

In Till We Have Face, Orual is very consistently jealous of her sister Psyche for her beauty. Orual is not beautiful, and this lack of self-esteem is possibly what lead to the jealousy. She is the Queen of Glome, yet she is unmarried and without children. He two sisters are both beautiful and have the greatest potential to be useful in marriages to their father, who is a harsh and cruel man. All that Orual seemed to have was Psyche, and once Psyche was married to a god, she felt alone, and she even blamed the gods who she had no belief or trust in. She could no longer control or use Psyche to her advantage, so she made her complaints loud and clear. This love possibly started out as a true love, but her low self-esteem and jealousy caused this love to be possessive and abusive which makes it no love at all. This is even seen when she is jealous of Bardia’s wife and children who he has to go home to. She wanted him as her own husband without thought to what he could have wanted. 

Ben Pearce: TWHF 1 Blog 12

The Judgement of Orual

“Orual”. “Orual”. “Stand straight before me for you stand condemned against the Lord of Judgement. You have gazed into the eyes of jealousy, and you have screamed out in hatred against the gods before your legs had the strength to walk”.

The god’s eyes looked brazen as if they had been scorched by fire. His robes drifted down off of his throne and wrapped the base of his seat. Orual stood silent before her accuser, unable to move her lips from the immense guilt that plagued her spirit. She knew she stood without hope, without just cause, and without response.

“Orual, you have looked upon Psyche with jealousy, with a burning envy that could not secure itself on the basis of righteousness. You have made yourself unclean and been turned against all the gods in unabashed rebellion. You have professed love for the gods before long, long ago, but now you cannot claim to have love for us. You knew how to act enough, and you knew how to think enough to be accepted by others for what you professed to be, mortal. But now that you have died, the day of judgment has come, and all of your sins shall now be known. In the eyes of the gods, you are now condemned.”

Till We Have Faces - Judgement

Till We Have Faces - Judgement

12/10/2016

“Orual, my name is Herodianus, and I am god of the silence. I have been there, in the moments when you have sat and toiled inside over your sister psyche. I see you fear that she does not love you because she loves others beside you. Is this so?”

“It is.” Orual responds.

“I have a story that I think you will find interesting. Once there was a god named Agathon and his mother Alethea. Alethea and Agathon came from a community of gods and goddesses that held honor above all else. During a battle Alethea becomes mortally wounded and in order to live she must receive the blood from her heir; due to the circumstances the only heir that can give Alethea blood is Agathon. At once, Alethea’s servant suggests that she require Agathon, out of honor, to give her his blood even though that means he would die. Alethea immediately rejects this idea and explains that it is because of honor she cannot do this---she claims that true honor would be allowing herself to die and her son to continue living.”

“That’s love. I wish that Psyche would love me in this way.”

“Do you think that Alethea chose well when she chose to honor her son in this way?”

“Yes, that is true honor.”

“Then is it not true honor and love in your case to sacrifice your own insecurities and allow Psyche to find happiness and love with others besides just yourself?”

Orual stood before the god of silence, silent.

“I charge you as guilty.” Declared Herodianus.

Orual's Judgment in Till We Have Faces

"Who are you? Show yourself. What have you to say about my complaint?" said Orual to the figure before her, who was completely hidden by billowing, dark blue clouds.

"You do not see yourself and what you have done in light of morality," said the clouded figure.

And suddenly the cloud lifted, and when the fog cleared away Orual saw a mirror before her, faintly illuminated. And within it she saw herself, but not in a way she had ever seen herself before: uglier than she had ever been, but not ugly so much in her physical appearance as ugly in the way that her face was twisted into a sickening grin. Her clothing and hands were covered in blood, and a battered and wounded Istra was crumpled at her feet.

"I illuminate truth within a person," said the mirror, "but I remain clouded because you do not want to see the truth, and you turn away from me when I try to show it to you." Orual said nothing. "Orual, see what your jealousy really is. This reality is if you get what you want - Psyche all to yourself. While this is not what may happen in the physical realm, this is what will happen in the spiritual realm. This is not what has been intended, though, and this is not how you want Psyche to be yours, yes?"

She gazed at the mirror, stunned, then nodded.

