Narnia

As much as I don’t want to get into the Narnia is good v. Narnia is bad debate, I do wish to post on the movie.

I do not believe C.S. Lewis was othodox in many of his views.  Much of his confusion, I believe, has to do with his education in literature combined with his conversion to Christianity coming late in life.  He admitted these shortcomings himself and there is much in his writings with which I disagree.

I prefaced my post with that caveat to explain I am not looking at this movie from a theological point of view.  The movie itself I found very entertaining.  I was surprised at the faithfulness it showed to the book, and after viewing the movie was not surprised the worldwide boxoffice exceeded 100 million dollars (over 60 million domestic, over 40 million overseas).

The acting is mostly very good with special recognition to Georgie Henly, who played Lucy, and Tilda Swinton as the White Witch.  I also thought Skandar Keynes did a good job of capturing the evil moods of Edmund as well as his transformation after Aslan paid his debt.

William Moseley as Peter was somewhat stilted, but passable.  The CGI of the fantasy creatures and Aslan worked very well and Liam Neesons’s voice gave life to the animation.  I also enjoyed Ray Winstone’s interpretation of Mr. Beaver and the character his voice gave the animation.

I will see the movie again (and not just because I received free passes due to som problems in the theatre during my viewing).

I went without my 5 year old daughter, who loves the story, to see if it would be too much for her.  I will bring her back with me.  The battle scenes, while large and graphic are bloodless and the scene of Aslan’s death, while emotionally gripping, will, I think, not be disturbing for her.

All in all, a good movie.  And rumor has it, if the box office doesn’t drop too far this next weekend, work will begin on the next book.  I hope it makes it to at least The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  I really would like to see Reepicheep on the big screen.

So THAT’S What Christmas is All About

I know I have at least one person who reads this.  I actually got a comment.  If there are any other lukers out there, I have come up with a little game to allow us to get to know one another.  We’re going to play “So THAT’S What Christmas is All About”.

 The rules are simple.  Anytime you hear someone say what Christmas is all about, just leave a comment on this post.

I’ll get us started.  On the Christmas episode of Monk Julie Teeger said to her mother “I know, helping people, that’s what Christmas is all about.”

And if that’s the case, then why don’t they call it “helpingpeoplemas”?

No prizes.  The only recognition you get is a mention in this blog, so maybe three people will hear of you.  My greatest fear here is I won’t have any comments, so please don’t make me put in all the entries.

Holiday Rant

I was shopping with MadMommaMonk this weekend and we went into the nearest store — a Target.  As we entered, MadMommaMonk informed me she was breaking a rule of hers by shopping there.  It seems Target has replaced Merry Christmas with Happy Holidays in their advertising. 

Well, MadMomma, I must respectfully disagree with you on this one.  I have said it before and I will say it again.  We should not be surprised when the world behaves, well, worldly. 

Targets consumers include people who will be buying for Chanukah, Kwanzaa and other purposes.  While the majority are purchasing for Christmas, they are purchasing for a Christmas foreign to the Bible.  For while the Bible proclaims the story of Jesus’ birth, a day commemorating His birth is never mentioned.  And if it was mentioned, I am quite confident it wouldn’t include the crass commercialism we attach to the holiday today. Target may be doing us a favor by distancing what is happening in their store with Christ.  

I remember a day when Christians loudly protested that consumerism was overshadowing the true message of the day.  We have now not only joined in that gross display of greed and excess, but we protest when a house of greed attempts to create a separation between the two. 

For those of you who have dismissed me as a heretic who has no scruples, let me say there are companies with whom I will do no business for ethical reasons.  But this is a phony reason.  Christians need not expect the world to hold up and proclaim the name of Christ.  That is our duty, not theirs.  This is a time when our efforts would be better spent proclaiming the name of our Savior rather than whining about the world not proclaiming His name. 

 

That’s Gonna Leave A Mark

I requested and my employer graciously granted Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off of work this week.  MadMommaMonk has a list of honey-do’s and the Christmas decorations need to go up.  So on Wednesday I jump out of bed and…

Ran into the bathroom for repeated episodes of the type of projectile vomiting usually reserved only for cartoondom.  As I write this morning, the pesky little virus has passed, but my ribs still hurt from the effort of making it go away.

And now I’m a day behind.  I’ve got to hang the storm door, fix a hole in the sheetrock in the hall, replace some fence boards, fix the sheetrock in the closet, add insulation to the attic…

I’ve got to quit blogging now.  Too much to do.  Stay tuned, though.  It’s my first foray into the Mr. Fix-it thingy and I’m sure something interesting’s gonna happen.