Puddleglum's reasoning reminds me of something Sebastian said in Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Have you read it? I can't look up the whole passage right now but I found a snippet:
“But you can't believe things because they're a lovely idea."
You gave me a description of myself. I’m an Aristotelian Realist too but perhaps that is precisely because my imagination was formed by C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, George McDonald, Hans Christian Anderson, and Oscar Wilde. These authors profoundly illustrate the true, good, and beautiful in unforgettable ways. Next to my formation in the Bible,(I was raised Baptist) the role of fairytale presented by these authors cemented my belief in the invisible.
This formation is probably one of the fundamental forces that led me to the Catholic faith and allowed me to embrace a God who supersedes the boundaries of space and time. I believe these authors helped me comprehend the fellowship of the Saints and journey with them to our true homeland precisely because their stories spoke of what was real even though others were unable to perceive that reality.
Thank you for reminding us of The Real. Let’s keep it Real.
Dear Hilary, this is one of the best things Ive read in a long time. Thanks so much for sharing it on the free side for those of us that can't be a paid subscriber just yet.
I heard a homily story a few years ago about Soviet soldiers harassing Russian peasants in a village, trying to force them to become atheists. After the soldiers' hateful anti-religious diatribes, the peasants would just say, "Christ is risen, Alleluia" and go on with their day.
I thought of that while reading your post. Your writing reminded me that I need to do the same thing.
The Silver Chair is my personal favorite of the Chronicles. I never realized it is so relatable precisely because Asian is not with them and His assignment is difficult. What a tremendous insight, along with how the strategy of the modern world’s system is all there in the underworld of the gaslighting Green Witch. May we all walk as wisely as Puddleglum.
Great post. It is the greatest moment and speech in the entire Narnia series, in my opinion. Nice to see the import of it fleshed out with such clarity and philosophical grounding in this post.
Puddleglum's assertion about reality also calls to mind the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1:
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Since childhood I’ve thought of myself as perpetually homesick. As a teenager I took note of the description of us as “the pilgrim church on earth” and I thought—-yes, that’s it. I have always been a reader but never read C.S. Lewis as a child. The first book of his that I read was The Discarded Image and I have returned to it often. thanks for yet another great essay.
Puddleglum's reasoning reminds me of something Sebastian said in Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Have you read it? I can't look up the whole passage right now but I found a snippet:
“But you can't believe things because they're a lovely idea."
"But I do. That's how I believe.”
You gave me a description of myself. I’m an Aristotelian Realist too but perhaps that is precisely because my imagination was formed by C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, George McDonald, Hans Christian Anderson, and Oscar Wilde. These authors profoundly illustrate the true, good, and beautiful in unforgettable ways. Next to my formation in the Bible,(I was raised Baptist) the role of fairytale presented by these authors cemented my belief in the invisible.
This formation is probably one of the fundamental forces that led me to the Catholic faith and allowed me to embrace a God who supersedes the boundaries of space and time. I believe these authors helped me comprehend the fellowship of the Saints and journey with them to our true homeland precisely because their stories spoke of what was real even though others were unable to perceive that reality.
Thank you for reminding us of The Real. Let’s keep it Real.
Dear Hilary, this is one of the best things Ive read in a long time. Thanks so much for sharing it on the free side for those of us that can't be a paid subscriber just yet.
I heard a homily story a few years ago about Soviet soldiers harassing Russian peasants in a village, trying to force them to become atheists. After the soldiers' hateful anti-religious diatribes, the peasants would just say, "Christ is risen, Alleluia" and go on with their day.
I thought of that while reading your post. Your writing reminded me that I need to do the same thing.
The Silver Chair is my personal favorite of the Chronicles. I never realized it is so relatable precisely because Asian is not with them and His assignment is difficult. What a tremendous insight, along with how the strategy of the modern world’s system is all there in the underworld of the gaslighting Green Witch. May we all walk as wisely as Puddleglum.
Great post. It is the greatest moment and speech in the entire Narnia series, in my opinion. Nice to see the import of it fleshed out with such clarity and philosophical grounding in this post.
Puddleglum's assertion about reality also calls to mind the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1:
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Absolutely every subject mentioned here, interconnected, is my favorite thing. Especially the Ontological Argument. So weird, so cool.
Since childhood I’ve thought of myself as perpetually homesick. As a teenager I took note of the description of us as “the pilgrim church on earth” and I thought—-yes, that’s it. I have always been a reader but never read C.S. Lewis as a child. The first book of his that I read was The Discarded Image and I have returned to it often. thanks for yet another great essay.
Thank you for this post. This is exactly what I needed.
Keepin' it Real.
Thank you so much for this essay. It is my favorite passage from the Narnia books.
I read the first book years ago. Maybe I should read the rest.
Make sure it's in the correct order.
https://decentfilms.com/blog/narnia-right-order
Thank you.
This was inspired and so encouraging! Thank you!