I wrap a blanket around my cold shoulders every morning and sit to read a book that feels just as warm-- Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. Dane Ortlund writes: “What elicits tenderness from Jesus is not the severity of the sin but whether the sinner comes to him.”[i] If … Continue reading Good but Unsafe
There’s a lot I could do, write, remember, cry over, and give thanks for at the end of 2020. I keep shadowboxing the scary idea of summing it all up— wrestling the last twelve months into a corner and chalking them up as “good,” “terrible,” or “sanctifying” (all the above). But summaries tend to accentuate … Continue reading A Year in Books
Then at last, as they stood for a moment looking out toward the sea and Cair Paravel (which they could just now make out) the red turned to gold along the line where the sea and sky met and very slowly up came the sun. At that moment, they heard from behind them a loud … Continue reading “And There Was No Aslan”
February 9 There’s a lot I thought I knew about C. S. Lewis. His is a legendary name associated with children and a wardrobe and Aslan and philosophy and essays and Christianity. But there are too many of Lewis’s works I haven’t read. So I’m challenging myself this winter to get to know this remarkable … Continue reading I’m Getting to Know C. S. Lewis
In C. S. Lewis’s Prince Caspian, Lucy Pevensie shakes awake her siblings to announce she’s seen the lion, Aslan. “I can’t see anything,” said Peter after he had stared his eyes sore. “Can you, Susan?” “No, of course I can’t,” snapped Susan. “Because there isn’t anything to see. She’s been dreaming.”[i] But Susan later admits … Continue reading A Pevensie, a Pharisee, and the Imagination to See Reality
January 19 If you don’t think the world is magical or that God doesn’t spin whimsy things, try buttoning your coat and traipsing out into heel-deep snow when somewhere behind stacks of clouds the sun is almost gone. Make sure the sky is spilling flakes. Forget gloves, forget a cap. If you stomp around … Continue reading How to be Awed by a Magical World
Huddled around a table in Mr. and Mrs. Beaver’s stick-weaved home, the four Pevensie children first learned of a fearsomely wonderful beast named Aslan, King of Narnia. “I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion,” Susan Pevensie admitted. “That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear … Continue reading From Dreadful to Dazzling: How Christ Changes Our View of a Holy God
December 9 It’s hard to find time to read in December. My Christmas to-do lists are long and sitting down to open a book isn’t a priority. But in between online shopping and music rehearsals, I’m enjoying a few rich books this month. Here are three: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. … Continue reading 3 Books I’m Reading This December
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