"THIS IS THE STORY OF AN ADVENTURE"

For those of you that were following along with the entries from ONS, sorry for bailing on my discipline to blog each day.  I don't feel bad about going this long without posting, but I do regret not taking the time to write from each day of the conference, even if it was just a little bit.  The truth is that so much happened--late nights, early mornings, and long sessions in between--that I shuddered at the idea of sitting down to think at the end of the day.

I don't really like that about myself.  I know that at the end of the day it's normal to feel tired, but often I just feel extra lazy.  Especially when I shirk something that I know to be so rewarding in the long run, such as journaling or blogging about life.  I'd like to try and discipline myself to blog a little more often, now, even just a few thoughts.

That said, I'll briefly tell you that I finished the third installment of Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia today.  Before Caitlin left for the beach a few weeks ago, I encouraged her to start reading the series as well, and just yesterday I found out that she's caught up to the third book already.  I was thus inspired to read some this morning, and was able to finish The Horse and His Boy just after morning coffee with her at Global Village.  And now I remember why I read the series so quickly the first time around.

For me, this is the book that really hooked me.  When I first read the series during my freshman year at State, I was so surprised by the turn taken by the adventures in this book.  I totally ate it up. As the opening line reads, "THIS IS A STORY OF AN ADVENTURE," it doesn't disappoint.  The story is set in a neighboring land to Narnia, but the geography, culture and religion couldn't be more different.  There's even some romantic tension that develops between the star-crossed main characters, which is always good to get me invested in a story :)

Looking forward, I might skip Prince Caspian in my series re-run.  I know that I soldiered through the second book on a count of purism, but I just re-read this fourth book before the recent adaptation was released on the silver screen.  It's not that I didn't enjoy the book, in fact I always remember it fondly as Andy's favorite.  It's just that I REALLY love The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, number five.  In case you haven't read it, it's a tale of the high seas--epic adventure with classic characters.  I don't remember exactly why I loved it so much, but I know that was before I even worked at Camp Don Lee and have hence developed a love for sailing.  I don't get to enjoy it all that often now that my three summers at camp have passed--it's not my kind of but I rarely pass up the chance when I get it. (This even worked its way out in Madison during ONS!  Courtney, Abby, Doug and I got to rent a small boat and really soak up the sun on a relaxing Sabbath day.  Well, mostly relaxing, haha.  I can tell you another time.)

Okay, I've convinced myself now to skip right to this book.  The only problem is that I just arrived in my mom's hometown of Lincolnton, NC, and I didn't have the presence of mind to grab it off Josh's shelf before I left Raleigh.  I'll be here for a few days doing fund development, and I could definitely get some good reading done.  I think an early morning trip to North State Books is in order.  It's the best used bookstore here in town, and it's right on the court square.  I'll be able to grab the book, snag a good cup of coffee a few doors down,  and then enjoy the beautiful NC summer weather!

"ONCE THERE WERE FOUR CHILDREN"

Today I start reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the second installment of C. S. Lewis' classic fantasy series.  The first book was a quick read, but it was great to go back and enjoy some parts that I had forgotten.  The first time I read The Magician's Nephew, I was so excited to read the entire series that I probably didn't give the first book quite the depth of read that it merits.  I had completely forgotten about the iconic scene of temptation at the climax of the plot.  In good allegorical form, it's complete with images of a mysterious garden, a sacred apple tree, and a character's test of faith.  I'll share with you one of my favorite parts, and one that I actually remembered from the first time around.  This is an excerpt from the scene where the two children, Digory and Polly (along with a few other characters) witness the founding of Narnia--a passage which serves as a beautiful, loose parallel to the creation story from Genesis.

 (We pick up this story in the middle of a dispute.  The characters have just stumbled into a darkness, presumably death itself.  The Witch says "This is an empty world.  This is Nothing."  The dispute is about which course of action is the best to follow next...)

"Hush!" said the Cabby.  They all listened.

In the darkness something was happening at last.  A voice had begun to sing.  It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction it was coming.  Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once.  Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them.  Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself.  There were no words.  There was hardly even a tune.  But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard.  It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it...

...Then two wonders happened at the same moment.  One was that the voice was suddenly joined by other voice; more voices than you could possibly count.  They were in harmony with it, but far higher up the scale:  cold, tingling, silvery voices.  The second wonder was that the blackness overhead, all at once, was blazing with stars.  They didn't come out gently one by one, as they do on a summer evening.  One moment there had been nothing but darkness; next moment a thousand, thousand points of light leaped out--single stars, constellations, and planets, brighter and bigger than any in our world.  There were no clouds.  The new stars and the new voices began at exactly the same time.  If you had seen and heard it, as Digory did, you would have felt quite certain that it was the stars themselves which were singing, and that it was the First Voice, the deep one, which had made them appear and made them sing.

There's a lot more to this passage that I've left out.  It takes up about two chapters, so I figure I'll leave more of the mystery for you to enjoy yourself.  I would recommend this book as a light summer read, even just for the enjoyment and imaginative picture of the passage I just sampled for you.  And if you're looking for an easy series to get wrapped-up in for a few weeks (or however long you like to make it) then start with this one.

As for me, I'm on to book number two.  It's the one that most are familiar with, and I was tempted to skip it.  My memory tells me that I really loved the third book, but this morning my purism got the best of me, and I decided to read through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe despite my familiarity.  It shouldn't take too long, and normally a re-read proves to be pretty rewarding.  We'll see!

I can't resist.  Here are the final words of the founding of Narnia, spoken by Aslan the lion, revealed to be the source of "the First Voice, the deep one."

"Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake.  Love.  Think.  Speak.  Be walking trees.  Be talking beasts.  Be divine waters."

"THIS IS A STORY ABOUT SOMETHING"

The first line of The Magician's Nephew, the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia.  Here's the full first paragrah:

"THIS IS A STORY ABOUT SOMETHING that happened long ago when your grandfather was a child.  It is a very important story because it shows how all the comings and goings between our own world and the land of Narnia first began."

This series by C.S. Lewis first captivated me during my freshman year of college.  I'm really excited to say that today I start reading them again.  I can't wait to see again how Lewis paints images that reflect our relationship with the Father, this time with four more years of life experience.  I've learned a lot about myself, life, and God since then, but I also know that these books will activate part of my childlike imagination that sometimes I really miss using.  Some of you might scoff, wondering if I ever use anything other than a childlike imagination, but sometimes I just feel too grown-up for my own good.  I'm anticipating some fun, though stimulating summer reading.  Anyway, here goes.

PS - Join me in reading!  Especially if you've never read them before, or you have but it's been a long time--I'd love to talk about the books and about life with you.  I promise it will be fun.  If you really want to go old school with me, we can drink tea and smoke pipes as we read, paying homage to Clive Staples Lewis, himself.  (Austin, we can substitute coffee if that'll get you to read with me.  Or beer, for that matter!)

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough
or a book long enough to suit me."

 - C. S. Lewis