"There are no accidents." How I found Tolkien and C. S. Lewis

 Over six decades ago, I was a student worker in the library of Wisconsin State University at Superior. Student workers had access to the bookshelves (aka stacks), although other students generally did not. I was putting a shelf to order, or some such, when I saw Tolkien’s The Fellowship ot the Ring. I checked it out, and read it. I became so deeply involved with it that I took the book home to Birchwood, WI, for the weekend, and read the chapter on Gandalf’s battle with the Balrog to some or all of my three younger brothers. I eventually read the other two books of the trilogy. I don’t know what my brothers thought of this, or if all three of them heard it.

A few years later, while I was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, I was exploring the children’s fantasy section of the library – they were less restrictive on access to the collection than Superior had been – I found The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. I don’t remember the details of finding Lewis’s other works, including the other Narnia volumes, but I eventually read nearly all of his published books, both fiction and religion.

As a character from Lewis’s The Silver Chair put it, “There are no accidents.”

I thank God for the two encounters described above, and for the experiences that followed them. I learned something of honor, wisdom, self-sacrifice, worship, faith, loyalty and other virtues from Tolkien and Lewis.

Sunspots 710

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: (and Sports) Relevant reports that a Chicago Bears kicker did not make a field goal that would have won the game, but thanked God, anyway.

Education: NPR reports on poor reading scores, which are widespread, and a fundamental reason for them -- educators aren't using scientific findings on learning to read. In some places, this is being remedied.

Food: (and Health) Gizmodo reports that millions of Americans think they have a food allergy, but don't.

Health: NPR reports that increases in drug prices are primarily due to drug company attempts to make more money, rather than research costs.

Humor: (or Food) A sculpture, constructed of a half ton* of butter, has been produced in Pennsylvania, according to NPR.

Politics: NPR reports that the acting Secretary of the Interior may be worse than his predecessor at protecting the environment.

(or possibly, humor) A few days ago, President Trump said that he knew more about drones than anyone. The Washington Post has compiled a list of things the President claims to know more about than anyone else. The list also includes people (not him) that Mr. Trump says are the world expert on various topics.

It's almost that time again, I'm afraid. But FiveThirtyEight analyzes Presidential primary debates, and finds that they are important.

Science: Gizmodo tells us (with pictures) that some hummingbird species have beaks specialized for aggression toward rivals.

(and food) NPR reports on granary weevils, insects that have been eating our stored grain throughout human history.

Scientific American on how the part of the border wall already built is damaging habitat and migration routes for animals, and how adding to the wall will make things worse.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain. 

Thanks for looking!

*When this was posted, I had carelessly said a half-pound of butter, not a half ton. I thank one of my brothers for bringing this error to my attention.

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 11

[Knapp concludes his discussion of bad impressions]
Bad Reading. Its influence for evil can not be estimated. Its impression for wrong will be as deep and lasting as hell itself.

These, and other wiles, are shrewdly manipulated by Satan, and over them impressions are constantly reaching the mind. Their constant clicking is confusing and frequently confounding to those who have not the spiritual education to distinguish the sources from which they come.

The human soul beneath these influences is like a place where two winds meet, the cold blizzards from the frigid zone of Satanic temptation and the refreshing gales from heavenly heights; or where two armies meet in fierce and deadly fray.

The soul itself can decide which shall prevail, and upon its decision hangs its character and its destiny. He who sides with convictions from above shall wear a victor's crown forever; with impressions from below shall be crownless and Christless through all eternity.

From Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here. 

Excerpts from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 5

Good Reading. Good books and papers are among the mightiest agencies which God is now using to impress men with His truth. Through them He is silently undermining the fortifications of the enemy, and building up His spiritual kingdom. They have won many who were impervious to all other appeals, and their influence is mighty and quiet, like the laws of gravity.

Angels. Impressions from above often come from holy angels.

The Psalmist declared that "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them." These, and many parallel passages in the Word are confirmed by the express declaration in Hebrews that "they are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation."
Wise, mighty, holy, elect and innumerable, they are among the most powerful, yet unseen and often unappreciated agencies God has given to "have charge" over His people. Sometimes their special errand is to comfort in some fiery furnace; or to cheer in some dark lion's den; or to warn of some threatening peril; or to deliver Peter from prison; or rejoice over souls newly saved; or to announce the tidings of a Savior's birth and resurrection; or to execute the judgments of God upon the ungodly; or to influence a preacher's appointment, as with Philip; or to help a seeker to obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost, as with Cornelius; or to cheer in danger and point to a promising future, as with Paul. In every instance they have human interest in their keeping, and doubtless much more frequently than is generally thought are the agents of impressions from above.

From Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Sunspots 560

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: A list of 50 books a child should read before age 12.

ListVerse gives us an annotated list of the origins of 10 common words, including poison, influenza and OK.

Christianity: Relevant asks why more churches don't put women in various leadership roles.

Relevant also points out five scripture passages that Christians tend to ignore.

And Relevant asks if Muslim refugees are really a threat to Christianity in the U.S.

And Relevant has posted 10 "profound quotes" from D. L. Moody.

Finance: (and politics) FiveThirtyEight reports on a study that shows that the children of richer parents, or parents who are married to each other, are better off than other children. This is especially true for boys.

Health: Wired reports that we aren't certain that the Zika virus causes microcephaly.

The History Blog reports that a Canadian First Nations group has been using a certain clay deposit for medicinal purposes, and that this same clay may be effective against some of the most dangerous microbes.

Politics: A post in Relevant reminds us of 7 things Christians need to remember about politics.

Science has posted about what the Presidential candidates (some no longer viable) say they believe about various scientific issues, such as funding for research, global climate change, and vaccination. There is nothing about origins in the article.

ListVerse has posted about 10 previous episodes where the US had to decide what to do with refugees. Our reactions were a mixed bag, for sure.

Science: The BBC says that the gut bacteria of bears help them to prepare for winter, by storing more fat shortly before they hibernate.

Wired tells us, with photos, that there have been several different volcanic eruptions over the last few days.


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 406

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else: 

Humor: Some Japanese men announce their love for their wives publicly (and loudly).

(This is not humor, but I don't have a category for it.) CNN reports that there are quite a few fires on cruise ships, and that workers on cruise ships may work long hours for low pay.

Sports: Dean Smith, legendary North Carolina men's basketball coach, is losing his memory.

Sports Illustrated has posted a gallery of 100 photos of Michael Jordan, who played for Smith, and in the NBA. Jordan turns 50 this year, and is arguably the best basketball player of all time.

The Arts: Rebecca Luella Miller has written a fine piece on 21st Century idolatry. She is particularly interested in idol worship of characters such as Harry Potter, Frodo, Katniss, and whoever is in the Twilight books and movies (she knows, but I'm not sure). As she points out, one reason for idolizing fictional characters is that we know that Frodo is never going to be caught in adultery, or get so old that he can't sing or sink a putt. Idolized humans, even Christian ones, all too often disappoint us.

Christianity: Rebecca Luella Miller also has some serious thoughts about reading fiction as a discipline, not as entertainment, or at least not just as entertainment.

Image source (public domain)

I'm an information junkie. Are you?

I confess. I'm an information junkie. If I see part of a sporting event on TV, I want to know who won it, even if I've never seen the team, or individual, before. I listen to National Public Radio news programs a lot, and I often stay in the car after arriving at my destination, because I want to hear the rest of the story. I read a lot, on-line and in classical media. When the Watergate Hearings were on TV, I watched a lot of them. I didn't need to, but I wanted to. My wife and I have four information appliances in our home. I don't think we are ever actively using all four at once, but we often use two at a time, and occasionally three. Maybe you are like that. Maybe not. In this day of Twitter, texting while driving, libraries, magazine sales at the checkout counter, GPS devices, walking with earbuds in your ears, hundreds of TV channels, and lots and lots of on-line sites, including some apparently important ones that I've never heard of, a lot of people out there must be like that.

I guess I should stop and say that "information" has a technical meaning, or several such. I used an information appliance to look that linked source up, by the way.

Why am I like this? Why are you? I'm not sure. Part of it is that we need to know things for various reasons, such as to rear our children, do our job, study the Bible, converse with other people. Some of it must be that wanting to know things must be part of the image of God in us. Unfortunately, some of our information searching is sinful, however. Seeking out pornography, stealing someone's identity, finding out about things that we covet, when we don't need them, being a fan of the wrong sort of celebrity, seeking out stuff to gossip about, in various ways, are bending information hunger into wrong directions.