The mirror became once more swallowed up in blue clouds. "I am sorry that your kind so often does not want to see," said the god, "for one clear sight can heal multitudes."

"Is it too late for me?" asked Orual. "Is there any way I can be a part of the healing?"

The god looked upon her kindly. "Yes," he said, "you have a repentant heart, and this is how true love begins. I have the power to turn your wrongdoings into right with that heart of yours, and the power to make your guilty judgment not guilty."

The Nature of Journey in Story as seen in The Mysterious Benedict Society

I have noticed that in any good work of children's fiction there is some sort of physical journey to be had. Adult fiction deals with different journeys, into the heart or the mind or the soul; children's stories almost always are consistently physical journeys. An example of this is The Mysterious Benedict Society trilogy. In each book, they travel to a different place, and it's clear that the journeys are just as important, if not more, than the destinations. I think that physical journeys are the best way to write stories, because in the physical journeying the other journeys - emotional, spiritual, mental - also come out in that context.

Thoughts on "Till We Have Faces"

Till We Have Faces

12/10/2016

A scene that I find particularly interesting is when Orual sees Psyche as a newborn baby for the first time. Orual is so delightfully surprised when she sees Psyche and at once she is captivated by her.

“You would have thought she made bright all the corners of the room in which she lay.” (20)

Throughout the entire book it is clear that Orual idolizes Psyche and I think part of the reason why is because I think she sees her as life in a seemingless lifeless and joyless environment. Even in this first scene it is clear that Psyche’s presence stands out & I think this is one reason that Orual is so instantaneously drawn to her. This reminds me of how sometimes I find myself drawn to people for seemingly no particular reason; as I examine these situations more though I tend to find that there is a reason and this reason is that the element of the person I am drawn to reflects an aspect of God. I think that Psyche represents color, life, and beauty in a bland world & these in themselves are elements of God.

The Ethics of Elfland

It is important to recognize this in any sort of myth, fairy tale, or other work of the imagination, because one will use myth subconsciously within the narrative’s world and worldview to find common ground and find answers to their preemptive questions within it - which is the very magic that keeps readers longing after the heroic stories of their childhood. This kind of logic is explained by Chesterton, who in “The Ethics of Elfland” calls those in fairyland “the most reasonable of all creatures” and expounds on the upside-down means that myth uses to help young readers understand the world here:

There are certain sequences or developments (cases of one thing following another), which are, in the true sense of the word, reasonable....I observed that learned men in spectacles were talking of the actual things that happened—dawn and death and so on—as if THEY were rational and inevitable. They talked as if the fact that trees bear fruit were just as NECESSARY as the fact that two and one trees make three. But it is not. There is an enormous difference by the test of fairyland; which is the test of the imagination. You cannot IMAGINE two and one not making three. But you can easily imagine trees not growing fruit; you can imagine them growing golden candlesticks or tigers hanging on by the tail.

Myth to Reality in The Screwtape Letters

The way that Lewis' novel  The Screwtape Letters is set up demonstrates his mastery of using myth to connect readers to what is real. Nobody knows whether it is true that demons write letters to each other or have demon apprenticeships to learn from one another about how to be the best demon he can be. However, the way that Lewis sets up the novel with an excited nephew writing letters full of questions about his line of work to his uncle Screwtape is a use of myth to explain the real. Lewis uses Screwtape's responses to Wormwood to demonstrate how demonic activity and oppression works in a man's everyday life, through a means of one demon communicating with another in a casual way.

The importance of song, Sacred and Profane Beauty

Discussing myth and different forms of participating in myth makes me think back to Search for Beauty, especially our text Sacred and Profane Beauty. In Van der Leeuw's section on Holy Words in Sacred and Profane Beauty entitled “The Work Song,” van der Leeuw claims that song provides a force and rhythm by which people can labor to. He says that words “generate a certain power which is fixed, controlled and concentrated by the rhythm. Therein lies the religious significance of the work song. The man who discovered that was Bucher. He thought that he must remain unpersuaded of any religious significance, since the content was fully profane, being related either to the work itself or to completely foreign matters. But we are dealing here with art; and art, by its very origin, is connected with power. Thus the work song is a religious and magic instrument”(115). In this, he argues that the journey into the myth strengthens and adds force to the task at hand; this union is almost inevitable in the ease of its existence.

