Forty-five years ago today C.S. Lewis died.  I don't know how popular he was at the time, if he would have made headlines, but anything that might have happened didn't because 45 years ago today JFK was assassinated.

Lewis has influenced me more than any author, politician, theologian, or philosopher.  When I see a situation that I don't have an opinion on (rare I know) usually I remember something from Lewis that makes it all seem so clear. 
Lewis had a clarity of thought that seldom occurs, and he had the gift of making the complex simple.  Children enjoy Narnia, but adults can revel in the truths made clear.  The Great Divorce (one of his best writings) shows ingenuity and adaptability.  He took thoughts from different peoples and incorporated them into the book.  Knowing that both his Roman Catholic and Protestant friends would be upset by things he stated.  Yet, he makes Heaven and Hell more real, Heaven is solid and secure, and Hell so insignificant that a butterfly could swallow all of Hell and be none the worse for it. 

Lewis observed things and could see possible and inevitable outcomes.  He saw the pitfalls of a pluralistic society and warned of it's consequences. 

Lewis was one of the great minds in the 20th century, not just of Christianity but of all people.  The one-time atheist turned Christian became a powerful and sane voice of the Church. 

On this day many people remember the death of Kennedy, a man who's legacy was womanizing and very little else.  Let's remember this day in another way, the crossing over of C.S. Lewis into the more solid and real place we call "Heaven". 

Sometimes I overhear parts of ideas of children playing.  Life was so much more as a child... imagination took us on flights of fancy that as adults we try to recreate but never can capture the essence of its magic. 

Question:  Do you want to be a green dragon or a blue dolphin? 


I grew up loving science-fiction, I loved Narnia (which is incredible fiction since Lewis was an adult when writing and didn't have kids to inspire him), and today I still love to take jaunts into sci-fi.  Why?  Because it allows a total break with reality, there are almost always something to ground you in (after all most of the heroes are human or at least look human most of the time) but you can fly high in the sky, exploring clashing clouds with branches of swords.   You are allowed to think on 'deep things' without the context that here on 'earth' you would come to with preconceived notions.  So, while I understant that sci-fi isn't for everyone, it is I think, my favorite genre, it permits me to be a little girl with great dreams of exploring the world and every world beyond.  Sci-fi heroes are often flawed, and I can see their flaws in me, but also I can more easily see their 'greatness'.  Heroes that sacrifice much for the greater good and sometimes, but only sometimes, get a reward for it.  In this genre we want everything to come out clean in the end, but often it doesn't, and that's ok since we know that in life too many times it doesn't on this side of glory.  We see heroes pitted against impossible odds, saying "we are few but we are mighty, we will fight against all odds, because we are the last defense". 

So what would you be?  A Green Dragon or a Blue Dolphin?

One of my good friends sent me an email with a poem that has been floating around the internet about Obama and Socialism (author unknown to me, I did try googling it). 
She knows my utter hatred for communism and thought I would get a kick out of it.  I did.  Enjoy!  :D