Creation's Rhythm

Is rest impossible for a young family? My wife and I have a few days to ourselves, a few days off, a few days away from work and routine during this break for the holidays. But, then, we also have this horde of little people snapping at our heels like hungry dogs, hungry for love.

I'm a guy who likes rest, who needs rest. But children are paragons of busyness; they are incarnations of activity. Like squirrels chasing squirrels through the leafless branches of oaks they scurry from branch to branch, squirrel to squirrel, nut to nut. And I get dizzy watching them. They chatter incessantly. They make me smile at their grace and laugh at their clumsiness. Their activity warms them. Their restfulness warms me.

I've wondered lately why we as people don't hibernate. I mean, how fabulous of an idea is that? All that rest. All that time off. But then I think of all the pony rides I would miss. I think of all the parties I would miss - the friends, the memories, the holidays, the tiredness. Will I ever miss the tiredness? I bet I will. Will I ever miss the constant Go? I bet I will. Will I ever miss the endless work, the stress of sibling rivalry, the angst of pre-pre-adolescence, the fears of little children, the screeches of No and Stop It and simple wordless frustration? I bet I will.

I'm cycling through the week of my life and Sabbath seems a far way off. For now, perhaps, I'll try to learn to love the labor. Perhaps I'll even resolve to.

Monkey Boy

I saw Kong over the holiday with my big brother. For some reason, ever since, I've been grabbing Barbie dolls and running around the house like an oversized silverback. Weird.

(Obviously, I haven't shut up yet. My apologies.)

I'm Back Home

It was cold and gray and rainy (of all things) in Michigan the week we were there. It is sunny and 54 here today. Why the weather report? It's the most prominent feature of a blurred day of naps and meals. We got in around 3:30 am and I've been in limbo since. Lucidity seems a distant cousin, so I'll use what sense I have to say Hello and then shut up.

Hello.

Last Train to Clarksville

We're leaving tonight for Michigan, which means we'll be driving through the night. Please pray for us.

I'll still have access to the Internet, but I suspect my activity will be minimal. If you need to send a message, send away - I'll get it.

Merry Christmas!

Firsts

Sophie had her first school concert last night. I almost didn't go. The thought of sitting in a room packed with strange people, trying to wrangle three children, and taping my daughter's performance, simultaneously, left me feeling incompetent and tired. I called my wife and talked to her about it and decided not to go - it would also be a 40-minute trip each way. I talked to Sophie over the phone and explained my dilemma and she said she understood and then said, "Just try, Daddy. Just try." So, of course, I got off my lazy ass and went. I'm glad I did. Sophie had a smile that wouldn't quit. And while I probably only recorded half of her performances (the other half ended up being the backs of people's heads and floor shots as I tried to keep Will from wriggling away and dashing off), I had an excellent time. No regrets here, except that I almost didn't go.

I went to Target to pick up a tape for our aging Sony Handycam - digital Hi-8 - in order to tape Sophie's concert. (I like the handycam except that it's difficult to transfer to the computer and do any editing - probably because of my ignorance more than anything - and then create a DVD, but I digress.) As I was at Target I walked past the teensy-weensy book section and paused. Oh yes, I knew what was there. I wanted what was there. I went into the aisle and found Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice. It was $18. I had only brought a Jackson for the tape. (We're strictly cash this time of year because of the hardships imposed on us by the commercialism of Christmas, but I digress.) The tapes, of course, even the cheap ones were $5 for a pack of two. Tapes and book together, that was more cash than I had brought. I flipped through my wallet and found my credit card and paused and wondered. I thought about the book and how much I've been wanting to read it and how I could read it in Michigan over the holiday and how some of the family would react seeing me read an Anne Rice book about our Lord. I trembled with excitement. Then I paused and wondered and, because of the evil in my heart, decided against buying the book. It was a first, but I walked away from purchasing a book that I had held in my hands and drooled over.

My wife's parents are on their first cruise right now. They've called once on their cruise and sent an e-mail. The e-mail details the sunny, warm weather and the sandy white beaches. I've never been on a cruise, myself. I've never been to pristine islands in the Caribbean. I've never seen what a pirate's eye(s) has(have) seen or walked where a pirate's leg(s) has(have) walked. But I'm not jealous - I'm too busy looking forward to the snow and cold of Michigan and being with family.

Hail, Mary

Gabriel: "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you! . . . Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

Elizabeth: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy."

Mary: "My soul magnifies the Lord, / and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, / for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. / For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; / for he who is mighty has done great things for me, / and holy is his name. / And his mercy is for those who fear him / from generation to generation. / He has shown strength with his arm; / he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; / he has brought down the mighty from their thrones / and exalted those of humble estate; / he has filled the hungry with good things, / and the rich he has sent empty away. / He has helped his servant Israel, / in remembrance of his mercy, / as he spoke to our fathers, / to Abraham and to his offspring forever."

ROAR!

I took my two oldest daughters to see Narnia today. The only thing I'll say, other than it was excellent (and scary for little girls - who loved it anyway), is what my nearly-five-year-old said as we were pulling out of the theater parking lot.

