Bombadil and Smith

Well, I'm going to try explaining what I hinted at in my last post. Essentially, Tom Bombadil struck me just the other day as being rather like a wildly jolly and unpredictable man named Innocent Smith in G. K. Chesterton's book Manalive! Here are some similarities they share:

• big man, but able to move quickly and nimbly
• laughs at danger and evil
• mysterious and enigmatic
  
• wears brightly-colored clothes
  
• possesses quite a hat
  
• would go to the ends of the earth for his wife (to court her again or fetch water lilies)
• seems to arrive at the right time to help in a way that wasn't expected

If anyone else has read both and would like to add to the comparison or mention contrasts, be my guest! If you haven't, I recommend both books highly. Manalive! really is a fun book, especially worth reading with someone. And I'm in the middle of The Fellowship of the Ring at the moment, which is as always wonderful in more ways than I can say. But I'll save that for another post. :-)

A Chestertonian Christmas Poem

G. K. Chesterton was a great Christian writer who not only influenced the Inklings, but might even be a match for C. S. Lewis's wit and Tolkien's humor. I know I've mentioned him before and I shall again, perhaps very soon. (I have a theory about one of his characters getting into LotR, but I'll save that for later.) I present to you now, for your delight and wonder, a poem he wrote that is fitting for this special night:


The House of Christmas

There fared a mother driven forth
Out of an inn to roam;
In the place where she was homeless
All men are at home.
The crazy stable close at hand,
With shaking timber and shifting sand,
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand
Than the square stones of Rome.

For men are homesick in their homes,
And strangers under the sun,
And they lay their heads in a foreign land
Whenever the day is done.
Here we have battle and blazing eyes,
And chance and honor and high surprise,
But our homes are under miraculous skies
Where the yule tale was begun.

A Child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost - how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky's dome.

This world is wild as an old wife's tale,
And strange the plain things are,
The earth is enough and the air is enough
For our wonder and our war;
But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings
And our peace is put in impossible things
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings
Round an incredible star.

To an open house in the evening
Home shall all men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.


For those who read my blog and haven't talked to me recently (or ever) in real life, yes, I did graduate. Hurrah, and thanks be to God! I'll do more regular catching up on my doings soon. :-)

The glory of glorifying the Glorious One

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
~Polonius, from Hamlet~

This is my last week of regular classes. Next week is finals, and finally a week from tomorrow I shall graduate with my English degree. It has been wild, but it's already exciting to get to see small glimpses of the God's mighty plan behind and under and through it all. To Him be all the glory, for my grades, sanity, and so so much more!

I did not finish my NaNoWriMo novel. 15,000 out of 50,000 words was not bad for a first try, I think. I am definitely planning to try again next year. I refuse to be depressed and gloomy about my budding pages. The characters I met are alive and vibrant (to me, anyways), and the place they live is only frozen in time until I can get back there and finish writing their story. I intend to do it, and many more stories besides! Thanks to all who were encouraging me last month. The only reason I keep writing is because of you. And, of course, God. :-)

He's been working on me these last few days.

Monday was a horrid day. I woke up grumpy because I hadn't finished all my homework, so I rushed through an assignment, left a messy room, and was late to my first class. Then I found I had left my book at home and could only pretend to work on an in-class activity. By my next class, I felt ready to burst into tears, so I skipped it, which made me feel guilty on top of everything else.

It was not even any one thing that had me depressed. Maybe my pile of four papers, a creative project, and studying for a test for next week was a huge part of it. Maybe it was the ice on my windshield. Maybe it was the fact that I missed my morning cup of coffee. Anyway, I ended up with a headache, and after supper took a nap, which is usually the most effective medicine for me.

Around midnight I woke up. Headache was gone and replaced with such a comfortable cozy and relaxed feeling that I gave into it and went back to sleep. But I got up around 4:45 a.m., did my Bible reading, journaled, and finally cleaned my room while listening to the MP3 of Raising Dragons. The rest of the day (besides class time) I spent finding addresses, agonizing over proper forms of address, and carefully writing both on my graduation announcements.

After I finished late that night, it was such a satisfying feeling.

And then I watched the Prince Caspian trailer that was just released. :-) Not as thrilling and satisfying as watching the first one, and I might say something about my Puddleglum-ish complaints on it later. There are several weighty ones. But it was a small taste of what still might be a wonderful Narnia film, and I went to bed content.

