First posted December 2005. (The links have been removed.)
What are your favourite non-Christmas books, adult or childrens', that have good Christmas chapters or scenes in them?
Here are a few that I thought of, beyond the really obvious ones like the first chapter of Little Women, or the Little House books (addition: or The Wind in the Willows):
Almost anything by Jean Little: she practically made it a trademark to end her novels on Christmas (or in one case, on St. Nicholas Day). From Anna is one of our favourites and, I think, one of her best Christmas chapters. (There's an excerpt from the beginning of the book at that link.)
The Middle Moffat, where Rufus gets a letter from Santa saying, "Sorry, all the ponies are at the war."
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
The Fairy Doll, by Rumer Godden. This book could be called a Christmas book anyway, but it's not all set at Christmas time.
Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild
The Ark, by Margot Benary-Isbert. This book actually has two good Christmases in it, and I'm not sure which one I like better.
Anne of Green Gables, but also Anne of Windy Poplars, where Anne reluctantly takes her grumpy co-worker home with her for the holidays.
Last but not least: Father Christmas's appearance in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Other ideas?
2017 Additions: The Four-Story Mistake; The Dolls' House, by Rumer Godden (warning that it has sad parts too); Roller Skates, by Ruth Sawyer (ditto). For grownups: several of Jan Karon's Mitford books, including the latest one, To Be Where You Are.
Showing posts with label Narnia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Narnia. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 05, 2017
Thursday, April 07, 2016
From the archives: Knowledge and nonsense
First posted April 2006
My friend the DHM at The Common Room quoted Charlotte Mason today:
"There is absolutely no avenue to knowledge but knowledge itself, and the schools must begin, not by qualifying the mind to deal with knowledge, but by affording all the best books."--Towards a Philosophy of Education (Vol. 6), pg. 347
Did she mean the most serious books? The hardest books? The longest books?
Just before Miss Mason gets to that point in the chapter, she has been describing the sad case of two young men who had a half-baked education (in her view), who "laboured indefatigably" at making sense of the books they picked up as young adults, but who admitted themselves that "You and I go at a subject all wrong!"
What was one of the books they couldn't make sense of? Alice in Wonderland.
I found this posted on the Catholic Culture blog:
My friend the DHM at The Common Room quoted Charlotte Mason today:
"There is absolutely no avenue to knowledge but knowledge itself, and the schools must begin, not by qualifying the mind to deal with knowledge, but by affording all the best books."--Towards a Philosophy of Education (Vol. 6), pg. 347
Did she mean the most serious books? The hardest books? The longest books?
Just before Miss Mason gets to that point in the chapter, she has been describing the sad case of two young men who had a half-baked education (in her view), who "laboured indefatigably" at making sense of the books they picked up as young adults, but who admitted themselves that "You and I go at a subject all wrong!"
What was one of the books they couldn't make sense of? Alice in Wonderland.
Deeply impressed he bought the book as soon as he returned to London and read it earnestly. To his horror he saw no sense in it. Then it struck him that it might be meant as nonsense and he had another try, then he concluded that it was rather funny but he remained disappointed.So we have to give our children more than facts, more than vocabulary drills. Knowledge, yes...the DHM's post points that out well, along with the sad fact of our culture's anti-knowledge bent. But also another kind of knowing...an understanding of laughter and nonsense that goes beyond the usual nose-picking humor found in childrens' books. They need to meet characters like my aged Uncle Arly, sitting on a heap of barley...and the Humbug...and the White Knight, one of my favourite characters in any book. They need some silliness, some furry squirrel puppets (I promise we'll do a post about Dewey soon), some knock-knock jokes, some James Thurber, and eventually some Wodehouse and Chesterton. They need to let their brains learn to play and dance and jump around with all the wonderful connections that a sense of nonsense allows. They need some nonsense so they can understand inventiveness...and a mandatory credit in inventiveness and creativity will not substitute.
Here, again, is another evidence of the limitations attending an utter absence of education. A cultivated sense of humour is a great factor in a joyous life, but these young men are without it. Perhaps the youth addicted to sports usually fails to appreciate delicate nonsense; sports are too strenuous to admit of a subtler, more airy kind of play....
I found this posted on the Catholic Culture blog:
A friend said all this reminded him of the scene in The Chronicles of Narnia where Aslan (God) creates Narnia, including an odd little bird which, like all the animals, can talk. The bird says something ridiculous and all the other creatures laugh. Turning to Aslan, the bird says, “Oh, Aslan, have I made the first joke?” “No,” Aslan replies, “you are the first joke.” My friend says there is a moral here.I think he's right.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Homeschooling, still frugal thrifty cheap but hard to write about it
These days my thrifty-homeschooler posts are fewer, but there are reasons for that. Although there are certainly more ways than ever to spend homeschool dollars, I think people are also more aware of free online resources. There are whole websites set up just to let you know about good deals and freebies, and about the whole world of online stuff. Homeschooling-Ideas.com, for example.
Also, I think I don't mention as much about "ways we do math for less" or whatever, because an eighth grader tends to be using the same materials pretty much every day. The elementary grades make better "homeschool copy."
Finally, we don't homeschool frugally just for the sake of frugality (if anyone does), so it's sometimes hard to write about it from that perspective. If you read here much you might possibly know that I've mentioned that the math book we're using (Math: A Human Endeavor) was a chance find about ten years ago, and that I got the workbook through a used source right afterwards, when the prices were still reasonable, and then The Apprentice ended up using only a few lessons in the workbook because she had way too much other homework in her public school courses. So math this year is basically free. I didn't give it to Lydia in the sense of dumping leftovers, but because she needed a different kind of math this year and there it was. We also already owned this year's grammar course, writing books, Bible and devotional books, and most of the books required for Ambleside Online Year 8. But I can only say "I found that one at the thrift store" so many times.
If I had to boil down any frugal homeschooling advice I have left, it might come out like this:
1. Whenever possible, use what's available to you, assuming it's in decent shape and appropriate for your students' needs, rather than going out and spending money on something else. Lydia has asked to bring Latin back into the curriculum this fall, after a four-year break; so for the time being, we're going to go back to the course that we were using then, reviewing what she learned in the fourth grade and getting to the bits that were too hard then. It's appropriate for her needs because it teaches ecclesiastical pronunciation and some of her "uses" for Latin could include vocal music. It's frugal because it's on the shelf and I don't have to print out online textbook pages.
2. Same as Number One: use what comes your way whenever you can. We started kindergarten almost twenty years ago with a program that is still used by many with young children. It required tracking down a lot of specific picture books, some of which (even though the program itself was quite new) had gone out of print. It seems to me that it would have been better for homeschoolers to have used maybe a few of those lessons with books they could access, then get brave enough to branch out with their own good books, rather than get too devoted to finding everything on the list.
3. Same as Number Two: make use of local resources. I heard only recently that we had a nearby weather research station that gave tours--but then I found out that it's been closed, so I had to scratch that off the field trip list. Since this is the year that we're doing lot of ecology and weather studies, that was disappointing. However, we do have parks and galleries and concerts and libraries and a university with an earth museum and a number of other things--not for weather trips, I mean, but for other opportunities. And some of them are cheap or free.
4. Don't overuse You-tube, but don't overlook it either, especially for music. And science help. And math. And craft tutorials. But a little goes a long way.
5. Focus on high-quality, longterm, meaningful units, books, lesson plans, outside activities. Fewer books, but better ones. More time on Old Narnia, less on the rules of writing. To quote from someone who has just discovered the power of books:
"In this book, he was gettin' to be Sam and see what somebody named Sam was up to...they give him this book for a present an' he was gettin' to be Sam. That was his favorite thing about books--they took you off to other people's lives an' places, but you could still set in your own chair by th' oil heater, warm as a mouse in a churn." ~~ Jan Karon, Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good (the newest Mitford book)Cartoon found here.
Monday, September 22, 2014
You're right, some don't. (The push to common standards)
"After withdrawing their son from Westfield Public Schools, a homeschool family was surprised when the assistant superintendent sent them a copy of the school’s homeschool policy and asked them to call him. "Their surprise turned to shock when they saw that the policy required them to submit a letter of intent and an outline of their curriculum which (per the policy) must follow New Jersey Common Core content standards, and then wait for the superintendent to approve their curriculum and give them permission to homeschool...." ~~ HSLDA news
"Many people are opposed to a standards-based education. Even though a standards-based education can protect academic efficiency when students relocate to a different school, some do not like the idea of having others dictate what their children should learn. Some do not like the pressure that tests put on their children. Some do not think the performance of a single test day should carry so much weight. Some do not like the potential for more narrowed learning." ~~ Homeschool Common Core homepage
"'Hush!' said Doctor Cornelius, laying his head very close to Caspian's. 'Not a word more. Don't you know your nurse was sent away for telling you about Old Narnia? The King doesn't like it. If he found me telling you secrets, you'd be whipped and I should have my head cut off.' 'But why?' asked Caspian. 'It is high time we turned to Grammar now,' said Doctor Cornelius in a loud voice. 'Will your Royal Highness be pleased to open Pulverulentus Siccus at the fourth page of his Grammatical Garden or the Arbour of Accidence pleasantlie open'd to Tender Wits?'" ~~ C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian
Friday, December 16, 2011
What are the Squirrelings doing today?
