Wow! It has been 2 years since I ventured here. Maybe I will be able to recapture some of the memories as I blog anew. I will share what prompted me to start again. We heard that Focus on the Family was coming out with a new radio drama, At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald. I found a rather tattered copy on one of my bookshelves and we decided to read it as a family this summer. I just finished reading it today (I say "I" as the rest of the family lost interest) and I cried over the ending. It causes me to think of my dear friend, Jacque, who passed away just 7 short months ago. What a wonderful analogy about death George MacDonald gives in this book. He makes it somehow sweeter.
I have read several of MacDonald's Christian fiction but this was only the second of his "fairy tales" that I have read. I really enjoy his allegories and analogies to Christianity and living throughout his books. I dog-ear many pages and underline many lines as I find words that speak to me. Here is a passage from At the Back of the North Wind ...
The main character, Diamond, was ill and when he realized that he had been a burden to his parents who had also lost their comfortable situation in life while he was sick, sets to trying to cheer them and help them in anyway possible. Here is an excerpt from the book: "(His mother) was looking gloomy, and his father silent; and indeed except Diamond had done all he possibly could to keep out the misery that was trying to get in at doors and windows, he too would have grown miserable, and then they would have been all miserable together. But to try to make others comfortable is the only way to get right comfortable ourselves, and that comes partly of not being able to think so much about ourselves when we are helping other people. For our Selves will always do pretty well if we don't pay them too much attention."
After finishing this book, I decided to find a list of MacDonald's works and try to begin to read through them. I will be using the "Partial List of Works" that I found on Wikipedia, unless I find something better. My next literary stop will be "Within and Without" which I found on Google eBooks.
The main character, Diamond, was ill and when he realized that he had been a burden to his parents who had also lost their comfortable situation in life while he was sick, sets to trying to cheer them and help them in anyway possible. Here is an excerpt from the book: "(His mother) was looking gloomy, and his father silent; and indeed except Diamond had done all he possibly could to keep out the misery that was trying to get in at doors and windows, he too would have grown miserable, and then they would have been all miserable together. But to try to make others comfortable is the only way to get right comfortable ourselves, and that comes partly of not being able to think so much about ourselves when we are helping other people. For our Selves will always do pretty well if we don't pay them too much attention."
After finishing this book, I decided to find a list of MacDonald's works and try to begin to read through them. I will be using the "Partial List of Works" that I found on Wikipedia, unless I find something better. My next literary stop will be "Within and Without" which I found on Google eBooks.
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