Thoughts on “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe”

Thoughts on “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe”

12/10/2016

One scene of this book that I relate to/enjoy is in chapter seventeen when Lucy gives her wounded brother Edmund some of the healing cordial that Father Christmas has given to her earlier. After she gives Edmund a couple of drops, Aslan reminds Lucy that there are other wounded people that need help; Lucy’s responds to Aslan saying” Yes I know, wait a minute.” After Lucy says this, Aslan corrects Lucy and she apologizes (197). This scene so funny to me! Lucy, Daughter of Eve, tells Aslan, Savior and King, to “wait a minute.” I appreciate that Lewis but this in here because this reminds me so much of how Christians (including myself) sometimes very ridiculously act in relation to God. It is such a strange and wonderful thing to me that God chooses to love people, regardless of how absurd we are sometimes. He just deserves to be listened to and joyfully obeyed immediately, and we just don’t do this but he chooses to forgive us and love us anyway---this is wild to me and I love it.

Myth's Purpose

Myth’s purest purpose is to provide a point between man and what he considers sacred. I believe that myth can only be manifested by humans through art - through the telling of the story, the enacting and re-enacting of rituals that invite the self and others into the mystery of the myth. Thus, myth is the connection between art and reality, and to create or to wonder upon another’s creation is to participate in the myth in the search for beauty, truth, and reality.

This desire to participate in myth and to enact beauty as a means of connection to the real is deeply ingrained within humanity, because we were created to be in a constant union to ultimate Truth and Reality. A clear manifestation of this desire can be seen in the vast web community that is known as Tumblr. This online community is a clear example of enacting and reenacting that which connects individuals to truth and beauty on a shared level of intimacy accessible to all who wish to participate in it. Users of Tumblr first look to pop culture - the actors, singers, writers, artists and their respective stories to which the world worships - then, in their consideration of the idols as true and real, participate by creating and sharing their enactments and reenactments with the Tumblr community. On this site, there are almost an endless amount of individuals’ journeys into the stories which they hold dear, expressed in art, photography, videography, writing, and composition. It is perhaps one of the Internet’s most vast libraries of people participating in myth in the same place.

I believe that the community’s pure worship of culture sets an example to the follower of Christ for the magnitude and elaborance to which the Christian should participate in the myth and mystery of Christ. Followers of Christ should, likewise to this community, experience God as deeply as the Tumblr community experiences culture, and should participate in art as a ritual to be united with the Holy One.

The Healing of the Dragon in Voyage of the Dawn Treader

"Then the lion said—but I don't know if it spoke—You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.

"The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know—if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away."

This passage in Voyage of the Dawn Treader talks about Eustace's experience with receiving healing from Aslan, turning from a dragon into a boy again.

God in love dries up the unclean stream, and withers the unfruitful tree, and empties the corrupted temple, and takes the destruction that the enemy has ushered into the world - the way he has enticed us to drink poison, murder our brother, and lie our way to personal glory and gain - and dies for all.  Even if the sin was petty - He died for it. Even if we committed it a thousand times - He died for it. God in love empties to fill again. He allows our shaky structures of where we think we will find our safety to collapse - and He catches us. He dethrones our idols to take His rightful place on the throne of our hearts. He clothes us in robes of righteousness and gives us a ring to betroth Himself to us forever. But we forget that before he does that, he must strip off what we clothed ourselves in previously. God in love does not settle for less than a complete transformation of our hearts - from the inside out. And it feels as if we’re losing everything.

I’m learning that this Love is costly, but there is so much to gain.

Willingness to Wrongness in The Great Divorce

I think a willingness to be wrong is very important - in both characters and reality - to understand God and connect with him, and while Ransom has shortcomings based on his fear, he is also willing to have his fears proven wrong. I think a key component of a life lived in obedience to God is regarding His sovereignty enough to realize that one might be wrong about things more often than not. He expounds upon this in The Great Divorce, in a conversation between a very fearful woman and a very joyful spirit:

“Oh, of course. I’m wrong. Everything I say or do is wrong, according to you.”

“But of course!” said the Spirit, shining with love and mirth so that my eyes were dazzled. “We’ve all been wrong! That’s the great joke. There’s no need to go on pretending one was right! After that we begin living."

