Christmas day

  Merry Christmas!


  For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given;
and the government will be upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called
                  Wonderful Counselor,
                        Mighty God,
                  Everlasting Father,
                        Prince of Peace.

  Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David...
               The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

                                                                                                  Isaiah 9:6-7

 

 

       All Beautiful the March of Days

  'All beautiful the march of days, as seasons come and go;
The Hand that shaped the rose hath wrought the crystal of the snow;
Hath sent the hoary frost of Heav'n, the flowing waters sealed,
And laid a silent loveliness on hill and wood and field.

  O'er white expanses sparkling pure the radiant morns unfold;
The solemn splendors of the night burn brighter than the cold;
Life mounts in every throbbing vein, love deepens round the hearth,
And clearer sounds the angel hymn, "Good will to men on earth,"

  O Thou from Whose unfathomed law the year in beauty flows,
Thyself the vision passing by in crystal and in rose,
Day unto day doth utter speech, and night to night proclaim,
In ever changing words of light, the wonder of Thy Name.'

                                                                                  --Willard L. Metcalf  (1858-1925)

 

 

  "Veiled in flesh, the God-head see;
hail the incarnate Deity.
Pleased as Man with men to dwell--
Jesus, our Emmanuel."
                                                  --Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (traditional)


  Did you realize...

             That Jesus was born the King of kings,
                                                 and not a prince first?

 

  That night, the stable sheltered
                               Something
                                          older than the stars--
       Yet having drawn breath with human lungs for only a few minutes;  Something too great to be contained in the universe, yet small enough to be held in human arms;  Something with infinite power, yet concealed in the skin of a helpless human infant;
                        And that Something
                                                         --that Someone--
                   was more real than anything else
               in all the world.

(pictures not mine - all are the property of their original owners)

Ashtown Burials --book series review, Pt. 2

                                                      

          "Now for the storm.

                                    And an end."

                                                                                            --N.D. Wilson, Empire of Bones
 

  Ok, so I have finished reading Empire of Bones, the last book in N.D. Wilson's Ashtown Burials series, (actually I finished it very shortly after writing the first post about it... I'm just now having time to put this one together...) so I thought I'd give you an update on the whole thing.

  I have not had to revolt against the last book.  :P  Which is good!
  I was satisfied with the ending -- thought I was also pretty much not breathing all the way through to the last page...  Whew!

  Now, let me warn you that the rest of this most may contain what might be considered minor spoilers, so don't read the rest unless minor spoilers (ie. no major plot points) don't bother you.  :)  Suffice to say, the whole series is well worth investing your time in reading, and is firmly fixed among my all-time favorites.

  And moving into those might-be minor spoilers...

  Let me just say that Cyrus and Antigone are fabulous characters.  Absolutely fascinating, very relatable, and always growing and inspiring me to follow.
  Empire of Bones (the whole series, really) has really given me a lot to think on--  particularly in the area of courage, and in doing very hard things even when the outlook is grim or impossible.  (those places where my hobbit-like self would much prefer to hunker down in my pantry with a pot of tea...)  Cyrus and Antigone are teaching me what courage looks like, and how it is cultivated.

  You may or may not know this about me, but I am not at all comfortable with Revelation/End-times things.  Not one little bit.  All that stuff really scares me.  I'd much rather skip right to the Rapture and the new Heaven and new Earth without all the really difficult stuff coming first.  I'd much rather not talk or think of any of it at all, as if that somehow could make it happen the way I wish it would.
  But visiting Ashtown is helping me change my perspective.  Slowly, very slowly;  and I don't feel right now like I have even a fraction of the courage of Antigone or Cyrus --and not in a million years that of Rupert Greeves or Nolan or Diana-- but I can slowly feel the tiniest hint of warmth from a little spark of real bravery;  the kind that can learn to stand up against all odds;  the kind our Savoir meant for us to have to live lives of boldness in His name.

                            For God has not given us a spirit of fear,
                                                      but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
                                                                                                  2 Timothy 1:7

  I love the way Wilson handles the heavy subjects of death and the fear of death throughout Ashtown Burials.  He does a great job making the point that death is not something to obsess over one way or the other;  not something to seek or to cower from.  It is simply something that, for the Christ-follower, we have to pass through that confirms yet again that Jesus is Lord of all, and has conquered death once and for all.  It's like the last gate we pass through before we're forever free of mankind's Curse.  In that assurance, we can learn not to be afraid of the power of death, because though we still have to drink the cup, we are immune to any of its effects.

