Rethinking Heaven: A Review of "The Magician's Nephew" by CS Lewis

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On the way home tonight from Seoul, I finally finished reading, "The Magician's Nephew" by C.S. Lewis. This is the first in "The Chronicles of Narnia" series. Although I would like to write a more in-depth review, I'm going to focus on the books impact on me.

Why am I reading this? I have nothing better to do with my time. Well, I don't know how to respond to that but that's probably not the real reason (and not at all true by the way, even though this is my last week of vacation before the new semester begins). Actually, I started reading this to encourage my son to read it. But then I realized this is good reading for me.

I'm actually on a quest to fill in the holes that are left from my theological education. NT Wright is helping me in tremendous ways and I think C.S. Lewis is complementing Wright. Actually, this book, especially in the second half, made me think more about Heaven. I have probably more recently become complacent about my thinking of Heaven because of the pre-tribulational rapture position that we will be taken out of this world. But C.S. Lewis had a way of reimagining it. Now, I'm not totally sure whether C.S. Lewis was trying to portray Heaven or the Garden of Eden through this book but it struck me as exciting to think of Heaven as a dynamic place like Narnia, a place accessible in this life (although obviously it's not really meant for humans living on earth to access it through magic rings). 

I'm sure things will become much clearer as I continue to read, which I plan to do, and hope to offer a more in-depth review, also looking at those of more fundamentalist and/or progressive backgrounds and their critique(s) on this series.

For now, here are the main characters. Aslan the Lion (Whom I think represents Christ but I'll have to read more), Digory, the nephew of the Magician, Andrew, Polly, Digory's neighbor whom he becomes friends with. There are many more characters who are more developed as the series goes on. One of the interesting things that continue in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," is that the "Wardrobe" is the closet that the characters have to enter in order to go to Narnia. More about that is yet to come.

The Grass is Greener on the Other Side: A Review of "Freckle Juice" by Judy Blume

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 I picked up "Freckle Juice" by Judy Blume up at Bora Public Library recently. It's funny. As I read this short book (less than 100 pages) I found myself envisioning my second or third grade when I attended Shawsheen Elementary School in Greeley, Colorado, and then when I was googling the Freckle Juice movie, I saw that this is about the second grade. So I thought that was something. 

So what's the story about? Spoiler alert! It's about a boy named Andrew who wants to have freckles (What is it about wanting to have what we can't and not wanting what we have?). He envies a boy in his class who has freckles, apparently because then nobody would know whether or not he has washed his face and neck. So a girl in his class gives him a "magic potion" that will give him freckles. But all it does is make him sick. His mom thought that his appendix had ruptured. He stayed home the next day and the day after that, he gave himself freckles with a magic marker. 

Then his teacher, Miss Kelly, came to the rescue and gave him a "magic" freckle-remover kit. He went into the bathroom and removed his so-called "freckles."

The moral of the story: Accept yourself for who you are. If you don't have freckles, be glad you don't. If you have freckles, be glad you do because that's who you are.

If you're looking to check off reading a book, this is an easy one. I would guess an adult could read this whole book in an hour or less in one sitting, though I read it over several days. And now I can check it off the list and am now one book closer to catching up to my son.

By the way, if you're looking for a good library with quality children's books in English, I highly recommend Bora Public Library. By the way, I'm not getting any kickbacks in telling you that.

Robbed

Photo: Pixabay

Artist: Lilly Cantabile

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I resumed reading the KJV (King James Version) Bible backwards today. You can buy your favorite Pure Cambridge Text Bible here. I've read the NT from Revelation to Matthew, respectively, so today I started Malachi in the Old Testament. It's the last book of the Old Testament. And it's probably a book that gets less treatment behind the Bible, especially in churches where the preacher chooses the text each week.

I have two recollections of preachers who preached from this book. One was the pastor I grew up, The Reverend Dr. Jim Christy, at Sunny View Church of the Nazarene, now Celebration Pointe Church at a different location. Unfortunately, I don't remember the content of his sermon. I do remember he was preaching through the Bible, one book at a time, each Sunday.

The second was from the Reverend Dr. Stephen Borger at Nampa First Church of the Nazarene. I remember that he referred to a previous sermon when he preached from Malachi which is encouraging. But he was kind of vague in saying that the Church had been robbed throughout his sermon and people thought that someone literally stole money from the church. By the end of the sermon, everybody was so upset, trying to figure out which evil person could have stolen money from the church. I believe the church must have gotten so many phone calls that the pastor clarified the following week what had happened. People steal from God by not giving their money to him. 