Am I ever going to see all of the sports events on TV, no matter how many channels I have at my disposal? Am I ever going to know all of the news being pumped out? Am I ever going to read all the books I've thought about reading? No. Neither are you.

Is that bad? Not necessarily. Most of the stories I can look at, in all kinds of media, have little value now. Almost none of them will have much importance ten years from now. Very, very few of them will have any importance in 2112.

There's a moral in that last paragraph. I need to pay attention to it. What's that moral? Ultimately, there's only one story that's of eternal importance. That's the story of Christ. He created, He sustains, He lived for us, died for us, was resurrected for us, and, by His death and resurrection, paid the penalty for our sins. He is now waiting for us. That story makes the Southeast Conference, National Public Radio, NBC, the local newspaper, all the magazines available at the supermarket, all the sites on the Internet, all the books in the library, all the tweets in cyberspace seem so insignificant that it's hardly worth paying attention to them, in comparison.

Thanks for reading. I hope that wasn't too much information!

We are what we read

Rebecca Luella Miller, of Speculative Faith, reports that there is some empirical evidence that what we read affects our personality. This is hardly a surprise, is it?

Consider this case. It is anecdotal, not experimental, but anyway:
"What made the change in Lewis? In a word, fantasy. It is no stretch to say that Lewis's faith journey began as a result of reading stories that were dripping with Christian truth -- awakening within him a desire for something he didn't possess." Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware, Finding God in the Land of Narnia (Tyndale House: 2005) The quotation is from p. xi. The stories referred to are those of George MacDonald.

Thanks for reading.

How to read the Bible

How to Read the Bible
1) Reading the Bible, like any other habit, takes effort over a period of time. And, unlike most habits, there’s an Enemy who is fighting you. Keep at it. If you stop, start over.
2) Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Don’t promise to read the Bible through in a year before you have trained yourself to read, and really process a few verses, or even only one, every day. Some fine Christians seldom or never read the Bible straight through.
3) Use a modern version. You can buy some from Wal-Mart or a religious bookstore. The American Bible Society offers editions of the NLT, the ESV, the CEV and the NIV for less than $10. Wal-Mart on-line has good prices for a couple of versions, including the New King James, and The Message is available from Amazon or other vendors. No version is perfect, but all of these, and others, can help you. There are some free modern versions for Kindles and other e-readers, but they don’t have all the helps of an electronic version that you would buy.
Be careful in choosing. Remember that some Bibles are sold with a particular doctrinal agenda, (Offered by TV speakers, some of whom are heretical, or who push a view of prophecy that many Christians doubt.) or to appeal to a particular group (teenaged girls, etc.).
The King James Bible has helped many people, including me, but some of its wording is hard to understand, some of it is incomprehensible to most people, and there are new findings. (See here for more information.)
4) Use a plan. The devotional book accompanying the Sunday School quarterly that my church uses seems to have a good reading plan. There are many others. Search on-line for “Daily Bible Reading” and pick a plan, or use something recommended by someone else. I use the ESV One Year Bible, which I get from the web each day, but it’s not for everybody. Some people’s plan is to study what is of particular interest to them each day. No plan is perfect. Any plan needs God's help.
5) Pray before reading. Ask God to help you get something out of the Bible that will help you, and remember that you may need a different kind of help than you want. You may need information, inspiration, a challenge, or something else.
6) Take notes. Write in your Bible, or in a notebook, or a computer file, or something.
7) A more expensive Bible may be worth it. But be careful. Get some advice. Find out if you like the translation, and if people you trust seem to be using it and are getting good from it. Check out the print size, how easy it is to turn the pages, the weight, and the helps included before buying. Helps may include red letters, references to similar passages, or to where a name or word is used elsewhere, maps, and notes on difficult or important passages, or even articles or charts on them. (The notes and articles in some Bibles are questionable.)
8) Remember that all of the Bible was not meant to be taken literally. This applies especially to poetry and prophecy. Also, the Bible was written so that people from a culture different from ours would understand it. Jesus is referred to as being in the grave for three days, when he died on Friday afternoon, and rose by Sunday morning. We wouldn't put it that way. Genesis does not include modern science. The amazing thing is that the Bible speaks to us today, and it spoke to its first readers and listeners!
9) If you read carefully and prayerfully, you will get new insight when you go back to a passage after a few months or years. Keep reading!