There is so much freedom and joy in knowing that you were wrong in the upside-down kingdom of heaven.

Thoughts on Perelandra

Thoughts on Perelandra

12/10/2016

One scene that I really enjoyed reading was the scene when Ransom first arrives in Perelandra and eats the yellow fruit. The first thing that I love about this scene is that the taste of the fruit is unlike anything that our world could understand because it is outside what we know as reality. While on earth we only see what is before us and we do not often really consider that true reality is not just what we see and experience---we do not consider that it is far beyond what we may comprehend in daily life.

The second thing that I love about this scene is that for some reason Ransom does not feel as if he should taste the fruit again, even though he really wants to. This really resonated with me because I have had this same sense before; sometimes when I experience something very beautiful I want to leave it as just that individual experience so that it somehow doesn’t change or become less beautiful the second time around. I love this too because I feel like it supports the idea that it is okay to experience something beautiful just once. Our society often takes what is beautiful and tries to squeeze as much of that beauty out as possible. We don’t like letting go of wonderful things, but I think this scene expresses the idea that it can be very good and even better to let go at times.

True Love is Free

"True love can hold you close.
True love can let you go."

It only makes sense that false love ensnares and traps. Is this not what the enemy does with our trials and struggles? Does he not tie us down, hold on to us with iron grip and digging fingernails, and then inspire us to do the same with our friendships, our lovers, and our money? Our bags of chips from the vending machine? Our energy? Our time?

Looking back on the path behind me, so many of my darkest, coldest moments towards God and others have been when I, out of “love” for something, have held onto it so tightly that I couldn’t cling to Jesus’ freedom-truth instead. A lot of times what I hold onto is my own pride. 

God’s love is so very counter-cultural. He, out of pure love, chooses to let us have pure love of our own towards Him. This means He has to give us the freedom to either hold Him close or let Him go. 

So he does. He lets us fly free like sparrows, earnestly longing that we come to understanding that we’re safest where we truly belong with Him.

But the freedom must be, so when/if we do come back to Him, all of the prodigal love is true. True hope of redemption only resides in friendships when this love wins.

Eustace Scrubb's Conflicted Feelings in Voyage of the Dawn Treader

"In spite of the pain, his first feeling was one of relief. There was nothing to be afraid of any more. He was a terror himself now and nothing in the world but a knight (and not all of those) would dare to attack him. He could get even with Caspian and Edmund now——

But the moment he thought this he realised that he didn't want to. He wanted to be friends. He wanted to get back among humans and talk and laugh and share things. He realised that he was a monster cut off from the whole human race. An appalling loneliness came over him. He began to see that the others had not really been fiends at all. He began to wonder if he himself had been such a nice person as he had always supposed. He longed for their voices. "

This passage is from when Eustace is turned into a dragon and realizes it for the first time. His heart is in such an evil place that he is, at first, glad that this happened to him. As far as we know of Eustace so far, his heart's desire is to be by himself, and to have control over everyone, and essentially be allowed to be in a bad mood whenever he wants to and have people bend and submit to his own feelings. To be turned into a dragon is wonderful! He no longer has to do what other people want him to do. It is what he wanted all along. This is his flesh within him speaking. He has lived by his flesh for his whole life.

But then something else within him rebels against all that he has previously known, and he comes to a place of realization of what he really wants in his core - something that would require humility, but something that is ultimately greater than anything he can do on his own. This longing is the beginning of his redemption because he seeks it out eventually, but the initial longing is overwhelming.

Thoughts on the Movie Shadowlands

Thoughts on the Movie Shadowlands

12/9/16

I very much appreciated that we watched this movie in class because I frankly knew very little about Lewis’ personal story before. I was very moved by the movie and I was also very surprised; I was most surprised by how Lewis did not like to focus on pain. I have never had a difficult time focusing on pain that I am feeling --- I feel very aware of it and I do not mind facing it head on --- but I know many people who do have a difficult time with this. Because I already feel like I am aware that there is value in recognizing pain, I think a part of the movie where Lewis sort of defends his mentality really caught my attention. When Joy at first addressed the fact that Lewis did not like to focus or talk about painful memories, Lewis said something to the effect of “It doesn’t have to be painful in order to be profound.” I think this is very true and very important to keep in mind. Joyful, free, and beautiful times are equally as profound as intense and difficult times---they are just different. When I am experiencing something beautiful, I want to pause more, and recognize the importance of enjoying that moment.