That morning when I woke up I realized a small part of what God had done. He had used a headache, a messy room, and my act of writing announcements to remind me that I am not Him. I get too upset when I realize I can't do everything perfect, when I should remember that only He has that job covered. Papers too will pass away. Only His Word and people will endure (not that people are immortal on earth, but they will never cease to exist wherever they end up). What a relief to remember that! And it wasn't just remembering factually, in my brain: it was a huge perspective change.

I think doing the announcements was a huge part. I sometimes wonder if I am more encouraged when I send things to other people than they will be to get them. :) In this case it was just a plain announcement. But it made me think about other people, and my smallness, and my joy overflowed with the thought of God's hand.

God is bigger than the boogy man... and bigger than scary papers. All glory be to Him!

Thanksgiving and such

Here's a picture of a few members of two clans having breakfast at our house on Thursday. :-)

We have had a blessed Thanksgiving (and surrounding days)! Every good and perfect gift is indeed from God, and He has been gracious to me and my family in many ways this year. We had our dear friends from New Mexico come down to spend a few nights, and ((except for Sam, who we missed very much but spent time with good friends in Iowa) it was the first time in years that all us kids were together! Emmy, the 7-month-old newest addition, who they are in the process of adopting, was often the life of the party! Huge black eyes, and forever finding string, crumbs, and unidentified objects to put in her mouth.

As always there was tons of food, both the formal meal type from "the meal" and the fun snacking sort. Coffee was quaffed by the potfulls, tea and hot chocolate coming in close behind. We've had an almost constant fire in the hearth, which old fat Bella enjoys as much as the people do. What all did we do with our dear friends besides eat? Well, we talked, played board games, played parlor games, played instruments (see above) and sang, did homework (a few of us desperate ones did it together, and it was actually a bit sociable and productive both!), read quietly, read aloud from our collected novels (finished and un) , watched too many silly videos on YouTube, did dishes, watched The Muppet Show, played in snow, made snow ice cream, watched Amazing Grace, wondered what to do next, and of course spoke in accents. Altogether, it was a regular get-together for our families, if a bit more crowded than usual. But no less quirky and edifying! :-)

The "Winter Weather Advisory" grey on the left, spreading conveniently right where I would drive, is why I shall not return to school until tomorrow, after the storm has moved on and the temperature, sun, and traffic help melt any ice. I've hardly missed any classes this semester, so I shan't feel very guilty about skipping a day.

Meanwhile, I'm quite content to plug away here at homework, which at the moment consists of reading Little Women for American Literature. :-) Quite different from my normal depressing school fare! I also need to read King Lear, though shall refuse to let it spoil my cheeriness.

Only two more weeks of school, then Finals week, and then in less than a month I shall be a graduated English major, ready to get down to the serious business of writing, homemaking, serving, and seeking the Lord in a new season of life!

Pendragon: Sword of His Father

I love seeing Christians doing things in the arts well. Even more, I grow excited when they do not just go with their talents into the secular realm, but band together to do big, ambitious things well for Christ. A candle is bright, but many candles make a more powerful bonfire.

So I was thrilled to see the trailer of an upcoming film made by very talented and dedicated Christians, called Pendragon: Sword of His Father. A historical retelling of the story of Arthur, it focuses on young Briton named Artos Pendragon, who must bring hope to his people as he leads them against invading Saxons.

I love historical films, especially with plenty of courageous, virtuous men and women, and I'm drawn rather especially to anything remotely medieval (i.e. Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, and such have the right flavor, though they aren't technically set in our own medieval time period). Even watching the trailer...um...several times... is exciting! It looks great. Parts look rather low-budget (which it is), but nevertheless I think I could get lost in the story quite easily. :-) I wish I could have been an extra or involved somehow- talk about having too much fun dressing up! ;)

Their website is here, and a large version of the trailer is here (it does take a while to load, so if you'd rather, see the smaller but faster one on the website). My dear penpal, Charity, told me about this Pendragon film earlier, but sadly I didn't get around to looking into it until now. What I was missing!

(Pictures are from the website blog)

Since people have been asking...

Alrighty, the story thus far is posted to my new blog! Though I didn't want to, I decided I must make it fairly private, because (with quite a bit of revising), I just might try to publish the basic plot. If you'd like to read it, tell me your e-mail address and who your are, and if I'm certain you won't run off with all my ideas, I'll send you an invite. Those of you who might read this but don't really know me or think that sounds like too much trouble, don't worry. I'm fond of my own story, of course, but it's a monster of unedited rambling. If you wait for the published version to come out in a few years it will be much nicer. Then you can carry the story on camping trips or or up into trees.