I think, though, that sometimes people give to churches, thinking they are giving to God, but that the money is actually "stolen" in the sense that it isn't used for what the giver intended. It's not quite the same nuance but how many have given to alternate organizations because they didn't trust that the Church was going to use the money for purposes that truly build God's kingdom. I have thought for some time now about giving to Nazarene Compassionate Ministries for some time now because I know that 100% of donations go to help those in need and not to pay salaries of staff who work there. There are many such organizations. 

Before I digress into a debate about where the best places are to donate money, or more accurately, to pay offering (tithe is an Old Testament concept, which also seems appropriate in this context, although some would argue, rightly so, that 10% is actually a pretty small amount), let me suggest some other things that stick out. Keep in mind, I'm referring to the text in the KJV and I am not a KJV only, it's just a challenge that one of my uncle's gave me a few years ago, which I intend to complete (although he doesn't endorse my reading the Bible backwards).

The first thing I noticed, which is the last thing in the book, are these words in all caps: "THE END OF THE PROPHETS." This is a key point for those who claim to be prophets today, you might want to rethink what you're saying by calling yourselves prophets.

When I read Malachi, I see more than just withholding money from God. I read a refreshing thing, that God isn't satisfied by our going to church in and of itself. In fact, God was not accepting the offerings of the people in Malachi. There's a reason for that and we also ought to consider whether God really accepts our offerings if we are just "Sunday" Christians or just "Church Christians" meaning we act like Christians at church but God's Spirit doesn't really move in us when we are at home, in the neighborhood, or at work. And think about that, how hard it is to get along with family and how that might be the real test of whether or not we are really God's people.

But that's not "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say. At the end of the book, there is a promise that God "will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:5-6, KJV). One who is familiar with the gospels will recall that some thought Jesus was Elijah. We have to wonder if the gospel writers, not to mention the witnesses of Jesus, were thinking of this verse, and also what the writer of Malachi had in mind of speaking of this future Elijah.

"Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" A Book Review

 

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Last time I went to the library, I did a couple of searches on recommendations of chapter books for fourth-graders, since my son is in the fourth grade. Unfortunately, many books on the list from Read Aloud America are not available in the city I live in here in South Korea. But I found "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" at one library here in Yongin-City, Kyeonggi Province, South Korea, at Bora Public Library. This library is distinct among libraries in Yongin and this is one way in which it is unique. Even in Korean, only Bora Public Library has this book. I may utilize it to study Korean as well.

What can I say about this book without giving the whole story away? Well, it is a moving book about a girl named "Aven" who has no arms. She was born that way. She was adopted by two of the coolest parents who love her and think of her not as their adopted daughter but as their real daughter. 

Her life is comfortable in Kansas but as a result of her dad getting a job as a theme park manager in Arizona, the whole family "gets to" move to Arizona. But when they get there, there are a whole lot of surprises. I won't spoil it by telling you what those surprises are.

While Aven has no arms, she is a truly remarkable person. You who have known people with disabilities who lived exemplary lives know what I'm talking about. And she becomes friends with two others, one of which also has a disability of sorts and the other is self-conscious about being overweight. But these three become three in a pod.

As I told you, I borrowed this book for my son but I am 46 years and I absolutely loved it. In fact, I wish I had read a book like this when I was in the fourth grade and had a hard time making friends. This book is a must read for anyone, big or small. 

I'll warn you now, once you pick it up you won't want to put it down and don't be surprised if you shed a tear at some point, especially at the end when Aven does the remarkable on stage.

If you're wondering what age this book is appropriate, according to Common Sense Media, this book is appropriate for children age 9 and above. 

Don't want to go to the library but just want to read it from home. Just click here and you can buy it directly from Amazon. 

Checking In

 I haven't written in a while. I've found enjoyment in listening to the Bible via audio recently. I've listened to the rest of the New Testament (Matthew, though I never wrote about it here). I've been listening to the "Book of Common Prayer" via the Bible app. I've also been thinking about Bible Baptist of Belzview and how cool it would be if they had an audio version. I doubt it would be that hard to set up. I'd ask them myself but we're currently not on the best of terms.