The Apprentice is at the university for a pre-exam review class. She's already written most of her exams but there are still a couple left.
Ponytails is at high school--she's not done until the 23rd of December. But she told me yesterday that there only about twenty school days left in the semester, so that's kind of motivating!
Crayons/Dollygirl has just finished a Plutarch lesson and is now transforming herself and Crystal into big and little Josefinas. She's also re-doing her homemade fashion-doll snow cabin "dupe" that she put together last year. Small wonder that math has little attraction this week. But we are almost done A Midsummer Night's Dream, and we're re-reading Prince Caspian. Re-reading because I'm sure that Crayons has heard it somewhere along the line, but I don't think she remembers it very well.
What are you all doing today?
Ponytails is at high school--she's not done until the 23rd of December. But she told me yesterday that there only about twenty school days left in the semester, so that's kind of motivating!
Crayons/Dollygirl has just finished a Plutarch lesson and is now transforming herself and Crystal into big and little Josefinas. She's also re-doing her homemade fashion-doll snow cabin "dupe" that she put together last year. Small wonder that math has little attraction this week. But we are almost done A Midsummer Night's Dream, and we're re-reading Prince Caspian. Re-reading because I'm sure that Crayons has heard it somewhere along the line, but I don't think she remembers it very well.
What are you all doing today?
Monday, April 04, 2011
There are no guarantees...but it's still worth our time.
Do you ever feel like you're wasting your time reading all those books to your kids?
What if you spend the summer reading oh, I don't know, something BIG to them...maybe the entire Chronicles of Narnia...and at the end they know the stories, but don't seem to have made any particular connections, at least that you can see, with the symbolism or character examples? What does Lucy learn about the dangers of eavesdropping after looking into the magic book? How does Aslan's ripping off an enchanted dragon's skin (in Voyage of the Dawn Treader) symbolize our need for submission to Christ's sometimes painful cleansing of our sins? Why is it such a puzzle about who gets to go into the New Narnia at the end of the last book? (Wasn't that a bit unfair on Susan? How about Emeth the Calormene?) What if all this seems to go over their heads? What if they never grasp the world's desperate need for more Puddleglums, those who will not be lulled by false logic and propaganda, even if it means sticking one's foot in the fire?
Charlotte Mason says that's a necessary risk that we take when we tell (or read) stories. The mind feeds on ideas, not dry information; to use her food metaphor, we may not get exactly what we need from any particular meal, but it's certain that we won't get anything at all from a meal made of sawdust. Even when we read the best books, we (or our hearers) won't receive or understand everything, all of the time; but that still gives us a better odds of getting (or giving) at least some nourishment, than in presenting what she calls "pre-digested" or sucked-dry material.
In Philosophy of Education, she writes of the child:
What if you spend the summer reading oh, I don't know, something BIG to them...maybe the entire Chronicles of Narnia...and at the end they know the stories, but don't seem to have made any particular connections, at least that you can see, with the symbolism or character examples? What does Lucy learn about the dangers of eavesdropping after looking into the magic book? How does Aslan's ripping off an enchanted dragon's skin (in Voyage of the Dawn Treader) symbolize our need for submission to Christ's sometimes painful cleansing of our sins? Why is it such a puzzle about who gets to go into the New Narnia at the end of the last book? (Wasn't that a bit unfair on Susan? How about Emeth the Calormene?) What if all this seems to go over their heads? What if they never grasp the world's desperate need for more Puddleglums, those who will not be lulled by false logic and propaganda, even if it means sticking one's foot in the fire?
Charlotte Mason says that's a necessary risk that we take when we tell (or read) stories. The mind feeds on ideas, not dry information; to use her food metaphor, we may not get exactly what we need from any particular meal, but it's certain that we won't get anything at all from a meal made of sawdust. Even when we read the best books, we (or our hearers) won't receive or understand everything, all of the time; but that still gives us a better odds of getting (or giving) at least some nourishment, than in presenting what she calls "pre-digested" or sucked-dry material.
In Philosophy of Education, she writes of the child:
He is an eclectic; he may choose this or that;
our business is to supply him with due abundance and variety
and his to take what he needs.
Urgency on our part annoys him.
He resists forcible feeding and loathes predigested food.
What suits him best is pabulum presented in the indirect literary form
which Our Lord adopts in those wonderful parables
whose quality is that they cannot be forgotten though,
while every detail of the story is remembered,
its application may pass and leave no trace.
We, too, must take this risk.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Where are you from?--Frederick Buechner on Story
This is what I was looking for when I stumbled over that Grinch post.
"The Child in Us"Frederick Buechner, Telling the Truth, included as the "May 6" reading in Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner.
"We weren't born yesterday. We are from Missouri. But we are also from somewhere else. We are from Oz, from Looking-Glass Land, from Narnia, and from Middle Earth. If with part of ourselves we are men and women of the world and share the sad unbeliefs of the world, with a deeper part still, the part where our best dreams come from, it is as if we were indeed born yesterday, or almost yesterday, because we are also all of us children still....The child in us lives in a world where nothing is too familiar or unpromising to open up into the world where a path unwinds before our feet into a deep wood, and when that happens, neither the world we live in nor the world that lives in us can ever entirely be home again...."
Monday, April 09, 2007
Easter Sunday Devotional Reading
This is the last of our "Narnia devotions." Sunday's readings went beyond The Last Battle, though, and included a prayer from the Mennonite Hymnal and quotes from Pinocchio (we'd been watching "The Adventures of Pinocchio" (the Martin Landau version)) and I took some lines from the book as well. Also, I found the most wonderful sermon online from Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, and I borrowed parts from that as well--snipping where I had to to keep the whole thing to a reasonable length. The long version of the sermon includes a lot that I had to leave out.
We took turns reading this (I had written our names in before each part).
-------------------------------------------------------------
Easter Sunday Devotions 2007: What is Beyond?
From The Last Battle:
“So,” said Peter, “night falls on Narnia. What, Lucy! You’re not crying? With Aslan ahead, and all of us here?”
“Don’t try to stop me, Peter,” said Lucy, “I am sure Aslan would not. I am sure it is not wrong to mourn for Narnia.”
Tirian said, “What world but Narnia have I ever known? It were no virtue, but great discourtesy, if we did not mourn.”
Opening Hymn: “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross”
What happens in the last chapters of The Last Battle?
When Narnia goes dark for the last time, many creatures run up to the door. Some disappear into the shadows outside the door. “But the others looked in the face of Aslan and loved him, though some of them were very frightened at the same time. And all these came in at the Door, in on Aslan’s right….Among the happy creatures who now came crowding round Tirian and his friends were all those whom they had thought dead--Roonwit the Centaur, and Jewel the Unicorn, and Poggin the Dwarf.”
And they go exploring, and discover that this is Aslan’s true country; and it is Narnia, and it is England too, and there is always more to discover. At the end, Aslan explains to them that this was “only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story. The Term was over and the holidays had begun.”
But think back to the Dwarfs, sitting in the darkness and refusing to see the truth.
“We human beings often turn our backs on what is good for us. I'm reminded of sitting around the supper table as a child, turning my nose up at fresh, sliced tomatoes and Daddy's saying, "you don't know what's good for you." One of the most vexing puzzles in all of human existence is how even when we know what it good for us, we can't or won't do it. We won't go there. And we especially won't go to that place within ourselves where something so deep it's unnamable is rumbling and unsettled, groaning inside of us for that which is good for us. And Jesus cries out, "how often have I desired to gather [you] together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" We know what's good for us, yet we won't go there. We aren't willing. Why? What do we expect?” (adapted from the sermon, see notes above)
Scripture: 1 John 4:7-10 (God's love for us)
“We reject what is good for us often because we don't want to change. Even though the change might be a good one--even and especially when we know it would be a good change for us--we put it off, we turn away, we aren't willing.” (sermon)
"Or maybe we think we're close enough to Jesus, but that if we go any closer we will lose our identity. Maybe we fear that if we [go closer] to Jesus, that we won't have any more fun in life."
"Pinocchio!" Lamp-Wick called out. "Listen to me. Come with us and we'll always be happy."