  Wilson also has written (in Empire of Bones) one of the most beautiful, powerful descriptions of love and of real heroism that I have ever read.  I wanted to share part of that with you as I finish this post;

  "Heroes... do not pour out their blood because the one they save deserves such a sacrifice.  [No,]
          Love burns hotter than justice,
                       and its roar is thunder.
                                              Beside love, even wrath whispers.
  Not one of us snatching breath with mortal lungs deserves such a gift, and yet every day such a gift is given.
  ...To love is to be selfless.  To be selfless is to be fearless.  To be fearless is to strip your enemies of their greatest weapon.

  Our goal was never to live; our goal is to love.  It is the goal of all truly noble men and women.

  ...[We are] following in the steps of the one Mortal
                     from whom even the Reaper fled in fear.
                                                    ...Only love can set a man's feet on such a path.  Only love
                                                     can see him through, into rest and the hot light of the sun."

                                                                                            --N.D. Wilson, Empire of Bones

  One more thing;  You would think it would be irritating for an author to hint at and describe things in their story that they never fully explain in the end, which I noticed Wilson does quite often.  But it's not.  I actually think it makes his stories ten times richer, because you don't understand every detail (funny; just like in the real world...), and your imagination can't help but run wild.  It actually just shows greater skill on the part of the author, to know the world you've created that well and be able to pull the feat off.

  So, in closing, get yourself out there and start reading (and growing from) Ashtown Burials!

                                               

I heard the bells

     Christmas Bells
                    poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
                                           written December 25th, 1864




'I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!







And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!" '




                                                  ~     ~     ~
  I love this version of the poem, sung beautifully by Casting Crowns;
                               (I'm currently working on an aerial silks routine to this song.  Perhaps after I finish and film
                                                                                                                        it, I'll post it sometime...)


         I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day -- Casting Crowns 


                                                  ~     ~     ~

Ashtown Burials --book series review

--this review is rather long, but bear with me; it's worth it!  :) --

       'North of Mexico, south of Canada, and not too far west of the freshwater sea called Lake Michigan, in a place where cows polka-dot hills and men are serious about cheese, there is a... motel... shedding yellow paint...  The walkways are powdered orange with rust.  The cracks in the small courtyard are thick with thistles.  Behind the motel, a battered and split chain-link fence imprisons a swimming pool too small for a diving board even if its cracked bottom could have held water.

       ...To a traveler's eyes, the motel is dead and useless, a roadside tragedy, like the remains of some unfortunate animal in a ditch—glimpsed, mourned, and forgotten before the next bend in the road.

...

       A lean, white-haired man in an ancient leather jacket and gloves stepped out of the truck into the rain.  [He reached] into his jacket.  "Boy, you ever seen a lightning bug?"

       "Every summer," Cyrus Smith said.  "Why?"

       "Not fireflies, son."  The old man held out [a glass square.]  "I'm talking lightning bugs."  The glass was rippled and warped—homemade somehow.  Frozen in its center, with six legs folded against its belly and black armor that glistened with blue, there was a heavy beetle.  The glass was drip-free and dry.  The rain didn't seem to touch it.

       ..."Careful, she's hot," [the old man] said, and Cyrus closed his fingers around the glass.

       Electricity shot up his arm, buzzing in his joints...  He staggered backward...shaking himself loose from the current.  Glass shattered on the asphalt at his feet, and the heavy beetle tumbled free.

       ..."If I were you," the old man said, "and I wanted to stay alive, I'd get those bare feet of yours off the wet ground and inside.  Fast."

       ...Cyrus's feet began to tingle.  With a pop and a crackle, the lightning bug launched...  Cyrus spun away, asphalt tearing at the balls of his feet as he scrambled toward the motel.  Four strides. Five, and he was in the courtyard.  Ten, and he'd reached the front door.  He jerked it open.

       Thunder knocked him forward.' 