Coming Soon!

Well, I went to sleep last night (rather by accident...;) before quite catching up on words for NaNo. But I'm about there. Thanks for the plea for more, Charity, and thanks to all the Istres last night for supplying me with fabulous names for characters. (Thanks to Mr. Istre, there will probably be a Phineas showing up somewhere!) As soon as I get home tonight and can finish up a scene, I plan to share it with you. :-) You'll be able to find it by going to my profile, and then going to the new blog I created called (tentatively):

~ The Thistlebanes and Elanor Grey ~

I'm so excited! I had an epiphany about the main plot over the last few days, so the string of events I've been coming up with may actually go somewhere now! ;-D

NaNo Begins!

Call me crazy if you like. It's an accurate statement. ;)

On Thursday, November 1, I embarked on the great adventure called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writer's Month), the challenge to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. The purpose is quantity quantity quantity, practice, and loads of crazy fun. I'm on day 5, am hooked.

I'm already attached to my main characters, so far including
1. The Thistlebanes, a homeschool family that owns a coffee/book shop
2. Sandra Page, a professor at the community college who lives next door
3. Elanor Grey, a mysterious girl who moves in with Sandra Page and struggles to adjust
4. Another mysterious character (Muhahah! These are always useful, and plan on having plenty!), a man, who is snooping around the Thistlebane shop

Do I have my plot worked out? Ah, no. Ideas? ... maybe. ;-D Yes, I definitly have ideas, but hey, my main characters don't know who the bad guys are either. I'll find out when they do, possibly sooner. Hopefully sooner. :)


I'm not sure I've ever been so amused by or taken such great pleasure in corny lines and nutty similes of my own. I let them out to sit solemnly on the page, in hopes that when enough come out, their shyer relatives, the rare Original Phrases

If anyone would like to see the whole funny bulky thing, I might start another connected blog for that. Let me know. In the meanwhile, here's a few snippets for your amusement.

~~~

After the older children left the shop with her husband, Mary Thistlebane bustled about at the pleasant necessities of morning. After her quiet time, this included waking the three youngest boys, tempting them out with news of fresh cinnamon rolls after they did their morning chores.

"Mommy, can we go on a walk today?" asked Henry, who was heartily supported by choruses of, "Yes, Mommy, to the woods!" and "We can take our cimmonin wolls!"

"And your schoolbooks?" She grinned and tickled Henry, producing giggles.

“We can do that stuff later,” decided Jacob.

“No!” Jarred jumped in now. “Mommy, can you read to us while we eat?”

Mary laughed. “I think that sounds like a wonderful plan, Jarred. I tell you what. Why don’t we do a bit of everyone’s plan?”

So after chores, they trooped out to the front of the porch, which was wide and wrapped around the whole house. It was amply supplied with wooden rocking chairs, a swing, and a picnic table, but the three boys thought it would be “funnest” to not use any of this civilized grown-up stuff. They promptly spread out the blanket on the smooth wooden planks, half of it overflowing down the steps to the walkway. Jarred had the idea of pillows. Soon their spread of various quilts and cushions would have rivaled a sheik’s tent in luxury. Then with Henry bearing the bag of schoolbooks (reluctantly), Jacob with a small tray of sloshing milk-filled glasses, Jarred with napkins and pencils, they led their mother out to see their set-up. She was carrying the plate of steaming rolls, of course, crusty and brown.