"No, no, no!"
"Come with us and we'll always be happy," cried four other voices from the wagon.
Jesus’s lament is not only about the actual city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem exists for us as a symbol of the dwelling place of God, the place, of all places, where love is whole and hearts are safe and where the Holy One is loved in return. And that, for us might mean this very place, the house of God, the church. Jerusalem is like our hearts, wherein we may hope that God will dwell. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...how often have I desired to love you and protect you and you were not willing!" Why on earth would we reject such an offer? What do we expect? I suspect that we reject Jesus for many of the same reasons we reject other human beings. Ignorance, forgetfulness, fear. The irony of all this is that our expectations--maybe that we'll lose independence, freedom, identity, laughter--are exactly the opposite of what is true. But how do we know? (sermon)
"How unhappy I have been," Pinocchio said to himself. "And yet I deserve everything, for I am certainly very stubborn and stupid! I will always have my own way. I won't listen to those who love me and who have more brains than I. But from now on, I'll be different and I'll try to become a most obedient boy. I wonder if Father is waiting for me. It is so long, poor man, since I have seen him, and I do so want his love and his kisses. Can there be a worse or more heartless boy than I am anywhere?"
Jesus wants nothing but freedom and life and peace and love for us. As long as we wander through life without placing every part of our heart and soul in the shadow of God's wings--being bound in the shadow of light and salvation, Jesus cries for us. Jesus grieves for us. Jesus's own heart breaks for us. (sermon)
“After a while Geppetto returned. In his hands he had the A-B-C book for his son, but the old coat was gone. The poor fellow was in his shirt sleeves and the day was cold.
"Where's your coat, Father?"
"I have sold it."
"Why did you sell your coat?"
"It was too warm."
Pinocchio understood the answer in a twinkling, and, unable to restrain his tears, he jumped on his father's neck and kissed him over and over.
Because we are not safe, not free, not whole, not at peace until we accept Jesus's love, until we trust our heart and all of our life to God's care.
“Oh Papa—I love you too.”
What did we expect? That is the story, after all. I don't think that we really expect Jesus to cry for us, for his heart to break on our account. I think we don't really expect to have joy and for life to be better or for our hearts and souls to feel safer or any of the rest of it. I think at some level, we don't expect Jesus to give life so that we can have ours. I don't think that we believe or expect that we are worth so much. And so that becomes our excuse, maybe. I'm not going there because I don't believe it or I don't deserve it. And Jesus grieves. And we miss the point that it is precisely because we don't believe it and don't deserve it that we need go there. (sermon) So take heart, have courage and expect more of yourself and of God--remember who you are and run for your life into the wings of Christ. (sermon)
Further up and further in!
Closing Prayer: Hymn book #744
Closing Hymn: #596 O Praise Ye the Lord
We took turns reading this (I had written our names in before each part).
-------------------------------------------------------------
Easter Sunday Devotions 2007: What is Beyond?
From The Last Battle:
“So,” said Peter, “night falls on Narnia. What, Lucy! You’re not crying? With Aslan ahead, and all of us here?”
“Don’t try to stop me, Peter,” said Lucy, “I am sure Aslan would not. I am sure it is not wrong to mourn for Narnia.”
Tirian said, “What world but Narnia have I ever known? It were no virtue, but great discourtesy, if we did not mourn.”
Opening Hymn: “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross”
What happens in the last chapters of The Last Battle?
When Narnia goes dark for the last time, many creatures run up to the door. Some disappear into the shadows outside the door. “But the others looked in the face of Aslan and loved him, though some of them were very frightened at the same time. And all these came in at the Door, in on Aslan’s right….Among the happy creatures who now came crowding round Tirian and his friends were all those whom they had thought dead--Roonwit the Centaur, and Jewel the Unicorn, and Poggin the Dwarf.”
And they go exploring, and discover that this is Aslan’s true country; and it is Narnia, and it is England too, and there is always more to discover. At the end, Aslan explains to them that this was “only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story. The Term was over and the holidays had begun.”
But think back to the Dwarfs, sitting in the darkness and refusing to see the truth.
“We human beings often turn our backs on what is good for us. I'm reminded of sitting around the supper table as a child, turning my nose up at fresh, sliced tomatoes and Daddy's saying, "you don't know what's good for you." One of the most vexing puzzles in all of human existence is how even when we know what it good for us, we can't or won't do it. We won't go there. And we especially won't go to that place within ourselves where something so deep it's unnamable is rumbling and unsettled, groaning inside of us for that which is good for us. And Jesus cries out, "how often have I desired to gather [you] together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" We know what's good for us, yet we won't go there. We aren't willing. Why? What do we expect?” (adapted from the sermon, see notes above)
Scripture: 1 John 4:7-10 (God's love for us)
“We reject what is good for us often because we don't want to change. Even though the change might be a good one--even and especially when we know it would be a good change for us--we put it off, we turn away, we aren't willing.” (sermon)
"Or maybe we think we're close enough to Jesus, but that if we go any closer we will lose our identity. Maybe we fear that if we [go closer] to Jesus, that we won't have any more fun in life."
"Pinocchio!" Lamp-Wick called out. "Listen to me. Come with us and we'll always be happy."
"No, no, no!"
"Come with us and we'll always be happy," cried four other voices from the wagon.
Jesus’s lament is not only about the actual city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem exists for us as a symbol of the dwelling place of God, the place, of all places, where love is whole and hearts are safe and where the Holy One is loved in return. And that, for us might mean this very place, the house of God, the church. Jerusalem is like our hearts, wherein we may hope that God will dwell. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...how often have I desired to love you and protect you and you were not willing!" Why on earth would we reject such an offer? What do we expect? I suspect that we reject Jesus for many of the same reasons we reject other human beings. Ignorance, forgetfulness, fear. The irony of all this is that our expectations--maybe that we'll lose independence, freedom, identity, laughter--are exactly the opposite of what is true. But how do we know? (sermon)
"How unhappy I have been," Pinocchio said to himself. "And yet I deserve everything, for I am certainly very stubborn and stupid! I will always have my own way. I won't listen to those who love me and who have more brains than I. But from now on, I'll be different and I'll try to become a most obedient boy. I wonder if Father is waiting for me. It is so long, poor man, since I have seen him, and I do so want his love and his kisses. Can there be a worse or more heartless boy than I am anywhere?"
Jesus wants nothing but freedom and life and peace and love for us. As long as we wander through life without placing every part of our heart and soul in the shadow of God's wings--being bound in the shadow of light and salvation, Jesus cries for us. Jesus grieves for us. Jesus's own heart breaks for us. (sermon)
“After a while Geppetto returned. In his hands he had the A-B-C book for his son, but the old coat was gone. The poor fellow was in his shirt sleeves and the day was cold.
"Where's your coat, Father?"
"I have sold it."
"Why did you sell your coat?"
"It was too warm."
Pinocchio understood the answer in a twinkling, and, unable to restrain his tears, he jumped on his father's neck and kissed him over and over.
Because we are not safe, not free, not whole, not at peace until we accept Jesus's love, until we trust our heart and all of our life to God's care.
“Oh Papa—I love you too.”
What did we expect? That is the story, after all. I don't think that we really expect Jesus to cry for us, for his heart to break on our account. I think we don't really expect to have joy and for life to be better or for our hearts and souls to feel safer or any of the rest of it. I think at some level, we don't expect Jesus to give life so that we can have ours. I don't think that we believe or expect that we are worth so much. And so that becomes our excuse, maybe. I'm not going there because I don't believe it or I don't deserve it. And Jesus grieves. And we miss the point that it is precisely because we don't believe it and don't deserve it that we need go there. (sermon) So take heart, have courage and expect more of yourself and of God--remember who you are and run for your life into the wings of Christ. (sermon)
Further up and further in!
Closing Prayer: Hymn book #744
Closing Hymn: #596 O Praise Ye the Lord
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Devotions for Saturday
Saturday Devotional Readings: In the Stable
Opening (from The Last Battle, adapted)
Tirian had thought—or he would have thought if he had time to think at all—that they were inside a little thatched stable, about twelve feet long and six feet wide. But they stood on grass, and the deep blue sky was overhead. But a terrible figure was coming towards them. It had a vulture’s head and four arms.
“Thou has called me into Narnia, Rishda Tarkaan. Here I am. What has thou to say?”
But the Tarkaan neither lifted his face from the ground nor said a word. He was shaking like a man with a bad hiccup.
Opening Hymn: Arise, My Soul, Arise
Arise, my soul, arise; shake off thy guilty fears;
The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears:
Before the throne my surety stands,
Before the throne my surety stands,
My name is written on His hands.
He ever lives above, for me to intercede;
His all redeeming love, His precious blood, to plead:
His blood atoned for all our race,
His blood atoned for all our race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.