                                            (—The Dragon's Tooth,  N.D. Wilson)

  Allow me to introduce you to the Ashtown Burials -- the latest book series from author N.D. Wilson, and the latest to accomplish the monumental task of climbing up to stand among my very favorite books of all time.  Which is a huge accomplishment, considering that Ashtown Burials had to be tested with the likes of Lewis, Tolkien, Jane Austen, and Robert Louis Stevenson...  But they have indeed made it up there, and have very firmly planted themselves.

  (I'm reading them aloud with my 12-year-old brother who absolutely loves them --  so they're captivating quite a wide age-range!  (I'm 22) )
  So, because I love this series so much, I thought I should give you a brief review (don't worry, I'll avoid spoilers!) to pull you all into the adventure you've been missing!




  Firstly, let's talk about N.D. Wilson's brilliant, incredibly vivid writing.  To try to sum it up in just one word:  WOW.
  You know how they tell you when you write to use rich, imaginative words and descriptions, full of color and running over with every one of our human senses -- not just sight and sound, but smell, touch, and taste as well? (all you writers out there know exactly what I mean!)  Well, Wilson does that.  Constantly.  And what's more, he always does it well.  Very, very well.
  Meanwhile, he weaves in all kinds of hints and little plot threads you hardly notice until they really start to come together, so that all the while you're learning information you didn't even catch.  And when it comes to the surface, you're still surprised, though you realize everything's been leading that direction all along!


  (Here I have to admit that the first time I read The Dragon's Tooth, (book one in the series) it was all I could do to try to keep track of what was going on — not because of Wilson's writing, but because I was totally unprepared for reading and experiencing a story like this with so many dimensions on so many levels.  I had to really concentrate!  But I was captivated right away, and as soon as I was done, I couldn't wait and I went right back and read through it again.  :P  And the second time, it all made so much sense!  I caught so many things I'd missed, and I was able to really enjoy the writing and the story and the characters and the quality.  And each time I read it, it gets better — just like re-reading Lewis and Tolkien over the years and always discovering new things.)


  Also fascinating;  Wilson has sibling-interactions and the workings of the mind of a 12-year-old boy down to... pretty much absolutely perfect.  And they crack me up, because they're so, so true.


  Throughout each of these books, I find myself alternately laughing out loud, holding my breath, re-reading descriptions I know I'm only scratching the surface of, and shaking my head as realization dawns and my mind is slowly churning,  'Oh...no.  No, no, no. This is really not good...'  But I don't think it'd be possible to stop reading -just to avoid the things about to go wrong- when I'm so totally caught up in it all...  :P


  Take a look at this example of Wilson's excellent writing, and a bit of that sibling-interaction I mentioned:

       'Tiny drops of clear liquid were rolling through yellowing pages and ancient envelopes.  Cyrus thumped to his knees.  The drops were seeking each other, growing larger as they tumbled over shards of glass, through bunnied dust, and around Antigone's [his sister's] boots.

       A ball slopped off Antigone's toe, swallowing a whole flock of drops and gathered around her sole.

       "I wouldn't touch it," Antigone said.

       Cyrus extended a finger.  "It looks like water."

       "It's not acting like water.  It's acting like mercury."

       "I've never seen how mercury acts."  Cyrus poked it.  The ball quivered and slid slowly away on its flat belly.  ...Cupping his hands, Cyrus picked it up.

       "Mercury is poisonous," Antigone said.  "...It can soak through your skin and kill you."

       "But this isn't mercury," said Cyrus.  "This is water.  Should I taste it?"

       "You've been a little hard to deal with lately, so yeah, go ahead." '

  And this one too:

       'Room 110 was all Antigone.  Like Cyrus, she had lined every bit of the open walls with shelves.  Unlike Cyrus, she had actually painted the paneled walls first (pale blue), she actually dusted her shelves, and she actually vacuumed the golden-brown carpet.  Cockroaches, ants, and spiders actually died in 110—111 [Cyrus' room] was more like a wildlife preserve...

       "You'd've killed Dan if he put that guy in this room.  You know you would."  [said Cyrus.]

       "Yes," Antigone said.  "I would.  But... you can't blame Dan.  I'm sure he's getting paid well, and we need it.  You know he has it worse than we do."

       Cyrus sat up.  "Wait.  You'd kill him, but you wouldn't blame him?"