~~~

I think my words flow out most quickly and pleasantly when I'm describing food. ;) Here's another bit, this time a bit more ominous...

~~~

Roger was bringing out an extra tray of chicken sandwiches to the front when a strange customer caught his eye. Not that a well-groomed man in a business suit was anything unusual. His starkly black-and-white peppered hair was what mainly drew Roger’s attention. But the first really odd thing was what happened after Beth welcomed him at her register with a cheery, “Hello, sir. What would you like today?”

He didn’t speak for an uncomfortable moment. It was not one of those customer silences of “Goodness, shall I order an Earl Grey in a delightful antique cup and saucer, or a hearty brew of fresh-ground coffee in a splendidly plump earthen mug?” Roger knew, and knew Beth did also, that this was not one of those pauses. The man was looking into Beth’s eyes in a way that made Roger decide to stay up front for a bit to arrange the displayed cups and mugs better.

“I hope you don’t mind my asking,” the man finally said in a decidedly northern accent, as well as in a way that said decidedly he decidedly wanted an answer, “but has school not started yet around here?”

“Which school do you mean, sir? Shadow Ridge college starts today, I believe.”

“Of course. And the public and private schools?

“Most of them started two weeks ago.”

The man nodded. He glanced at Roger, who smiled politely.

“We go to a school that is in session year-round,” Beth provided. “Some might think it’s for misfits, but actually you’d be surprised at the silly number of over-achievers who attend.”

She said this entirely straight-faced. Roger knew their father might not like all this volunteered information given to a nosy stranger, but Beth was in the habit of thinking up such great responses to people’s questions about school that always made Roger want to laugh.

“Does this school not meet today?” the man prodded.

“Sir, it does indeed. We work here to fulfill some business management and economic credits. It also helps pay tuition.” She smiled primly at the man, who smiled back and ordered a coffee and sandwich.

The moment Beth looked down at the register to ring up the order, Roger saw the man frown. It was only a slight squinting around the grey eyes, subtle lines etching a hair deeper into the forehead, and a tightening around the lips. But sophisticated as it was, Roger saw it. It was not the usual confused expression most of the victims of Beth’s humor wore. This man, Roger decided, was not fooled by clever talk.

When he had his coffee and sandwich, he sat at a window table near the corner. He ate with the efficiency of a machine, but slow and deliberate. After every third careful bite of sandwich and slow draw of coffee, he peered out onto the street. The rest of the time his eyes crept about the shop, from table to table to wall to counter to the opposite end where the bookshelves began to blend in with chairs. Roger even saw his eyes rise to the ceiling, though his head barely lifted.

And then his eyes were fixed on Roger...

~~~

Dun dun duuuun... ;) I hope you enjoyed these little snippets. Do have a wonderfully blessed day. Now I'm off to write more!

Sonnet and Shadow

A fruitful class: We read sonnets in my Shakespeare class last week, so a few nights ago I decided to finally write a sonnet of my own. I've wanted to do this for some time. Sonnets have a pleasant, unstilted rhythm because iambic pentameter is close to the way we naturally speak, which may be why I found mine easier to write than I expected! Still, I'm not quite satisfied with all the lines, so any suggestions or comments would be welcome.

On content: I've been thinking lately about how little we can know about what's inside another person, and the joys and perils that fact presents. This sonnet helped me think through and see things that hadn't occurred to me before.


Known

Does shadow lure because it is unknown,
Not evil-stained for all to see and mark,
Nor is it stamped with virtue, clearly shown,
But holds itself enshrouded, secrets dark?
Can it be right for good to hide its face,
For servant heart to work beneath the floor?
Why can we not draw out to light the base,
Monsters unmask, all foulness to abhor?
Why can we not know deepest depths of heart?
"It would be simple, thus, to judge," we deem.
Yet so fell man, by grasping for that part;
In never was ours first to grant esteem.
For God was wronged, He fully knows my sin,
Yet sees first Christ, my only Good within.

A different sort of publisher

I came across a new publishing company called Marcher Lord Press from a link on Bryan Davis' blog. Their purpose is to publish Christian speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, time travel, ect.), the books that are intriguing and well-written and lie outside the boundaries of normal Christian-bookstore fluff. Well, they don't call it fluff. But it's for those who like to read things other than romantic historical fiction. I'm excited to see what they'll release first! And I'll have to remember this publisher when I finish a certain manuscript...

Theology Thoughts: Two Calls

As some of you know, I've been thinking about theology lately (in between Shakespeare and Benjamin Franklin and depressing World Lit books... or rather, during all these, which gets interesting). I am very out of practice in thinking logically, boldly, and humbly, all at once. So I want to use some blog posts to explain and wrestle with some thoughts and concepts and seeming confusing conundrums. Sometimes I might just post a quote or verse or idea that made me think. Here's something I read today I found interesting...

John Piper on God's General vs. Effectual Call:

"But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24) but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." Notice carefully that Paul preaches Christ to Jews and Gentiles indiscriminately. In that sense all are called. But that is not the sense in which Paul uses the word. He says that out from among those who hear the general call there are those who are "called." And the difference is that those who are called in this narrower sense stop regarding Christ as a stumbling block and as folly. Instead they regard him as the power of God and the wisdom of God. Verse 24: "But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [becomes] the power of God and the wisdom of God."