Student's Topic - Overthinking

Student's Topic 3

Thoughts inspired by "On Stories" by C.S. Lewis
12/9/16

I am a Christian and I came to know the Lord when I was eleven. I am a person  who overthink and over-complicates things far too often---this includes my relationship with God. Sometimes when I am going through a part of my walk with the Lord that feels really difficult, I feel as if I am really far from God and that I think in order to be “closer” with God again that something really complicated or dramatic needs to happen. This is not reality; reality is that I need to love the Lord, bring my sins and burdens to him, let him do work inside of me, and obey him when he directs me. It is difficult me for me to keep sight of the simplicity of faith & grace and so I personally value books like the Chronicles  of Narnia series because something that people often find very complex and difficult to grasp is portrayed in  very simple & relatable way. I think there is value & this & I think it is a wonderful witness to others. I think that there are a lot of Christians today that need this reminder that they do not need to over-complicate or over-think their walks with God.

Desiderio Domini

One of my favorite phrases is “Desiderio Domini”.  It is a latin phrase meaning I long to be with my savior.  The story goes, one day as a young disciple of the apostle Peter and Peter himself were on a walk a rooster crowed in the background.  Peter immediately sank to his knees and began to weep.  Peter wept often and typically the boy held his tongue, however this time he walked over to Peter and asked, “Peter, why do you cry so often?”  Peter, with his face covered in tears, looked up at the boy and replied, “Desiderio Domini.”

The pain that Peter expresses in this story can only be expressed with sehnsucht.  Peter feels a deep, intense and painful longing to be with Christ, though he knows it cannot be fulfilled by this world.

Class Reading--Till We Have Faces

Ashley Frost
Class Reading--Till We Have Faces
Sisters

     In some odd, strange, embarrassing ways I am able to relate to Orual in Till We Have Faces.  I have two beautiful, talented, funny sisters that are loved by many people.  Growing up, it was really hard to not be jealous, especially of my older sister.  In some ways I see myself in Orual...jealous, yet overcome with love for my sister.  I loved her, yet resented her.  I also used to think that my sister's judgement was clouded by the glory around...also similar to Orual and Psyche.  Although my sister wasn't being courted by a god and living in a castle, she was surrounded by a lot of fame (in a way...she is a performer) and was not a believer.  I thought that I could convince her, like Orual thought she could, that it wasn't real and that she needed to see the Truth.  Like Orual, I had a lot to learn about my own character.

The Inklings and perspective

One of my favorite aspects of this class are the different perspectives one gets in class.  Although much of the class comes from the same worldview, everyone see different truths in the test bringing to light elements of the stories I would have never seen reading on my own.  When you read and study in a group, such as this class or the inklings, you are able to learn so much more.  This is part of the beauty of studying literature, it means something different to everyone.  Where in business classes if you interpret something wrong you are wrong.  It is refreshing to have a class where a different perspective is a different answer, not a wrong answer.  Working with the whole class brings more value and knowledge.

The Lewis of Shadowlands

I really enjoyed the Shadowlands movie, but I am now curious how well the character of Lewis was portrayed.  Possibly because of the stories I have heard such as filling his study with smoke or from the stories he wrote, I have always imagined Lewis having an almost childlike mischievous personality.  His stories are deep and intelligent yet speak so well to children, I find it hard to believe these came from a stern man, such as the one portrayed in shadowlands.  Rarely do you find a stern person with such an imaginative mind.  I think the movie missed on portraying the character of Lewis.

Regret of Myth

As I read through the assigned essays such as, Myth Became Fact, On Fairy-Stories and The Narrative Paradigm I was filled with frustration.  I despised mythology in highschool because I found it pointless.  I never understood why we studied thousand of year old writings that seemed to have no relevance today.  As is the case for most highschoolers there was no explanation of why it was important to know these stories, they respond to the question “Why are we reading this?” was always “Because it is a classic.”  Since a young age I have gravitated toward non-fiction stories.  If I was reading a fiction work I wanted to understand the relevance, beyond it just being “a classic.”  Since this class I wish I could go back and pay more attention as we studied these myths.  I believe if they showed the value of myth in high school before it was taught, more students would see the value and show interest in the subject.