Why we're not on the best of terms goes way back but recently it's related to my Uncle Leland Dirks who passed away in February. There was a lot involved with it. If you want to get a snippet, you can start by reading his obituary here. He was gay and I guess you could say his brothers never really got over that. It's really a sad story that goes back a long way to when my uncle told my grandma, his mom, about it. She never told me about it but I'm sure her youngest who lived with her for many years heard and saw the pain. 

So, I still think about both my deceased uncle and the one uncle that remains on my dad's side of the family. In fact I've thought of writing blog posts to him as if I were emailing him. No, I wouldn't gravel in the pain I feel about his separation from me. I'd write things I'd tell him or ask him about. We have had some good chats (literally, via Facebook Messenger). 

Recently, I've finished my grades for the semester. I've been more meticulous about this than any other time and as a result, I'm behind on preparing for my winter semester class which starts next Monday. That gives me the weekend to work that out. 

I'm meeting some friends at IKEA over the weekend so that will take away some of my preparation time. I'm not sure how it'll work out. These are friends from God's Will Haneul Church, which we used to attend. We left because we had some problems with the leader of our cell group. We were involved for some time but had some differences mostly related to me trying to help him with his English company that never quite got off the ground and then that led to putting all of our cards on the proverbial table about dissatisfaction about the cell group. But the reality was it was a meaningful time for both my wife and I. 

I guess that brings me to the end of my procrastination for now. Off I go to prepare the PowerPoint to introduce my new class to students. We're using World English which is a relatively new series. We'll see how it goes. I've been doing this kind of work now for 16 years. I started at Korea Nazarene University (Scroll to the bottom to find the link to the English page). Now I'm at Myongji University Science Campus, where I've been since 2012.

Alas, I digress. See you next time.

Gospel of Mark: Finished!

 

Image by [Pedroivo] via Pixabay at https://pixabay.com/photos/bible-religion-christianity-gospel-879070/

I did it! It wasn't in a day and it certainly wasn't in one setting, but I did it. I read through the Gospel of Mark in the KJV. That means I am one book shy of reading the entire New Testament in the King James Version, except for Matthew, which will come next.

I'm sure I missed on out some things by reading chapter by chapter. I did read chapters 1-4 in one sitting and then I read the last six chapters in one sitting. The reason for the latter was that I fell behind and was reading chapters 11-14 and then it dawned on me, "With only two chapters left, I might as well read two more chapters and then I can move on to Matthew."

Now, I'm going to confess there is a lot that is hard to understand in the KJV unless I'm really familiar with it. But of course there are new things I glean from reading in a different translation than what I am the most familiar with. I think it would be more helpful to have a KJV study Bible to keep me on track (That's a hint to anybody wondering what to buy me for Christmas. I'd prefer the Oxford Annotated Study Bible with the Apocrypha).

There are three things that stand out to me (Why is it always three?). One, in each Synoptic Gospel (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), the sermon is different. Matthew's is on a mountain (a.ka. mount), Mark's is on a boat, and Luke's is on a plain. I will spare you my speculation on what harmonizers of the gospels (You must know my agony in whether to capitalize "gospel"). I'll save the biggest one for the end.

Second, is the two different endings in Mark. Of course, anybody who reads only the KJV will be confused about this point if they have never read a modern translation that brackets everything after verse 8 of chapter 16. And if the shorter reading is correct, Mark ends kind of on a sour note. "And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulcher; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid." (KJV) Okay, so not quite the sour note I remembered. But not as clear as the rest of the chapter, allegedly added later, according to some scholars. First on my wish list is the dissertation of Kara Lyons, Gospel Women and the Long Ending of Mark. I'll save a conclusion of which is appropriate for further study.

Third, get ready for a flashback to my seminary days. I actually took a class on the Gospel of Mark, taught by Andy Johnson at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City. If you don't know me, this was a constructive time in my faith journey. My faith was broken down in college at Eastern Nazarene College and Northwest Nazarene University and then my faith was built up at Nazarene Theological Seminary. This is not a post to complain about those institutions. All three were good. But I have to admit, as I read the end of Mark, I was reminded of that class and that time in my life. At one point I was disillusioned and even tried to be Agnostic but my now deceased uncle, Leland Dirks, mostly convinced me that wasn't a realistic position because we have to make choices every day on limited knowledge. And so, this time as well, I was grabbed (read "convicted") by Mark 15:39. 