Five bleeding wounds He bears; received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers; they strongly speak for me:
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”
My God is reconciled; His pardoning voice I hear;
He owns me for His child; I can no longer fear:
With confidence I now draw nigh,
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And “Father, Abba, Father,” cry.
A voice behind Tirian commands Tash to take the Tarkaan and return to his own place, and the two of them disappear. The voice turns out to be Peter, one of the High Kings of Narnia. Peter, Digory, Jill and all the rest from the earlier books (except Susan) are there, clean and wearing fresh clothes, and Jill introduces Tirian to everyone else. He is still having a hard time figuring out what is going on.
Tirian looked and saw the queerest and most ridiculous thing you can imagine. Only a few yards away, clear to be seen in the sunlight, there stood up a rough wooden door and, round it, the framework of the doorway: nothing else, no walls, no roof. He walked round to the other side of the door. But it looked just the same from the other side: he was still in the open air, on a summer morning. The door was simply standing up by itself as if it had grown there like a tree.
“It seems, then,” said Tirian,” that the stable seen from within and the stable seen from without are two different places.”
”Yes,” said the Lord Digory. “Its inside is bigger than its outside.”
“Yes,” said Queen Lucy. “In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.”
Hymn: O Bless the Lord, O My Soul (from Psalm 103)
O bless the Lord, my soul!
Let all within me join,
And aid my tongue to bless His Name
Whose favors are divine.
‘Tis He forgives thy sins,
‘Tis He relieves thy pain,
‘Tis He that heals thy sicknesses
And makes thee young again.
He crowns thy life with love,
When ransomed from the grave;
He that redeemed my soul from hell
Hath sovereign power to save.
He fills the poor with good,
He gives the suff’rers rest;
The Lord hath judgments for the proud,
And justice for th’oppressed.
His wondrous works and ways
He made by Moses known
But sent the world His truth and grace
By His belovèd Son.
“I hope Tash ate the Dwarfs too,” said Eustace. “Little swine.”
“No, he didn’t,” said Lucy. “They’re still here. I’ve tried to make friends with them, but it’s no use.”
“Friends with them!” cried Eustace. “If you knew how those Dwarfs have been behaving!”
“Oh stop it, Eustace,” said Lucy. “Do come and see them.”
The Dwarfs were sitting very close together in a little circle facing one another.
“Look out!” said one of them in a surly voice. “Mind where you’re going. Don’t walk into our faces!”
“All right!” said Eustace indignantly. “We’re not blind. We’ve got eyes in our head.”
“They must be darn good ones if you can see in here,” said the same Dwarf whose name was Diggle.
“In where?” asked Edmund.
“Why you bone-head, in here of course,” said Diggle. “In this pitch-black, smelly little hole of a stable.”
The Dwarfs believe they are still sitting in the dark. Even when Aslan appears and gives them food, they believe they are eating straw and scraps.
Aslan explains that he cannot help the Dwarfs if they will not let him help them, and that he has other work to do.
He then goes to the door between “the stable” and the Narnian world outside and roars, “It is TIME.”
Closing Hymn: Lord Jesus, Think On Me (verses 1, 3, 5)
Lord Jesus, think on me
And purge away my sin;
From earthborn passions set me free
And make me pure within.
Lord Jesus, think on me
Nor let me go astray;
Through darkness and perplexity
Point Thou the heavenly way.
Lord Jesus, think on me
That, when the flood is past,
I may th’eternal brightness see
And share Thy joy at last.
Pray together.
Opening (from The Last Battle, adapted)
Tirian had thought—or he would have thought if he had time to think at all—that they were inside a little thatched stable, about twelve feet long and six feet wide. But they stood on grass, and the deep blue sky was overhead. But a terrible figure was coming towards them. It had a vulture’s head and four arms.
“Thou has called me into Narnia, Rishda Tarkaan. Here I am. What has thou to say?”
But the Tarkaan neither lifted his face from the ground nor said a word. He was shaking like a man with a bad hiccup.
Opening Hymn: Arise, My Soul, Arise
Arise, my soul, arise; shake off thy guilty fears;
The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears:
Before the throne my surety stands,
Before the throne my surety stands,
My name is written on His hands.
He ever lives above, for me to intercede;
His all redeeming love, His precious blood, to plead:
His blood atoned for all our race,
His blood atoned for all our race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.
Five bleeding wounds He bears; received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers; they strongly speak for me:
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”
My God is reconciled; His pardoning voice I hear;
He owns me for His child; I can no longer fear:
With confidence I now draw nigh,
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And “Father, Abba, Father,” cry.
A voice behind Tirian commands Tash to take the Tarkaan and return to his own place, and the two of them disappear. The voice turns out to be Peter, one of the High Kings of Narnia. Peter, Digory, Jill and all the rest from the earlier books (except Susan) are there, clean and wearing fresh clothes, and Jill introduces Tirian to everyone else. He is still having a hard time figuring out what is going on.
Tirian looked and saw the queerest and most ridiculous thing you can imagine. Only a few yards away, clear to be seen in the sunlight, there stood up a rough wooden door and, round it, the framework of the doorway: nothing else, no walls, no roof. He walked round to the other side of the door. But it looked just the same from the other side: he was still in the open air, on a summer morning. The door was simply standing up by itself as if it had grown there like a tree.
“It seems, then,” said Tirian,” that the stable seen from within and the stable seen from without are two different places.”
”Yes,” said the Lord Digory. “Its inside is bigger than its outside.”
“Yes,” said Queen Lucy. “In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.”
Hymn: O Bless the Lord, O My Soul (from Psalm 103)
O bless the Lord, my soul!
Let all within me join,
And aid my tongue to bless His Name
Whose favors are divine.
‘Tis He forgives thy sins,
‘Tis He relieves thy pain,
‘Tis He that heals thy sicknesses
And makes thee young again.
He crowns thy life with love,
When ransomed from the grave;
He that redeemed my soul from hell
Hath sovereign power to save.
He fills the poor with good,
He gives the suff’rers rest;
The Lord hath judgments for the proud,
And justice for th’oppressed.
His wondrous works and ways
He made by Moses known
But sent the world His truth and grace
By His belovèd Son.
“I hope Tash ate the Dwarfs too,” said Eustace. “Little swine.”
“No, he didn’t,” said Lucy. “They’re still here. I’ve tried to make friends with them, but it’s no use.”
“Friends with them!” cried Eustace. “If you knew how those Dwarfs have been behaving!”
“Oh stop it, Eustace,” said Lucy. “Do come and see them.”
The Dwarfs were sitting very close together in a little circle facing one another.
“Look out!” said one of them in a surly voice. “Mind where you’re going. Don’t walk into our faces!”
“All right!” said Eustace indignantly. “We’re not blind. We’ve got eyes in our head.”
“They must be darn good ones if you can see in here,” said the same Dwarf whose name was Diggle.
“In where?” asked Edmund.
“Why you bone-head, in here of course,” said Diggle. “In this pitch-black, smelly little hole of a stable.”
The Dwarfs believe they are still sitting in the dark. Even when Aslan appears and gives them food, they believe they are eating straw and scraps.
Aslan explains that he cannot help the Dwarfs if they will not let him help them, and that he has other work to do.
He then goes to the door between “the stable” and the Narnian world outside and roars, “It is TIME.”
Closing Hymn: Lord Jesus, Think On Me (verses 1, 3, 5)
Lord Jesus, think on me
And purge away my sin;
From earthborn passions set me free
And make me pure within.
Lord Jesus, think on me
Nor let me go astray;
Through darkness and perplexity
Point Thou the heavenly way.
Lord Jesus, think on me
That, when the flood is past,
I may th’eternal brightness see
And share Thy joy at last.
Pray together.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Good Friday Devotion: Through the Stable Door
[Scriptures from the English Standard Version]
From The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis (adapted)
“Sire,” Jewel said, “nothing now remains for us seven but to go back to Stable Hill, proclaim the truth, and take the adventure that Aslan sends us. And if, by a great marvel, we defeat those thirty Calormenes who are with the Ape, then [we must] turn again and die in battle with the far greater host of them that will soon march from Cair Paravel.”
Light a candle.
Green book #4: Sing Praise to God, verses 1 & 2
Then came the worst part, the waiting. Luckily for the children they slept for a couple of hours, but of course they woke up when the night grew cold, and what was worse, woke up very thirsty and with no chance of getting a drink. But Tirian, with his head against Jewel’s flank, slept as soundly as if he were in his royal bed at Cair Paravel, till the sound of a gong beating awoke him, and he sat up and saw that there was firelight on the far side of the stable and knew that the hour had come.
