Panis de Deo

From Psalms 20: 7-8 --

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

They are brought to their knees and fall,

but we rise up and stand firm.

"Supposing" Narnia

     According to NarniaWeb.com -- <http://www.narniaweb.com/2011/10/douglas-gresham-on-future-narnia-films/> -- 2014 might be the soonest a new Narnia movie could come out.  2 to 3 years until they can even begin to make one.  This is because Walden Media's contract with the C.S. Lewis estate expired, so for some reason they have to wait.

     There's the simple fact that "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (VDT) didn't do very well in the box office, which probably doesn't help the production of another one.  At first, I was totally enchanted with just another Narnia film, and then I began to be discontented about it (a feeling enhanced by other opinions online), but now I'm trying to look at it with a balanced perspective.  I'm not a producer; I don't know if the movie would have been better had its makers stuck with the original story plot.  But I can see why the producers would want to insert another one: I only wish the new plot had been better developed.  That's a different story.  Simply put, I think "Prince Caspian" was beautifully epic, but somewhat missed out on the humor and magic of the books, while VDT abounded in humor and magic, but wasn't epic, and -- finicky humans that we are -- we want both!

     On to different horizons!  Which film would be next if they made one?  If The Magician's Nephew -- magical rings that transport you to different worlds, the decaying land of Charn, Queen Jadis wreaking havoc in London, Aslan singing Narnia to life, horses sprouting wings, Uncle Andrew being planted upside-down, and bulldogs that resent statements.  If The Silver Chair -- Caspian at seventy, marshwiggles that cheerfully suspect dragons and snowstorms around every corner, giants that like to feast on humans, a serpent and a witch, and an enchanted prince -- the sole heir to the Narnian throne -- tied miles underground to a silver chair...

     Oh, boy! :)  

 

Panis de Deo

May the God of peace, who through the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepard of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us that which is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Amen.

-- Hebrews 13:21

quote!

"You don't have a soul.  You are a soul.  You have a body."

-- C.S. Lewis

     It takes a second to understand this one!  There is a simple beauty to it -- we are not physical beings who also happen to have souls on the side, but souls who, for a time, are given material bodies on earth.
     Yes, I like to quote C.S. Lewis. :)

Panis de Deo

Well, I thought I would be posting Bible verses regularly, but I haven't.  We'll see if I can fix that.  Here is one that I love (out of the hundreds!):

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks recieves; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened.

-- Matthew 7:7-8

Pen & Ink

This is a sketch of mine, pen and ink.  The real drawing could fit on a postage stamp (I draw small!).  People's faces and bodies are a favorite subject of mine... you can see here the sketched "cross" on this girl's face that shows how the eyes, nose, and mouth align.

quote!

"God can't give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing." -- C.S. Lewis

Impressionability

We are all more pliable than we like to think we are.  We like to think we can stand strong and be ourselves against the pressure of the status-quo, but when we step back, we realize that we give in much too often without even thinking.  When you have just moved to a new city, especially, the motivation is especially strong to find new friends and be accepted by the crowd.  Not just accepted, but admired.  You don't know these people, so you automatically suppose they must be something big and know what's cool.  Even fads, however silly we may know they are, appear extremely enticing when they are being displayed all around us.  Then we ask, can there be anything that wrong with them?  And the answer very often is 'no'.
I know I'm susceptible.  It doesn't even need to be a huge craze.  In a new town with only one friend (that is, within a six-hour drive), she showed me knitting and I threw myself into it.  Is there anything wrong with learning to knit?  Really, no.  But why did I do it?  Because my friend did.
I had a neighbor who wore a special style of clothes, and I thereafter showed an interest in that style and attempted to find some for myself.  Same story with another friend.  Everyone would say she was really beautiful, and she really was, plus she was older than me.  She didn't even show that much of a like for me, but when she started wearing all these loose tops, it was only after that that I started favorably noticing that style in the stores.
Again, nothing appears wrong with giving in on these issues.  But we need to think more deeply on who it is we're imitating.  If we get too easily into the habit of merely following, will we be able to say 'no' when our answer really matters?
I'm actually scared of where my impressionability will lead me.  I'm haunted by the possibility of answering yes or no at the wrong time.  Will I always be able to recognize what is bad?  Ephesians 5:1 says: "Be imitators of God, therefore..." I admit I'm actually frustrated with Paul for making it sound so easy!  He describes living with the same love that drove Jesus to die for us and simply says, "This is what's expected of you!"
But Jesus gives us a promise:
"I have made You [God the Father] known to them [the body of believers], and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for me may be in them and I myself may be in them." (John 17:26)
That's a big promise!  But we know God always keeps those.  Didn't He keep the promise of a Messiah?