Happy Birthday Bilbo and Frodo Baggins

Take note that today is the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.

The Fall

Last night my wife and I checked out Christianity Today's "The 10 Most Redeeming Films" series and discovered a film that will, no doubt, become one of my favorites. Its title is The Fall. The reason I am fascinated by the film is that, even though some scenes seemed bizarre and pointless, the film's meaning came into focus as the film ended. I'm sure I will watch the film several more times to pick up more nuances, and I will watch the special features (including two narrations) to discover some of the background, but it is enough to say for now that I was enchanted by the film.

Here's one more note. The reason we decided to see the film is that the C.T. reviewer, Brandon Fibbs, was so positive about it. This morning I reread Fibbs's review and realized that there just aren't a lot of film reviews that are as positive as that one. You also may want to check out the review from the Catholic News Service which isn't nearly as positive.

Meditation in a Toolshed

I discovered a wonderful little gem this morning in The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader." In Chapter Twelve titled "The Dark Island," the voyagers are immersed in Darkness with little hope of escape. The narrator tells us that "Lucy leaned her head on the edge of the fighting-top and whispered, 'Aslan, Aslan, if ever you loved us at all, send us help now.'"

At once, one of the crew saw a tiny speck of light ahead. As they all watched, a broad beam of light fell from it upon the ship, so the whole ship was lit up as if by a searchlight. The narrator points out that Lucy looked along the beam of light and saw something in it. At first it looked like a cross, then like an airplane, a kite, and at last Lucy realized that the beam of light was an albatross. The albatross circled around the mast three times and perched for an instant on the crest of the gilded dragon at the prow. "It called out in a strong sweet voice what seemed to be words though no one understood them." Then the albatross spread its wings and began to fly slowly ahead, as if to guide the ship out of the Darkness.

As the albatross circled the mast, it had whispered to Lucy, "Courage, dear heart." Lucy felt sure the voice was Aslan's. We are told, "and with the voice a delicious smell breathed in her face." The albatross led the voyagers out of the Darkness and into a glorious Light. The chapter is worth reading if only to experience Lewis's description of being in the sunlight.

So what was the gem I discovered this morning? The narrator tells us that Lucy "looked along the beam" of light that flooded the ship. Here we have a case in point, an example of someone doing that which Lewis advises in his essay "Meditation in a Toolshed" published seven years before The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" and available to us in his collection of essays titled God In the Dock.

The message of Lewis's essay is easily conceptualized by reading Lucy's experience. When the crew of the Dawn Treader "looked at" the light, they saw merely a searchlight. When Lucy "looked along" the light, she experienced a manifestation of her beloved Aslan.