John 17:1, 5
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you….And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
From The Last Battle:
“Listen,” he whispered in a matter-of fact voice, “we must attack now, before yonder miscreants are strengthened by their friends.”
“Bethink you, Sire,” said Poggin, “that here we have the good wooden wall of the stable at our backs. If we advance, shall we not be encircled and get sword-points between our shoulders?”
“I would say as you do, Dwarf,” said Tirian. “Were it not their very plan to force us into the stable? The further we are from its deadly door, the better.”
Tirian could hear [the dwarfs] using dreadful language, and every now and then the Tarkaan calling, “Take all you can alive! Take them alive!”
Whatever that fight may have been like, it did not last long.
“Throw them into the shrine of Tash,” said Rishda Tarkaan.
And when the eleven Dwarfs, one after the other, had been flung or kicked into that dark doorway and the door had been shut again, he bowed low to the stable and said:
“These also are for thy burnt offering, Lord Tash.”
“I feel in my bones,” said Poggin, “that we shall all, one by one pass through that dark door before morning.”
”It is indeed a grim door,” said Tirian. “It is more like a mouth.”
“Oh, can’t we do anything to stop it?” said Jill in a shaken voice.
“Nay, fair friend,” said Jewel, nosing her gently. “It may be for us the door to Aslan’s country, and we shall sup at his table tonight.”
Hymn: Green Book #4: Sing Praise to God, verses 3 & 4
From The Last Battle:
And now the leveled spears were closing in on Tirian and his friends. Next minute they were all fighting for their lives….The worst of it was that Tirian couldn’t keep to the position in which he had started….he soon found that he was getting further and further to the right, nearer to the stable. He had a vague idea in his mind that there was some good reason for keeping away from it. But he couldn’t now remember what the reason was. And anyway, he couldn’t help it.
Read John 18:28-30, John 19:15-18, Luke 23:39-43
From The Last Battle:
All at once everything came quite clear. He found that he was fighting the Tarkaan himself. The bonfire, what was left of it, was straight in front. He was in fact fighting in the very doorway of the stable, for it had been opened and two Calormenes were holding the door, ready to slam it shut the moment he was inside. He remembered everything now, and he realized that the enemy had been edging him to the stable on purpose ever since the fight began.
And while he was thinking this he was still fighting the Tarkaan as hard as he could.
A new idea came into Tirian’s head. He dropped his sword, darted forward, seized his enemy by the belt with both hands, and jumped back into the stable, shouting:
“Come in and meet Tash yourself!”
There was a deafening noise. As when the Ape had been flung in, the earth shook and there was a blinding light.
Matthew 27:50-51
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
Green book #18: And Can It Be That I Should Gain
Blow out the candle.
From The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis (adapted)
“Sire,” Jewel said, “nothing now remains for us seven but to go back to Stable Hill, proclaim the truth, and take the adventure that Aslan sends us. And if, by a great marvel, we defeat those thirty Calormenes who are with the Ape, then [we must] turn again and die in battle with the far greater host of them that will soon march from Cair Paravel.”
Light a candle.
Green book #4: Sing Praise to God, verses 1 & 2
Then came the worst part, the waiting. Luckily for the children they slept for a couple of hours, but of course they woke up when the night grew cold, and what was worse, woke up very thirsty and with no chance of getting a drink. But Tirian, with his head against Jewel’s flank, slept as soundly as if he were in his royal bed at Cair Paravel, till the sound of a gong beating awoke him, and he sat up and saw that there was firelight on the far side of the stable and knew that the hour had come.
John 17:1, 5
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you….And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
From The Last Battle:
“Listen,” he whispered in a matter-of fact voice, “we must attack now, before yonder miscreants are strengthened by their friends.”
“Bethink you, Sire,” said Poggin, “that here we have the good wooden wall of the stable at our backs. If we advance, shall we not be encircled and get sword-points between our shoulders?”
“I would say as you do, Dwarf,” said Tirian. “Were it not their very plan to force us into the stable? The further we are from its deadly door, the better.”
Tirian could hear [the dwarfs] using dreadful language, and every now and then the Tarkaan calling, “Take all you can alive! Take them alive!”
Whatever that fight may have been like, it did not last long.
“Throw them into the shrine of Tash,” said Rishda Tarkaan.
And when the eleven Dwarfs, one after the other, had been flung or kicked into that dark doorway and the door had been shut again, he bowed low to the stable and said:
“These also are for thy burnt offering, Lord Tash.”
“I feel in my bones,” said Poggin, “that we shall all, one by one pass through that dark door before morning.”
”It is indeed a grim door,” said Tirian. “It is more like a mouth.”
“Oh, can’t we do anything to stop it?” said Jill in a shaken voice.
“Nay, fair friend,” said Jewel, nosing her gently. “It may be for us the door to Aslan’s country, and we shall sup at his table tonight.”
Hymn: Green Book #4: Sing Praise to God, verses 3 & 4
From The Last Battle:
And now the leveled spears were closing in on Tirian and his friends. Next minute they were all fighting for their lives….The worst of it was that Tirian couldn’t keep to the position in which he had started….he soon found that he was getting further and further to the right, nearer to the stable. He had a vague idea in his mind that there was some good reason for keeping away from it. But he couldn’t now remember what the reason was. And anyway, he couldn’t help it.
Read John 18:28-30, John 19:15-18, Luke 23:39-43
From The Last Battle:
All at once everything came quite clear. He found that he was fighting the Tarkaan himself. The bonfire, what was left of it, was straight in front. He was in fact fighting in the very doorway of the stable, for it had been opened and two Calormenes were holding the door, ready to slam it shut the moment he was inside. He remembered everything now, and he realized that the enemy had been edging him to the stable on purpose ever since the fight began.
And while he was thinking this he was still fighting the Tarkaan as hard as he could.
A new idea came into Tirian’s head. He dropped his sword, darted forward, seized his enemy by the belt with both hands, and jumped back into the stable, shouting:
“Come in and meet Tash yourself!”
There was a deafening noise. As when the Ape had been flung in, the earth shook and there was a blinding light.
Matthew 27:50-51
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
Green book #18: And Can It Be That I Should Gain
Blow out the candle.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Wednesday Devotion: What happens when things get really bad?
(A note on our devotions: we will be going to a Maundy Thursday service tomorrow night, so I won't be posting one for tomorrow. Tonight's devotion will also be short because we have family members who have to go out.)
Wednesday: What happens when things get really bad?
Opening Hymn: How Firm a Foundation
The Last Battle p. 79-80 (adapted)
It was roughly the shape of a man but it had the head of a bird; some bird of prey with a cruel, curved beak. It had four arms which it held high above its head, stretching them out Northward as if it wanted to snatch all Narnia in its grip.
”It seems then,” said the Unicorn, “that there is a real Tash, after all.”
“Yes,” said the Dwarf. “And this fool of an Ape, who didn’t believe in Tash, will get more than he bargained for! He called for Tash: Tash has come.”
What should they do then? In the end they all agreed that the best thing was to go and try to meet the help which Roonwit the Centaur was bringing up from Cair Paravel. Then they could all fight the Ape and the Calormenes together.
But as they went along, an eagle arrived with worse news.
The Last Battle p. 87-88
“Two sights have I seen,” said Farsight. “One was Cair Paravel filled with dead Narnians and living Calormenes.”
No one could speak.
“And the other sight, five leagues nearer than Cair Paravel, was Roonwit the Centaur lying dead with a Calormene arrow in his side.”
“So,” said the King, after a long silence, “Narnia is no more.”
Scripture reading: Matthew 26: 42-46
"Sons of labor, pray to Jesus;
Oh, how Jesus prayed for you!
In the moonlight, on the mountain,
Where the shimmering olives grew…"
Matthew 26:47-56
"Sons of labor, go to Jesus,
In your sorrow, shame and loss;
He is nearest, you are dearest,
When you bravely bear His cross.
Go to Him, Who died to save you,
And is still the sinner’s Friend;
And the great love, which forgave you,
Will forgive you to the end."
(From “Sons of Labor, Dear to Jesus,” by Samuel R. Hole)
Closing prayer.
Wednesday: What happens when things get really bad?
Opening Hymn: How Firm a Foundation
The Last Battle p. 79-80 (adapted)
It was roughly the shape of a man but it had the head of a bird; some bird of prey with a cruel, curved beak. It had four arms which it held high above its head, stretching them out Northward as if it wanted to snatch all Narnia in its grip.
”It seems then,” said the Unicorn, “that there is a real Tash, after all.”
“Yes,” said the Dwarf. “And this fool of an Ape, who didn’t believe in Tash, will get more than he bargained for! He called for Tash: Tash has come.”