       "Right."

       ..."And he has it worse than us?"

       "Right again,"  Antigone said.  "I'm proud of you, Cyrus.  You've learned to listen."  She glanced up.  "You and I don't have to deal with us.  We are us.  Dan does have to deal with us—you in particular."  ...[she sighed.]  "Maybe tomorrow we'll wake up and find out that we're still four and five years old, I'm still taller than you, and everything around here has just been a very complicated daydream..."

       Cyrus... grinned.  "...I was already taller than you when I was four." '

  As was said about C.S. Lewis—

'What he believed about everything was secretly present in what he said about everything.'

  That's very true about Wilson as well.  Ashtown Burials deals fluidly with weighty themes of life and death, survival, doing hard things, and fighting hard so that evil doesn't triumph 'because good men are doing nothing.'  Wilson has a firm grasp on what he believes, and it seeps into every bit of what he writes.

  So as I mentioned, I read Dragon's Tooth and loved it, and I was happy with where it ended.  And I like to leave stories I love in happy situations.  (it doesn't have to be exactly a 'happy ending', just a satisfying end situation I can live with, that doesn't include everyone dying.)  That's just how I work.

  Which meant I was very hesitant to read the second book, The Drowned Vault.  Some things were hinted at in the end of the first book that I wasn't sure I wanted to see play out and might ruin my satisfying ending...  While I was really curious, I didn't plan to read it -- until my brother practically begged me to so that I could read it to him afterwards.  :P   So I made myself read it.

  And I'm not kidding or just using a catchy phrase when I say I had a hard time putting it down.  (the only reason I did put it down now and again was because I had to work. And eat food. And do responsible, normal life things now and again - darn it!)  I totally ate it up from cover to cover.

  Yes, things did get worse and in intensify from where they were in the first book, and the stakes were raised, and raised, and raised again.  The writing was still brilliant.  And it was incredibly refreshing to see that none of that raising-of-the-stakes and whatnot was because the author was just adding new things to try to keep the story going— No, all of it had been there from the beginning, embedded in the story's foundations.  Much of the 'new' stuff stemmed from things that I'd missed or disregarded after their initial purpose simply because they hadn't seemed like a big deal in the first book, or they came from implications I just hadn't fully realized before.

  I'm currently working on reading the third and final book, Empire of Bones, and I'm working through the same feelings of worrying about loosing the last satisfying ending if this one doesn't turn out how I hope it will.  But, at about one-third of the way into it, I'm already enjoying myself just as much as with the other two books, though there's this terrible feeling of foreboding hanging over me as I'm realizing all the huge, heavy things that have to be resolved before the story comes to a close...

  I don't want to give away more of the plot than I have to, so in closing I'll just take a moment to mention characters -- or at least Cyrus and Antigone, since I don't want to give the others away...

  (and as an aside, Wilson really knows how to create bad guys who really are bad, and knows how to make you really want to see them defeated;  not for revenge just because they've done cruel things, but because you just can't stand to see them loosed any longer on humanity, and because justice demands it.  Quite well done!)

  I love so many of the characters in this series, I can't really pick a favorite.  Though I guess I could say Cyrus, 'cause he's hilarious, and it's all about him anyway...

  My brother and I have spent many a car ride or chore time talking about different characters and what we like about them, their interesting qualities, and wondering about how they think, why this or that, and so on.  They're all fascinating, and have very interesting, interwoven backstories.

  And many names of famous historical and mythological figures you know well come up throughout Ashtown;  Amelia Earhart, Theodore Roosevelt, Gilgamesh...  Yes, they're famous, but not for the reasons you've always thought they were.  (and here's where I mention that I really love stories that do this kind of re-weaving of history well!  [We won't even talk about stories that don't do it well.] Ahem.  Anyway...)

  And Cyrus's little pet...umm...  (How can I say this without giving it away?)  Let's just say that Cyrus's pet, Patricia, is awesome, and I want her.  :P

  So yes, go out and get yourself into the Ashtown Burials.  (add them to your Christmas list!  Find them at the library!)  And when you've read them, let me know and I'll be dying to hear what you thought.  (though I might not listen if you don't like them...  Kidding! ...I think...  :P )