Parables and the Narrative Paradigm

The Narrative Paradigm shows the power of story.  This is woven throughout the Bible.  Most of the Bible is made up of individual stories and the majority of Jesus teaching was done through parables or short stories.  No only does a story, myth or parable,  help us to better see the value in a lesson, we remember story better.  Facts take memorization, but story naturally sticks with us, although the words exactly may fade the lesson will stay.  I remember very little from and 8th grade latin class, but can tell you exactly what the books I was read as a young child were about.  How would the lessons that Lewis portrays through his myth differ if they were not told through story?  Would the parables of Jesus have less value and be less understood?

Man Search for Meaning and the Four Loves

In Man’s Search for Meaning Frankl wrote, “Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality.  No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized.”  Victor Frankl is touching on two of Lewis’ loves in his book The Four Loves.  First Frankl is expressing the idea of appreciative love in that one can appreciate the human for who he is.  Frankl ends with a different sort of love, a friendship love.  One which brings out a trait or a truth in the other.  Lewis book on the loves expresses lessons and truths that can be seen throughout different literature.

Paul and Sehnsucht

Paul often speaks to the concept of Sehnsucht in the book of Philippians.  With verses such as “For me, to live is Christ to die is gain.”  Paul expresses his longing for to be with his savior.  He recognizes this longing is nothing that can be fulfilled in this world while apart from his lord and savior.  He can live for Christ in this world, but his longing can only be fulfilled in the next.  Paul possibly more than any other person in the Bible expresses the concept of sehnsucht throughout his writings.

Alive and the Tao

The book Alive follows the story of a Uruguayan rugby team who crash lands in the Andes.  The team was stranded for 10 weeks in unbearably cold conditions.  With little food they players quickly resort to cannibalizing those who died in the crash in order to survive.  After 5 weeks of these horrific conditions one dying teammate wrote a letter to his parents saying, “In situations such as this, even reason cannot understand the infinite and absolute power of God over men.  I have never suffered as I do now - physically and morally - though I have never believed in Him so much.”  This powerful letter recognizes what Lewis would call the Tao.  That there is an absolute truth that is irrelevant to condition or personal belief.  This struggling man recognizes that there is truth beyond him, that just because of a horrific condition this truth does not change.

Newspeak and Story

My favorite book in high school was 1984. I was fascinated with the idea of Newspeak, restricting language to avoid the thought of the idea.  This idea is in conflict with ideas from Walter Fishers “The Narrative Paradigm.”  The Narrative Paradigm discusses how men communicate through story.  This causes a problem for 1984’s concept of newspeak.  If we communicate primarily through story it would not be the restriction of particular emotion words that keep us from expressing that emotion, it would be through the restriction of the stories that portray that emotion.  If one hears the word hope there is no meaning to it, unless one can relate that word to a story either personal or otherwise that expresses that emotion. The restriction of empty words does nothing if the stories are still around to express the emotion.  Walter Fisher better understood, it is not the words but the meaning behind them that have true meaning.

Till We Have Faces, Orual's Judgement

The god of myth and truth listens to Orual tell her story.  He sits patiently as she tells of her love for Psyche.  When she finishes, the god speaks up in a powerful voice and tells the queen a story.  “Once upon a time there were two brothers, the sons of a poor peasant.  One day the elder of the two happened up a pouch of gold.  The boy wished to return home and share his fortune with his family, but upon returning his brother accused him of stealing the fortune.  The older son was devastated and fled the town.  He settled in the next town over where he spent his fortune on a beautiful boat.  Years later the younger brother after learning the truth went to apologize to his older, but the older brother had been too hurt and would not return home to his family.  The younger brother greatly missed his sibling, and knew how to get him to return.  So that night he snuck out and destroyed everything his older brother owned.  Stealing his siblings happiness in order to force him to return home.”  When the story was finished the god turned to Orual asking, “Who is guilty?”  Orual quickly replied, “Of course it is the younger.”  The God replied, “You are correct.  And just as the younger brother selfishly stole his siblings happiness, so have you done the same to Psyche.”  The God declared her guilty.