What should they do then? In the end they all agreed that the best thing was to go and try to meet the help which Roonwit the Centaur was bringing up from Cair Paravel. Then they could all fight the Ape and the Calormenes together.
But as they went along, an eagle arrived with worse news.
The Last Battle p. 87-88
“Two sights have I seen,” said Farsight. “One was Cair Paravel filled with dead Narnians and living Calormenes.”
No one could speak.
“And the other sight, five leagues nearer than Cair Paravel, was Roonwit the Centaur lying dead with a Calormene arrow in his side.”
“So,” said the King, after a long silence, “Narnia is no more.”
Scripture reading: Matthew 26: 42-46
"Sons of labor, pray to Jesus;
Oh, how Jesus prayed for you!
In the moonlight, on the mountain,
Where the shimmering olives grew…"
Matthew 26:47-56
"Sons of labor, go to Jesus,
In your sorrow, shame and loss;
He is nearest, you are dearest,
When you bravely bear His cross.
Go to Him, Who died to save you,
And is still the sinner’s Friend;
And the great love, which forgave you,
Will forgive you to the end."
(From “Sons of Labor, Dear to Jesus,” by Samuel R. Hole)
Closing prayer.
Tuesday Devotions: When people just won't listen
Opening: King Tirian is so desperate for help that he calls out to Aslan, and in answer, Jill and Eustace, the children from The Silver Chair, arrive in Narnia to help him. After the three of them sort out who’s who and what’s up, they disguise themselves as Calormenes and rescue the stupid donkey who was being forced to play Aslan. They meet a group of dwarfs and try to show them that Puzzle, the donkey, really isn't Aslan at all.
Hymn: My Faith Has Found a Resting Place
Read The Last Battle pages 70-71 (adapted):
“Don’t they understand?” said Jill impatiently. “What’s wrong with all you Dwarfs? Don’t you hear what the King says? It’s all over. The Ape isn’t going to rule Narnia any longer. Everyone can go back to ordinary life. You can have fun again. Aren’t you glad?”
After a pause of nearly a minute a not-very-nice-looking Dwarf with hair and beard as black as soot said: “And who might you be, Missie?”
“I’m Jill,” she said. “The same Jill who rescued King Rilian from the enchantment—and this is Eustace who did it too—and we’ve come back from another world after hundreds of years. Aslan sent us.”
“Well,” said the Black Dwarf, “I’ve heard as much about Aslan as I want to for the rest of my life. We’ve been fooled once and we’re not going to be fooled again. We’re going to look after ourselves from now on and touch our caps to nobody. See?”
How can you make somebody listen when they don’t want to believe?
Loud rock music blasts from the headphones, and George wakes up and nearly panics when he sees Marty.
“Who--who are you?” he gasps.
“My name is Darth Vader [insert heavy breathing] I‘m from the Planet Vulcan,” Marty announces, holding his hand up in a Vulcan salute.
In the next scene, George’s clothes and hair are disheveled, and he’s gasping. Marty asks him where he was. “You weren’t at school today.”
“Last night, Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan came down and said he’d melt my brains if I didn’t ask Lorraine to the dance,” George tells him.
“Okay, but let’s keep all of this brain-melting stuff to ourselves, okay?” Marty asks." [From this Michael J. Fox website]
Short discussion--can you convince someone of something when they've decided they don't want to believe you?
Read The Last Battle pp. 73-74 (adapted)
(They finally give up trying to get the dwarfs to believe.)
Tirian had felt quite sure that the Dwarfs would rally to his side the moment he showed them how they had been deceived. And then next night he would have led them to Stable Hill and shown Puzzle to all the creatures, and everyone would have turned against the Ape….But now, it seemed, he could count on nothing. How many other Narnians might turn the same way as the Dwarfs?
“Somebody’s coming after us, I think,” said Puzzle suddenly.
They stopped and listened. Sure enough, there was a thump-thump of small feet behind them.
“Who goes there!” shouted the King.
“Only me, Sire,” came a voice. [Crayons read Poggin's part for us.] “Me, Poggin the Dwarf. I’ve only just managed to get away from the others. I’m on your side, Sire; and on Aslan’s. If you can put a Dwarfish sword in my fist, I’d gladly strike a blow on the right side before all’s done.”
A quote found on InterVarsity.org: “Jesus tells the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. And he concludes each story with a statement about the intensity of God's feelings for those who have been lost: "Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. " "... there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:7,10,32). What arouses joy in the heart of God is every person who returns to God's family. Searching for the lost, and lavishing his love and grace on the repentant, is at the core of God's character.”
Closing Hymn: Come, Let Us Sing of a Wonderful Love
Come, let us sing of a wonderful love,
Tender and true, tender and true,
Out of the heart of the Father above,
Streaming to me and to you:
Wonderful love, wonderful love,
Dwells in the heart of the Father above.
Jesus the Saviour this gospel to tell
Joyfully came, joyfully came,
Came with the helpless and hopeless to dwell,
Sharing their sorrow and shame:
Seeking the lost, seeking the lost,
Saving, redeeming at measureless cost.
Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet;
Why do they roam? why do they roam?
Love only waits to forgive and forget;
Home, weary wanderers, home!
Wonderful love, wonderful love,
Dwells in the heart of the Father above.
Come to my heart, O thou wonderful Love!
Come and abide, come and abide,
Lifting my life till it rises above
Envy and falsehood and pride:
Seeking to be, seeking to be,
Lowly and humble, a learner of thee.
Hymn: My Faith Has Found a Resting Place
Read The Last Battle pages 70-71 (adapted):
“Don’t they understand?” said Jill impatiently. “What’s wrong with all you Dwarfs? Don’t you hear what the King says? It’s all over. The Ape isn’t going to rule Narnia any longer. Everyone can go back to ordinary life. You can have fun again. Aren’t you glad?”
After a pause of nearly a minute a not-very-nice-looking Dwarf with hair and beard as black as soot said: “And who might you be, Missie?”
“I’m Jill,” she said. “The same Jill who rescued King Rilian from the enchantment—and this is Eustace who did it too—and we’ve come back from another world after hundreds of years. Aslan sent us.”
“Well,” said the Black Dwarf, “I’ve heard as much about Aslan as I want to for the rest of my life. We’ve been fooled once and we’re not going to be fooled again. We’re going to look after ourselves from now on and touch our caps to nobody. See?”
How can you make somebody listen when they don’t want to believe?
Loud rock music blasts from the headphones, and George wakes up and nearly panics when he sees Marty.
“Who--who are you?” he gasps.
“My name is Darth Vader [insert heavy breathing] I‘m from the Planet Vulcan,” Marty announces, holding his hand up in a Vulcan salute.
In the next scene, George’s clothes and hair are disheveled, and he’s gasping. Marty asks him where he was. “You weren’t at school today.”
“Last night, Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan came down and said he’d melt my brains if I didn’t ask Lorraine to the dance,” George tells him.
“Okay, but let’s keep all of this brain-melting stuff to ourselves, okay?” Marty asks." [From this Michael J. Fox website]
Short discussion--can you convince someone of something when they've decided they don't want to believe you?
Read The Last Battle pp. 73-74 (adapted)
(They finally give up trying to get the dwarfs to believe.)
Tirian had felt quite sure that the Dwarfs would rally to his side the moment he showed them how they had been deceived. And then next night he would have led them to Stable Hill and shown Puzzle to all the creatures, and everyone would have turned against the Ape….But now, it seemed, he could count on nothing. How many other Narnians might turn the same way as the Dwarfs?
“Somebody’s coming after us, I think,” said Puzzle suddenly.
They stopped and listened. Sure enough, there was a thump-thump of small feet behind them.
“Who goes there!” shouted the King.
“Only me, Sire,” came a voice. [Crayons read Poggin's part for us.] “Me, Poggin the Dwarf. I’ve only just managed to get away from the others. I’m on your side, Sire; and on Aslan’s. If you can put a Dwarfish sword in my fist, I’d gladly strike a blow on the right side before all’s done.”
A quote found on InterVarsity.org: “Jesus tells the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. And he concludes each story with a statement about the intensity of God's feelings for those who have been lost: "Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. " "... there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:7,10,32). What arouses joy in the heart of God is every person who returns to God's family. Searching for the lost, and lavishing his love and grace on the repentant, is at the core of God's character.”
Closing Hymn: Come, Let Us Sing of a Wonderful Love
Come, let us sing of a wonderful love,
Tender and true, tender and true,
Out of the heart of the Father above,
Streaming to me and to you:
Wonderful love, wonderful love,
Dwells in the heart of the Father above.
Jesus the Saviour this gospel to tell
Joyfully came, joyfully came,
Came with the helpless and hopeless to dwell,
Sharing their sorrow and shame:
Seeking the lost, seeking the lost,
Saving, redeeming at measureless cost.
Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet;
Why do they roam? why do they roam?
Love only waits to forgive and forget;
Home, weary wanderers, home!
Wonderful love, wonderful love,
Dwells in the heart of the Father above.
Come to my heart, O thou wonderful Love!
Come and abide, come and abide,
Lifting my life till it rises above
Envy and falsehood and pride:
Seeking to be, seeking to be,
Lowly and humble, a learner of thee.
Monday, April 02, 2007
From our Holy Week devotions
We are using some themes from C.S. Lewis's The Last Battle as part of our Holy Week devotions--mostly about God and truth, how you know what the truth is, and how you know what God is. Tonight we followed a "script" I wrote ahead of time, with readings from The Last Battle, Carolyn Nystrom's book Who Is God?, and Scriptures. I've left our names out of this version.
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version, and most of them were suggested in Who is God?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Opening reading:
"And then," said the King, "the Horse said it was by Aslan's orders. The Rat said the same. They all say Aslan is here. How if it were true?"
"But, Sire, how could Aslan be commanding such dreadful things?"
"He is not a tame lion," said Tirian. "How should we know what he would do?....Would it not be better to be dead than to have this horrible fear that Aslan has come and is not like the Aslan we have believed in and longed for?"
The Last Battle, pages 27-29
Hymn: When I Survey, verses 1 & 2
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
"How do you know what God is like? How do you know that what Jesus said about God is true? How do you know that what anybody says about God is true?"
"Who is God?"
Read Who Is God?, pages 2-5 (Excerpt: "But how can I know God? I have never seen Him or touched Him, and I never heard Him speak. God is so wise and wonderful that we cannot know everything about Him....He chose certain people to write a book about Him.")
What does Paul say? Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33-36)
Read Who Is God?, pages 6-9 (Excerpt: "What does God look like? The Bible says that no one has seen God because He is a spirit....But Jesus is God, and He prayed to His Father to give the Holy Spirit.")
What does John say? And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14: 16, 26)
Read Who Is God?, pages 10, 11 (Excerpt: "I will live for a while, then I will die. Everyone does. Does God? No. God is the only person who never began and never will end.")
What does Malachi say? For I the Lord do not change.... (Malachi 3:6)
Read Who Is God?, pages 26, 27 (Excerpt: "I know lots of nice people. But none of them is good all the time. Even my best friend lied....Is God like that? No, God is good all the way through.")
What do the Psalms say? For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100:5)
Read Who Is God, pages 28-30 (Excerpt: "When I think of all these truths about God, I can almost feel my head stretching. But the Bible says something else about God. It says God loves His people. He calls them 'friends.'")
Read The Last Battle, pages 36-37
Up till now the King and Jewel had said nothing....[but now] he could bear it no longer.
"Ape," he cried with a great voice, "you lie damnably. You lie like a Calormene. You lie like an ape...." But before he could say another word two Calormenes struck him in the mouth with all their force....the Ape squealed in rage and terror.
"Take him away. Take him away. Take him where he cannot hear us, nor we hear him. There tie him to a tree. I will--I mean, Aslan will--do justice on him later."
John 11:47-48, 53
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.".... 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
Hymn—When I Survey (remaining verses)
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Closing Prayer.
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version, and most of them were suggested in Who is God?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Opening reading:
"And then," said the King, "the Horse said it was by Aslan's orders. The Rat said the same. They all say Aslan is here. How if it were true?"
"But, Sire, how could Aslan be commanding such dreadful things?"
"He is not a tame lion," said Tirian. "How should we know what he would do?....Would it not be better to be dead than to have this horrible fear that Aslan has come and is not like the Aslan we have believed in and longed for?"
The Last Battle, pages 27-29
Hymn: When I Survey, verses 1 & 2
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
"How do you know what God is like? How do you know that what Jesus said about God is true? How do you know that what anybody says about God is true?"
"Who is God?"
Read Who Is God?, pages 2-5 (Excerpt: "But how can I know God? I have never seen Him or touched Him, and I never heard Him speak. God is so wise and wonderful that we cannot know everything about Him....He chose certain people to write a book about Him.")
What does Paul say? Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33-36)
Read Who Is God?, pages 6-9 (Excerpt: "What does God look like? The Bible says that no one has seen God because He is a spirit....But Jesus is God, and He prayed to His Father to give the Holy Spirit.")
What does John say? And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14: 16, 26)
Read Who Is God?, pages 10, 11 (Excerpt: "I will live for a while, then I will die. Everyone does. Does God? No. God is the only person who never began and never will end.")
What does Malachi say? For I the Lord do not change.... (Malachi 3:6)
Read Who Is God?, pages 26, 27 (Excerpt: "I know lots of nice people. But none of them is good all the time. Even my best friend lied....Is God like that? No, God is good all the way through.")
What do the Psalms say? For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100:5)
Read Who Is God, pages 28-30 (Excerpt: "When I think of all these truths about God, I can almost feel my head stretching. But the Bible says something else about God. It says God loves His people. He calls them 'friends.'")
Read The Last Battle, pages 36-37
Up till now the King and Jewel had said nothing....[but now] he could bear it no longer.
"Ape," he cried with a great voice, "you lie damnably. You lie like a Calormene. You lie like an ape...." But before he could say another word two Calormenes struck him in the mouth with all their force....the Ape squealed in rage and terror.
"Take him away. Take him away. Take him where he cannot hear us, nor we hear him. There tie him to a tree. I will--I mean, Aslan will--do justice on him later."
John 11:47-48, 53
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.".... 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
Hymn—When I Survey (remaining verses)
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Closing Prayer.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Thinking about Lent
Lent starts next week--without nearly the fanfare of the beginning of Advent (unless you're in Mardi Gras territory). Maybe pancakes the night before, but other than that, most people won't notice.
I'll have to get our assortment of celebration books off the shelf again and see what we haven't done for awhile. Most years we go back and forth between old favourites like Before and After Easter and Celebrating the Christian Year. We have a felt banner (made when The Apprentice was small) that has symbols to add each week and then each day; but I don't like doing the exact same thing every year. Sometimes we've worked in themes like Pilgrim's Progress or Narnia, usually closer to Resurrection Sunday. It's definitely harder to find family-friendly devotional activities for this time of year.
I found this list of readings at Domestic-Church.com and thought it looked interesting. They suggest using the readings Jesse-tree fashion and posting them (or symbols of them?) in the shape of a cross. There are possibilities there...
I'll have to get our assortment of celebration books off the shelf again and see what we haven't done for awhile. Most years we go back and forth between old favourites like Before and After Easter and Celebrating the Christian Year. We have a felt banner (made when The Apprentice was small) that has symbols to add each week and then each day; but I don't like doing the exact same thing every year. Sometimes we've worked in themes like Pilgrim's Progress or Narnia, usually closer to Resurrection Sunday. It's definitely harder to find family-friendly devotional activities for this time of year.
I found this list of readings at Domestic-Church.com and thought it looked interesting. They suggest using the readings Jesse-tree fashion and posting them (or symbols of them?) in the shape of a cross. There are possibilities there...
Friday, February 02, 2007
If you give a mom some library books
(For Crayons)
If you give a mom some library books, she'll read you If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, because it's one of your friend Baby's favourites.
Reading about the Mouse's snowman will make her think of All You Need For a Snowman, so she'll read that to you as well.
All that snow will make her think of always winter and never Christmas, so she'll read you Lucy Steps Through the Wardrobe.
Stepping through the wardrobe will remind her of jumping through a picture frame, so she'll give you your choice of a Katie book, since you have three of them out. You choose Katie Meets the Impressionists.
The Degas "Blue Dancers" in Katie will remind her of Ponytails' book Ballerina, so she'll send you to get that. But since you don't really want to read it, she'll settle for George and Martha. (Thanks to the Beehive for that link.)
And thinking of hippos will make her think of elephants, so she'll read you A Quiet Night In.
Reading that will make her think of big messes, so she'll send you to dig out If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
And reading that will make you ask for...
a hug. And you'll get one.
If you give a mom some library books, she'll read you If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, because it's one of your friend Baby's favourites.
Reading about the Mouse's snowman will make her think of All You Need For a Snowman, so she'll read that to you as well.
All that snow will make her think of always winter and never Christmas, so she'll read you Lucy Steps Through the Wardrobe.
Stepping through the wardrobe will remind her of jumping through a picture frame, so she'll give you your choice of a Katie book, since you have three of them out. You choose Katie Meets the Impressionists.
The Degas "Blue Dancers" in Katie will remind her of Ponytails' book Ballerina, so she'll send you to get that. But since you don't really want to read it, she'll settle for George and Martha. (Thanks to the Beehive for that link.)