The call of God that Paul has in mind is not like the call of a pet: "Here Blackie. Here Blackie. Come on girl." Blackie may or may not come. The call of God is like the call of Jesus to the corpse of Lazarus: "Lazarus, come forth!" The call contains the power to produce what it commands. It is an effectual call. That is why Paul can say in Romans 8:30 that all "those who are called are justified." The certainty of their justification lies in the fact that the faith by which men are justified is produced by the effectual call of God.

From this sermon by John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

Besides these two types of calling, there are other areas where God does something general and specific. General revelation is what everyone knows about God, as He has revealed Himself through nature. But it is the special revelation of the Bible that reveals Him most truly. There are the general gifts of grace and lovingkindness He sheds abroad to all His creation (rain, sunshine, air, etc.), but there is also a specific lovingkindness for his children that is so much more, which is salvation and all-satisfying joy through Christ. Everyone gets the general. Only a few the specific.

So, how do we know the difference between these general and specific things in Scripture? What are the implications of there being a difference at all?

Hmm. I must get back to my paper Shakespeare paper, but hope to think and write more soon. In the meantime, I welcome your thoughts! :-)

Not-so-everyday News

Because it's so great. :-)
(For more, see the whole series of reports here.)

Authenticity Quotes

Here are some quotes that stuck out to me from a recent Boundless article:

We long for reality, even fake reality.

One irony in our culture is that, for all of our praise for "spontaneity" and "radical free choice," we are remarkably conformist. In a way, we are conformist in practice (all wearing jeans) while being nonconformist in principles (believing widely contrary ideas about honesty). Yet we should be personally flexible but morally predictable. We should agree on important values and then apply them in wide-ranging, freedom-inspired ways.

Authenticity practices a gracious honesty, and it takes wisdom to know when is the best time to say the fullness of what we think and feel.

Authenticity doesn't mean we never act insincerely. This sounds rather odd, but "pretending" is, at times, essential, inevitable, and ethical. In Faking It, William Ian Miller acknowledges that although insincerity conjures up many negative connotations, "I am not a hypocrite ... for pretending to find interesting what is dull, ... [n]or am I a hypocrite for putting on a somber face at the news of the untimely death of a person I didn't especially care for."

"Let us pretend in order to make the pretense into a reality." ~C. S. Lewis~

Again doth life speed on apace!

Recently in the life and times of Rael:

• Returned to Abilene for my last semester as a senior English major
• Had a tea party on my bedroom floor with one creative mom and four lively kids
• Began 4 college classes (World Lit, American Lit, Shakespeare, and Lifetime Wellness)
• Watched LotR (the extended edition, of course, in 1-disk-per-morning/night installments) with S and Mrs. I.
• Began walking almost every morning on a darkening county road with neighbor ladies.
• Took a wild sunset ride on a four-wheeler (Mrs. I was driving, thank goodness!)

Whew! And that's just a bit of it. At the moment I'm sitting in the quiet English Department workroom; we student workers are allowed to do our own thing when there's no work to be done. After a while I'll head out to help with AWANA Cubbies.

Tonight is the first club meeting of this school year! How cheering it was last year to greet those shining, chubby (often mischief-inclined) little faces every week! Games are fun, and puppets, and story time, not to mention crafts and the all-important snack time! But to help them learn God's Word is the most priceless responsibility. I pray the words will come back to them later in life, as they do to me even now, so many years after being in AWANA myself.

Though perhaps they'll remember the references better than I. ;)

Hiding

In footie pajamas or Sunday best, us kids were often called upon to give recitations when I was little. We lined up on the raised brick in front of the fireplace, singing rousing versions of "The Battle of New Orleans" or "Great Granddad." To the last, we always added the crucial "Hm, musta stuck to him!"

Why did these memories awake? This morning's Bible reading.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

We memorized a good bit of Psalm 91, and it was often part of the recitals. We spouted it off quickly, as children often do with any memorized words But the lyrical quality of the first glorious sentence stayed with me.

And images quietly engraved themselves.

Fiery arrows raining down.

Huge wings to hide under.

Over my childhood years, these wings grew in my mind. They protected and nurtured like those of Fledge the winged horse, though of course much bigger. Like the golden wings of the great eagle in Rescuers Down Under, though these wings never needed rescuing.

Part of my "grown-up" self is revolted at the idea of comparing God with something birdlike. Birds can be rather nasty, even mean. But perhaps angels had wings before birds even were, so wings may not be essentially bird-ish. And maybe birds are only meant to reflect in some small yet tangible aspect something about their Maker.

He wants me to run and hide under His wings now, as readily as that child on the fireplace brick.