Till We Have Faces, affection

In the Four loves Lewis describes the love of affection as a jealous love.  He states, “If we try to live by Affection alone, affection will ‘go bad on us’.”  This is what happens to Orual’s love for Psyche.  It is not a pure love, it is selfish.  Orual wishes Psyche to be happy only if that happiness is dependant on Orual herself. I believe this is why Orual convinces Psyche to discover who her husband is.  Although there may be a hint of true concern, at the heart of it Orual was jealous.  If her true only desire was for Psyche’s happiness, she would not have been concerned with how that happened.  However she couldn't stand that Psyche was happy with someone other than herself.

The Space Trilogy, A part of the story

“It is at any rate essential to a genuine fairy-story … that it should be presented as ‘true’.”  

- Tolkien, On Fairy-Stories

Lewis is a master at placing the reader in the story.  First he opens his myth on earth in a familiar location, such as near London in “Out of the Silent Planet.”  However he does not stop there.  The opening lines of the book put un in the story.  We can feel the struggle of the traveler (Ransom) as he searches for a place to say.  We can feel the heavy shoulders and sense the darkness.  Lewis does this through his perfect description targeted not just at the sights, but also the sounds, emotions and smells.  He places you in the story as if you are the character or as if you are at least observing the events take place.  This makes the story come to life, captivating the reader.  This gives the story so much more tangibility than a “once upon a time” or “in a galaxy far far away”  these famous, but problematic beginnings have already alienated the reader.  Lewis starts with the real and leads to the fantastical, where the character is just a surprised at the events as the reader.  The realness of Lewis’ stories, helps to engage the reader and add excitement to the story.

The Creation of the Space Trilogy

In reading the Space Trilogy I was intrigued by Lewis’ description of Malacandra aka Mars.  This book was written before man entered space or Sputnik orbited the earth. We often speak in class on how different landscapes present to us different mythical creatures.  I was fascinated by his description of mars because we now know what it looks like.  Much like a book being turned into a play or movie, our exploration of mars and space has limited our imagination in some respects.  We know for example, Mars is a barren surface composed of red rock and little else.  However Lewis describes a very different scene using descriptions such as “a pale blue sky”, “a watercolor world”, “the shore of a lake” and clouds that looked like, “the top of a gigantic red cauliflower.”  Because of these, now known to be ridiculous descriptions, we as the reader no longer see Mars but picture an entirely different world altogether.  I wonder, how would the description of the planets and space would have changed in Lewis’ writing, if the book was written following more space exploration and how would that have changed the overall story?

The Creation of Narnia

My favorite part of all the Narnia books is the creation scene from the Magician's Nephew.  We often spoke in class hour certain landscapes bring about certain creatures.  Lewis brings this to life as he describes Aslan singing the world to life.  The landscape comes first and living things are then born from the earth.  It is not as though aslan is individually creating each animal, then placing them where he thinks they best belong, but each animal emerges from their rightful place.  Just as we imagine giants appearing from mountains, Aslan brought forth life from creation. How would this scene described be different if Aslan created the animals first or if they appeared from thin air.  The magic of this Narnian creation is that life was brought out of the earth.

Class Reading--Narnia 2

Ashley Frost

Class Reading--Narnia #2

Martha and Susan

     Martha from the Bible is similar to Susan Pevensie in many ways. Caring for everyone and making sure their needs are fulfilled is something that both do well. In the book of Luke, a story is told of Martha and her desire to serve the best meal to Jesus and to provide a clean home to him to stay in. In this story, Martha is reprimanded by Jesus for not sitting and listening and communing with Jesus as her sister Mary was. Martha was so focused on taking care of Jesus that she forgot the most basic thing; that He came to serve her. Like Martha, Susan was often overcome with the desire to serve others and to think about the practical side of things. Just like Martha was taught to sit and be in the moment with Jesus, so too did Susan learn to truly immerse herself in Narnia and the relationships that she was building there.  It was hard for her at the beginning of her time in Narnia to not focus on going back home, and to be fearful of creating new memories and connections in Narnia.