"Daddy," she said, "I wish there was a Lion like that in my closet."

My Professional Life

Alison, who is Older than Jesus, posts regularly about her professional life. Her most recent post is about her job as translator. Alison is one of my favorite writers and one of my oldest friends. She's vintage. I wanted to comment on her site, but I got, well, wordy. So this post rises up out of and is completely inspired by her post, which I recommend.

The yellow-haired child says something to Mr. Smith, I laugh; Mr. Smith smiles and nods with eyebrows raised. I interpret, but it spoils the conversation - like explaining a joke.

Sometimes Mr. Smith will look at me and say, "What'd she say?" And I'll shake my head and say, "I have no idea." Sometimes I'm lying.

. . . . .

My yellow-haired child has some dysfluency issues currently so that makes the job of translating particularly difficult with my short attention span and 3-kb memory:

"Ah wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa . . ."

"Look at me, Sweetheart," I say gently. She looks at me.

"Ah wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa mah jess."

"You want your chips?"

"No, ah wa mah jess!"

"You want your dress?"

"Yes."

Translating is part of my profession too. And it's usually not so easy - many times it breaks down into one or both of us throwing fits. But we stick it out because the benefits, Ah! the benefits are overwhelming.

Slice of Narnia

I haven't seen it, so don't worry about any spoilers in this post. In fact, this post isn't so much about the movie as it is about the criticisms I hear so much of lately about Lewis and, specifically, Narnia. I was walking by the Slice today and overheard some unfriendly words being spoken about Jack. The post there was titled "Narnia and Paganism." Here are some of my thoughts (basically the comment I nailed to their door).

Lewis was fascinated with mythology - the stories it told about the people who created it and the stories it tells about us. Mythology for a literature professor has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with story - I'm not sure how to explain that. Lewis does blend his faith with mythology in much of his work (one of his greatest works, Till We Have Faces, is a re-telling of the Cupid-Psyche myth). But he did it as an English professor whose study, whose work, was literature - he saw God, the Christian God, revealed in stories that aren't explicitly Christian.

Mythology for Lewis, I suspect, had everything to do with metaphor. It was his language. Just as a Sunday School teacher whose profession is Coach might use sports metaphors to convey spiritual truths, so Lewis used literary and mythological references to convey spiritual truths. And the result, I believe, is beautiful. Of course, it's my language too.

We write because we are writers. It's who God made us to be and we glorify God in the writing. Lewis's theology is not perfect (glaringly imperfect at times), nor does it have to be in order for it to be suitable for us. If you strip away imagination, even "sanctified" imagination, from the church, then I think you will lose far more than you realize in the end. Our imaginations are gifts from God, and I would bet that God was pleased with Lewis's use of his gift.

Now maybe some of you think we should read just the Bible all the time. If that's the case, then there's not much we can discuss. Because at issue then is not Lewis's use of mythology so much as it is that Lewis was a professor of literature. It is not a discussion of whether Lewis can use his imagination to create a story about redemption so much as it is that it is not the redemption story. I don't want Lewis to write a gospel, I want Lewis to write Narnia and the Space Trilogy and Till We Have Faces. I want The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters from Jack, not the 95 Theses or Augustine's Confessions. Don't you understand? He gave us something unique and something good. Not perfect, but nontheless good. Not Luther, but Lewis. He resonates strongly with some of us, not because we're pagans wearing Xian Tees, but because he was authentically Christian and sought to authentically follow Christ. Just as we do: as best we can, as best we know how.

This Day

We've had some freezing rain overnight, here in God's country. It's still coming down, but it doesn't appear as if it will be doing any severe damage in our neck of the woods. Our power is still on. And Laura and Sophie get to be home today. Best of times. I, of course, would have liked to see it a little heavier so that a day off became a four-day weekend that lead to a three-day week that lead to Christmas break. But I'll take today and enjoy it.

My sister turned 37 on Tuesday. My dad turns 63 tomorrow. My oldest brother celebrates his 18th anniversary on Monday. A good time of the year for celebration.

Speaking of which, my blogger friend ScottB, aka Berkhimer, and his wife are in the hospital today where their third boy (if I'm not mistaken) is entering this world. "Has entered" by now. Prayers and celebrations for and with him and his family. And he can mail me a cigar or some pipe tobacco if he'd like. : ) Congratulations, Scott! (Are you going to name this one Steve?)

I began reading Luke in the much-censored New Living Translation (is that why I like it so much?) this morning. The Magnificat is, well, magnificent. Most blessed of women indeed. I need to do more of this sitting and reading the scriptures as a story. I would love to have at least one copy of the scriptures that has no verse or chapter delineation. That would be mucho cool. Does anyone know where I can get one? I might even be able to live with the chapters as long as they got rid of the verse indicators.

Anyone want to babysit my kids so I can go see Kong? I think it's going to be spectacular. C'mon - it's just four kids. Only one is in diapers. They only fight sporadically over the course of a quarter-hour. I'd pay at least $1 for every hour and maybe an extra quarter for every dirty diaper. Anyone? Anyone?

Laters.