And thinking of hippos will make her think of elephants, so she'll read you A Quiet Night In.
Reading that will make her think of big messes, so she'll send you to dig out If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
And reading that will make you ask for...
a hug. And you'll get one.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Welcome to 2007
We don't usually go out to parties or church services on New Year's Eve; we usually have a just-us party here. Often it's a theme; last year we had a Narnia party. This year there was no real theme, but we did have a fun menu of things that we usually walk right by at the grocery store. Frozen fried rice and eggrolls, frozen chicken wings, pretzels, fishie crackers, carrot sticks, banana chips, sparkly cranberry juice in wine glasses, and Vachon Jos. Louis cakes. Then we lit our Christmas candle, finished reading Henry Van Dyke's story The Other Wiseman (it took us four nights), and read the last chapter of Revelation and the 150th Psalm. Grandpa Squirrel arrived for ping pong (we are lucky enough to have a table in the garage), and the younger Squirrelings and I watched some of It's a Wonderful Life before they want off to bed. Mr. Fixit, the Apprentice and I stayed up till midnight talking about budgets (Mr. Fixit always does a family accounting at year's end) and watching The Musgrave Ritual, and then a few minutes of Happy New Year's, pouring rain and fireworks from Niagara Falls.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Finishings
The last day of Treehouse classes (we still have exams next week). This week is full of finishings.
The Apprentice finished Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, Whatever Happened to Justice?, and part 2 of How to Read a Book (the part that was assigned for this year). We're still working on The Betrothed, but that's all right.
Ponytails finished Pilgrim's Progress Book II (I think she would have liked a Book III to go on to next year). We also finished the geography story about mountains we were reading. We are one chapter away from finishing the last Narnia book, but she won't let me read it to her because then we'd be done.
And I'm trying to finish typing the last Plutarch study for this year. Almost there...
And when exams are done, we will celebrate the year's achievements in school, the beans climbing up the wall, Crayons' graduation to a two-wheeler (with training wheels), our wedding anniversary, the pink roses blooming, Canada Day, and the arrival of Coffeemamma's family.
The Apprentice finished Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, Whatever Happened to Justice?, and part 2 of How to Read a Book (the part that was assigned for this year). We're still working on The Betrothed, but that's all right.
Ponytails finished Pilgrim's Progress Book II (I think she would have liked a Book III to go on to next year). We also finished the geography story about mountains we were reading. We are one chapter away from finishing the last Narnia book, but she won't let me read it to her because then we'd be done.
And I'm trying to finish typing the last Plutarch study for this year. Almost there...
And when exams are done, we will celebrate the year's achievements in school, the beans climbing up the wall, Crayons' graduation to a two-wheeler (with training wheels), our wedding anniversary, the pink roses blooming, Canada Day, and the arrival of Coffeemamma's family.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Stuff and nonsense
My friend the DHM at The Common Room quoted Charlotte Mason today:
"There is absolutely no avenue to knowledge but knowledge itself, and the schools must begin, not by qualifying the mind to deal with knowledge, but by affording all the best books."--Towards a Philosophy of Education (Vol. 6), pg. 347
Did she mean the most serious books? The hardest books? The longest books?
Just before Miss Mason gets to that point in the chapter, she has been describing the sad case of two young men who had a half-baked education (in her view), who "laboured indefatigably" at making sense of the books they picked up as young adults, but who admitted themselves that "You and I go at a subject all wrong!"
What was one of the books they couldn't make sense of? Alice in Wonderland.
I found this posted on the Catholic Culture blog:
"There is absolutely no avenue to knowledge but knowledge itself, and the schools must begin, not by qualifying the mind to deal with knowledge, but by affording all the best books."--Towards a Philosophy of Education (Vol. 6), pg. 347
Did she mean the most serious books? The hardest books? The longest books?
Just before Miss Mason gets to that point in the chapter, she has been describing the sad case of two young men who had a half-baked education (in her view), who "laboured indefatigably" at making sense of the books they picked up as young adults, but who admitted themselves that "You and I go at a subject all wrong!"
What was one of the books they couldn't make sense of? Alice in Wonderland.
Deeply impressed he bought the book as soon as he returned to London and read it earnestly. To his horror he saw no sense in it. Then it struck him that it might be meant as nonsense and he had another try, then he concluded that it was rather funny but he remained disappointed.So we have to give our children more than facts, more than vocabulary drills. Knowledge, yes...the DHM's post points that out well, along with the sad fact of our culture's anti-knowledge bent. But also another kind of knowing...an understanding of laughter and nonsense that goes beyond the usual nose-picking humor found in childrens' books. They need to meet characters like my aged Uncle Arly, sitting on a heap of barley...and the Humbug...and the White Knight, one of my favourite characters in any book. They need some silliness, some furry squirrel puppets (I promise we'll do a post about Dewey soon), some knock-knock jokes, some James Thurber, and eventually some Wodehouse and Chesterton. They need to let their brains learn to play and dance and jump around with all the wonderful connections that a sense of nonsense allows. They need some nonsense so they can understand inventiveness...and a mandatory credit in inventiveness and creativity will not substitute.
Here, again, is another evidence of the limitations attending an utter absence of education. A cultivated sense of humour is a great factor in a joyous life, but these young men are without it. Perhaps the youth addicted to sports usually fails to appreciate delicate nonsense; sports are too strenuous to admit of a subtler, more airy kind of play....
I found this posted on the Catholic Culture blog:
A friend said all this reminded him of the scene in The Chronicles of Narnia where Aslan (God) creates Narnia, including an odd little bird which, like all the animals, can talk. The bird says something ridiculous and all the other creatures laugh. Turning to Aslan, the bird says, “Oh, Aslan, have I made the first joke?” “No,” Aslan replies, “you are the first joke.” My friend says there is a moral here.I think he's right.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Good Friday
And all three stood and wept. Even the Lion wept: great Lion-tears, each tear more precious than the Earth would be if it was a single solid diamond....
"Son of Adam," said Aslan, "go into that thicket and pluck the thorn that you will find there, and bring it to me."
Eustace obeyed. The thorn was a foot long and sharp as a rapier.
"Drive it into my paw, son of Adam," said Aslan, holding up his right fore-paw and spreading out the great pad toward Eustace.
"Must I?" said Eustace.
"Yes," said Aslan.
Then Eustace set his teeth and drove the thorn into the Lion's pad. And there came out a great drop of blood, redder than all redness that you have ever seen or imagined. And it splashed into the stream over the dead body of the King.
--C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair
"Son of Adam," said Aslan, "go into that thicket and pluck the thorn that you will find there, and bring it to me."
Eustace obeyed. The thorn was a foot long and sharp as a rapier.
"Drive it into my paw, son of Adam," said Aslan, holding up his right fore-paw and spreading out the great pad toward Eustace.
"Must I?" said Eustace.
"Yes," said Aslan.
Then Eustace set his teeth and drove the thorn into the Lion's pad. And there came out a great drop of blood, redder than all redness that you have ever seen or imagined. And it splashed into the stream over the dead body of the King.
--C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Crayons is really good with felts, by Ponytails
Today Crayons did something really cute. She was using a felt set from a garage sale, and she was doing some Silver Chair Narnia with it. That set is really good for it. You can make the snake and everything. And there's even a "Good Day Travellers" lady in a green kirtle. And this is how it looks.
Crayons: I'm making Narnia.
Ponytails: Can I see maybe?
Crayons: See? This is Rilian tied up, and see, this is Eustace taming the dragon, and this is Puddleglum. And see, this is Jill with a bag of the nightclothes of the giants, and the giants' little baby bed that Jill sleeped in, and the giants' cookbook.
And this is so cute...she made the witch, and she used blue ducks and blue birds to make the earth workers, and our green felt lady was down there with them.
We watched a Silver Chair Narnia movie, and it's kind of bad, because the snake is so unreal. It looks like a puppet on Mr. Dressup or something. I like Puddleglum, because he's Tom Baker, Dr. Who. (Jellybabies, Sarah?)
~~Ponytails
Crayons: I'm making Narnia.
Ponytails: Can I see maybe?
Crayons: See? This is Rilian tied up, and see, this is Eustace taming the dragon, and this is Puddleglum. And see, this is Jill with a bag of the nightclothes of the giants, and the giants' little baby bed that Jill sleeped in, and the giants' cookbook.
And this is so cute...she made the witch, and she used blue ducks and blue birds to make the earth workers, and our green felt lady was down there with them.
We watched a Silver Chair Narnia movie, and it's kind of bad, because the snake is so unreal. It looks like a puppet on Mr. Dressup or something. I like Puddleglum, because he's Tom Baker, Dr. Who. (Jellybabies, Sarah?)
~~Ponytails
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