hello again. i am just now remembering that i was going to tell you what i'm reading/listening to when i write these, and that for the most part, i haven't done it lately. so, today i am reading the screwtape letters by c.s. lewis and listening to sigur ros, who, consequently, will be playing at calvin in february. good job, calvin college.
(in related "good job, calvin college" news, i am sad to be missing the january series this year. i recently received the speaker schedule in the mail and was thrilled to see lauren f. winner and paul rusesabagina, among others, on it. i am less grieved to be missing these two as a will see lauren f. winner at jubilee in february, and recently saw paul rusesabagina speak at the university of pittsburgh. for those of you who are unfamiliar with these two people, do yourself a favor and get to know them. i have recently developed an author-crush on lauren winner after reading her mudhouse sabbath. she is also the author of the renowned girl meets god and real sex, which i have not yet read, but plan to in the very near future. paul rusesabagina is the man whose life is depicted in the film hotel rwanda. listening to him speak was surreal, since this man has witnessed more horror with his own eyes than i could imagine even in my wildest and most terrifying nightmare. if you have the chance to see him speak at the january series, go.)
okay then. so, the point of this post was to say that last night i saw the chronicles of narnia: the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. it was pretty great, and i would recommend it. it made me wonder if non-christians would catch the allegory-like resemblance to the christian story. on my way home, i had the hymn "come thou fount" in my head. this has always been one of my favorite songs (until my father tried to ruin it for me over thanksgiving break... i'll never be able to sing the "here i raise my Ebenezer" part again! i specifically looked for a version without that line to post here!) but anyway, the lines i put in bold came to mind as i was thinking about what aslan did for edmund. i am curious to see how people respond to this film.
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
(John Wyeth)
Come, Thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the Mount, I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of God's redeeming love.
Hitherto, Thy love has blessed me,
Thou hast brought me to this place.
And I know Thy hand will lead me,
Safely home by Thy good grace.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He to rescue me from danger,
Bought me with His precious blood.
O to grace, how great a debtor,
Daily I'm constrained to be.
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
okay, enough for now. i have to go and finish my end of semester evaluation stuff for my meeting tomorrow. and also, i just really want to get out of this tundra they call my office.
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Greetings from Budapest! Remember me? A few comments: 1) When I read Real Sex last spring and found out that Lauren Winner recently got married, I secretly mourned (I guess that's not such a secret anymore). I thought we were perfect for each other. 2)Last weekend I flew to London with two friends to see The L, The W and the W since it doesn't open here until January, I think. (Yes, I flew to another country to see a movie, but the flight wasn't too expensive, and it's London!) We loved it, especially Lucy's authentic childlike wonder at Narnia. The siblings interacted like real siblings, the witch was icy, the magic was magical, and the creatures realistic. However, we all mentioned that Aslan didn't seem scary enough. There's no doubt in the books that he is pee-in-your-pants scary and could take out anyone at any time if he wanted. I didn't get quite the same sense in the movie (not that he's a cuddly stuffed Lion in the film, but maybe not king of the jungle scary). It weakens the allegory because at its heart is the idea that Aslan could, at any moment, jump up and eat the witch (and all her minions) whole, but he doesn't. If you lose the sense that he could, the allegory loses his power. I am, though, nitpicking - I give it an 8.5 out of 10. 3) And, in case you're wondering, Sigur Ros have a Eastern European fan base (well, at least three of us).
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