For my friend Rae

Every once in a while one comes around…

I’ve been thinking about stories, in general, and allegories, in particular, a lot lately. I’ve been working on some posts that defend them in a Christian world that has come to frown upon them. I’ve been struggling to find a title for the series but that struggle ended today. I got Andrew Peterson’s e-newsletter about the release of his new book North! Or Be Eaten, which is book two of Andrew’s Wingfeather Saga (a series I highly recommend)*.

In the e-newsletter, writer/musician Michael Card had this to say in praise of the work:

“Sometimes, in order to find out who we were supposed to be, we need to get lost in other worlds: Oz, Camelot, Narnia. In On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Andrew Peterson provides new and needed places like Aerwiar, Skree, and Glipwood-places where we need to get lost and found.” (emphasis mine)

Mr. Card summed up what was on the tip of my tongue for so very long. There are times we need to get lost. When we get lost in a story we can step back and view ourselves in an objective way. How many of us have found ourselves in stories. Who has felt the shame of Edmund? Who has felt the despair of Harry Potter. Who has felt the camaraderie of Tom Sawyer? Sometimes we “need to get lost” in order to find ourselves. I hope my posts on the matter will further your love for story, not just for the sake of story, but because of the fact that we are part of The Great Story. May we all get lost in that story!

* You can get signed copies in the Rabbit Room store, as well as discount bundles of autographed books one and two for only $20! The book is also available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,Random House and retailers nationwide.

A lot of my friends (namely Rae) have been tweeting about cynicism lately. In light of this I though this quote to be very relevant.

“Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying “yes” begins things.”

-Steven Colbert

(From his Commencement Address to graduating seniors at Knox College in 2006)

Well I know it’s been a while since I updated this thing. But I have a new theme and a new outlook.

I often get burdened with posting something profound and cool. But because I am neither, I ended upneverposting. Now, however, I have decided to just get in the habit of posting SOMETHING. A song lyric, a YouTube video, even a scripture passage or theology quote. I need to be better at this discipline so quantity will have to be the focus and then, prayerfully, quality will soon follow.

Bear with me!