Good of night

"Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation

Darkness stirs and wakes imagination..."

Phantom, Music of the Night

I'm a big fan of nighttime. It is cool, and peaceful, it feels natural (esp when in the city), and the stars are out (not when in the city). And, hopefully, you get to sleep. 

There is, of course, the other side of night. The active side. The lights, the energy, the movement, the life of a city at night. As such, this photo, of the High.

Home, revisited

[Apologies for the lengthy excerpts.]

Mole finds his home:

"Now, with a rush of old memories, how clearly [home] stood up before him, in the darkness! Shabby indeed, and small and poorly furnished, and yet his, the home he had made for himself, the home he had been happy to get back to after his day's work. And the home had been happy with him, too, evidently, and was missing him, and wanted him back, and was telling him so, through his nose, sorrowfully, reproachfully, but with no bitterness or anger; only with plaintive reminder that it was there, and wanted him."

And later:

"He did not at all want to abandon the new life and its splendid spaces, to turn his back on sun and air and all they offered him...But it was good to think he had this to come back to, this place which was all his own, these things which were so glad to see him again and could always be counted upon for the same simple welcome."

"Dulce Domum" is a marvelous chapter of Wind in the Willows. I highly recommend it. Especially after pondering about home. Or when in good company. Or both.

"It feeds my sense of truth."

Home-ily

We're currently remodeling our house. Repainting, relandscaping, rethis and rethat. So the house looks a bit different. Having spent some eighteen years of my life in this house, it is a strange feeling. Even so, no matter how many changes we might make, so long as my family is here this will be a place I call home. Yet if my family all moved, but the house stayed the same, it would still be a house, but would not be home. So what makes home, home?

First, in no particular order, what sprang to mind concerning home:

- Home Sweet Home

- Home is where the heart is

- You're Like Coming Home (Lonestar)

- "Let's go home, Sam."  (Frodo to Samwise Gamgee in LOTR, after delivering the ring to the elves)

- Irvine, Oxford, and Westmont

- Family and friends

- Narnia

- Heaven

What really...um...struck home....is the universality of the recognition of Home, across and within cultures and societies. Home is so inherent, and runs so deep and strong, it cannot be ignored. Corrupted or attacked, yes; ignored, no. Is it so essential that every major world "religion" is forced to somehow incorporate the concept of home. But that's not right. Ironic, even. Truth simply cannot be shut down.

The natural question, then, is where does this come from? Why do we have this?

Consider this excerpt from Lewis' The Last Battle. It comes after the destruction of the old Narnia and at the edge of entering into the New Narnia and Aslan's Country.

It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right forehoof on the ground and neighed, and then cried:

"I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!"

We live in an "already/ not yet" kingdom; a kingdom not fully revealed. The clearest glimpses of the kingdom, whether in Lewis' writings or a person or Communion, are the clearest glimpses we have of Home. Home is where we belong. Home is a matter of identity, and fidelity. It's where we were made to be. Everything I have ever known of Home points to this: we are at home when in right relationship with the King and the Kingdom.

Bartleby

Recently I discovered bartleby.com. It's terrific! As one who's knowledge in all things literature is amateur in the extreme (note, for instance, the grammar of this sentence), my meanderings in bartleby are consistently enjoyable. Today's quote:

"The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines."

- Frank Lloyd Wright

And what of the biomedical engineer, Mr. Wright?

Le Grand Bleu

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by. John Masefield

RT, movie critic

On Saturday I saw Indiana Jones #4. It was, for the most part, enjoyable. Some parts terrific, some parts off-putting, some just good. At the very least it was remarkably consistent with the first three with style, plot, character personas...and of course, snakes. Still, it left me a bit uneasy. The phrase "mindless entertainment" kept coming to...um...mind- and that bothered me.

Is "mere entertainment" enough? Simply put, No. There is far too much to do in this world to justify mere entertainment. Why settle, when there is so much else that is every bit as enjoyable, but also infused with enough meaning--or enough open questions--to be inherently worthwhile, and subsequently satisfying.

And yet here I am, writing something (of whatever worth) in response to that of which I am critical. The movie has become a medium. So should that "No" be a conditional no?

Here's the catch: I went to the movie with friends. I saw it in community. We went together, laughed together, talked about it afterwards, together. And that just makes sense. Kingdom living demands such community. Not that I'm never supposed to do anything on "my own"- read a book, or listen to music, or work out- but that it is in the kingdom community that I learn to do such things well, and to pass on the good to others. How else could it be for broken and redeemed servants of a triune king?

So the 'No' isn't conditional (neither is this no). Time with friends can obviously be well spent even if the context isn't itself particularly worthwhile. So then, how much more will that time be well spent if both the company and the context are good!

Movies are stories. And Story is a medium that unites all humanity as a method to learn and to teach, regardless of time, age or place. Indiana Jones is fun, and I'm glad I went, and I'm especially glad of how I went. Spending a saturday afternoon with friends watching a childhood hero saving the world while escaping poison darts, atom bombs, cate blanchett, and REALLY big ants, then talking about it afterwards, is definitely worthwhile.

Sola Gratia

Amazing Grace 

How sweet the sound 

Amazing Love 

Now flowing down 

From hands and feet 

That were nailed to the tree 

As Grace flows down and covers me 

It covers me 

It covers me 

It covers me 

And covers me