We miss the point today, but the gospels were originally dramas that were read to congregations. They were dramas, according to Andy Johnson (That was more than a few years ago but that is how I recall it being presented in class). Imagine hearing/seeing the story unfold and the most unlikely of candidates affirms that Jesus was in fact, the Son of God. That character was "the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mark 15:39). 

Suddenly the read (a.k.a. audience) is without excuse. You can't just say, "I'll think about it." No, you have to choose to be a person in the story. You can be Judas who betrays Jesus or you can be a variety of people. You could be the centurion, one who would seem to be objective and yet not even he doubts the reality of Jesus being the Son of God, or to put it another way, that Jesus was who he said he was. Can you deny the reality of Jesus as the Son of God?

You may be more bold than I. I personally cannot. I am compelled to respond favorably to God's grace that says God revealed Godself to us through Jesus who was in fact the Son of God. The centurion believes in Jesus as the Son of God (We could get hung up on whether the centurion really believed that Jesus was the Son of God, but I think we'd be missing the point that this was a rhetorical device to make a point). It is as if to say, "Who are you, that you don't believe Jesus was who he said he was and others like the centurion and the disciples who became apostles who testified that Jesus was in fact the Son of God, and yet you don't believe Jesus was the Son of God." I for one could not and cannot. I am compelled to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Book Review: "The Giver"

 

This photo originates from https://www.amazon.com/Giver-Quartet-Book-ebook/dp/B003MC5N28/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=.

My wife, son and I are in the midst of a reading contest. The bad news is that it is going very slow. The good news is that I'm winning! "The Giver" by Lois Lowry is my second book in the contest. I told you it is going slow. The first person to read 31 books is the winner.

I confess, when I first started reading this book, I fell asleep while reading it at Namsa Public Library in South Korea. But let's not blame that on the writer. I had gone hiking with my family in the morning and apparently I was very exhausted.

I won't deny that I was tempted to shelf the book but since the whole purpose of this contest is to encourage my son to read the books we recently bought him, and since he chose this book as the next one I have to read, that didn't seem like a viable option.

So, I started again. And am I ever glad I didn't give up on it. I realized that the reason I fell asleep was not because the book was boring but that it is 100% contrary to my reality. I actually thought this was a book about communism. To put it bluntly, I thought this story was weird.

It's about a people who live in a community (So I was reading into community so much that I erroneously induced Communism, but can you blame me?) and everything is set up in a way that nobody questions anything. There's even a special time set aside to talk about "feelings," that seems like more of an accountability group where that's the only time one can talk about one's feelings. Nonetheless, I thought it might be a good model for my family to follow. I digress.

At the age of 12, children are given jobs. This is based on having been monitored by the powers that be for the last 12 years. Usually it's a good fit. Jonas, the main character, is assigned the task of "Receiver." His job is to carry the memories of the community passed on by the "Giver." Nobody else in the community has these memories. They know nothing of the past, only what happens now. They know nothing of color, diversity, or even love. Even the assembling of the "family" is not naturally but people are grouped together by the authorities.

Jonas's predecessor disappeared. She was "released," which he comes to realize means she was euthanized. If you are unfit for the community, this happens to you. But they don't call it death. Once Jonas realizes this, he and the Giver decide this is not good for the community and that they need to hold onto the memories, not the Giver and the Receiver. Jonas decides to escape with Gabriel, the baby his father is caring for as part of his job. He's about to be euthanized because he cries through the night except when he's with Jonas.

When Jonas starts going through puberty and having romantic dreams, he is instructed by his "mother" that he is to take a pill, which he obediently takes, but once he learns of love, not just in the erotic sense but in the agape sense, and realizes this is a good thing for a family to love each other, he stops taking the pill. 

Is his escape with Gabriel successful? It is indeed, and the place he ends up going is exactly the place he learned of in his first memory passed onto him by "The Giver." And Jonas ends up giving Gabriel memories, starting with when he slept in the same room as Gabriel, in Jonas's room. But then as they escape, though he starts to lose the full memories as he escapes from the community. 

The reader is not given information on what happens to the community after Jonas and Gabriel disappear. Perhaps the reader is left with the hope that both Jonas' and Gabriel's old and new communities experience color, diversity (not sameness) and of course, love in all its facets.

I highly recommend this book to anybody looking for a highly imaginative book that has the potential to challenge us in our current world where it seems we are aiming for some kind of sameness with a lack of diverse perspective. And as a Wesleyan, it's a good reminder that love is the essence of who we are as human beings, created in the image of God.