Thursday, June 27, 2013

Wanted to say I really like "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White Tees. 

Number one - Good songs are a blend of the specific and universal about relationships. This song accomplishes that. 

Number two - My name has the same number of syllables as Delilah. So theoretically it could be substituted. 

Number three - I hope one day hear a man say, "Samara, I can promise you that by the time that we get through the world will never ever be the same - and you're to blame."



This line has been reverberating in my mind... becoming truer the longer I think on it.

Thank you, Sleeping at Last.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Wednesday Creatives: The Autobiography of Jane Eyre

Happy Wednesay!

It's a busy one for me.  Lots of important meetings at work (one of those big-girl-outfits type days).  And tonight I'm packing up because tomorrow after work I leave for Leakycon!  That's right, I'll be down in Portland to attend a convention featuring The Lizzie Bennet Diaries Cast & Crew.  I'll be attending their writers' panel as well as an "extravaganza" with the whole group.  Fingers-crossed that I meet some of these amazing people :)

But speaking of the LBD, adaptations, transmedia, and really cool things...I've been meaning to introduce you all to another adaptation inspired by the LBD's efforts: The Autobiography of Jane Eyre.



Let me just start by saying this web series is as different from the LBD as the books which inspired them.  Lizzie Bennet filmed in specific, "controlled," indoor settings using a tripod and with fairly polished editing.  This fits with not only the pretense of her being a mass communications grad student, but also within Austen's orderly presentation of her narrative.  Jane Eyre, on the other hand, often shoots with a handheld, frequently outdoors, and is admittedly awkward.  But this is also in-line with her character - and the story to come.  I mean, I know they were worried about the house, but none of us could imaging Lizzie becoming homeless. 

So to reiterate - if you embark on The Autobiography of Jane Eyre, expect something wholly different from The Lizzie Bennet Diaries!

But expect something awesome none the less.

So now, let me brag a bit about about the project. AOJE is the creation of current and recently graduated students in the Vancouver, BC area.  They currently have a cast of 6 and a crew of 8 - which blows my mind! 

The actress who plays Jane, Alysson Hall, is also the show's co-creator and one of the writers.  And she plays a brilliant Jane!  By the time you get to the 2nd episode, you'll know what I'm talking about.  The level of emotion emanating from her astounded me.


Her Jane is just as passionate and introspective as Bronte's character.  And like the Jane of the novel, there is something beautiful about her person.

Ok, and you might be wondering "How have they adapted ________?"  Well, without giving too much away, I can say that in AOJE, Jane is the live-in Tutor for Adele Rochester, who's father E. Rochester owns a company called Thornfield Exports.  If you're thinking, Jane's life is so much more than Thornfield - yes, it is!  And they've adapted that through stories about her life incorporated into the vlogs.

But, speaking of Thornfield.......... Rochester.  Well, as of writing this, we've had 12 episodes, he has been introduced, and he is definitely Rochester!  Rough.  Harsh.  Careless.  Pensive.  Regretful.  He's a fan of GoT and  he has a tattoo!  As soon as I saw that I thought, "Yes!  Rochester of 2013 would totally have a tattoo."  Oh, and don't worry, Pilot is also in this adaptation. 

[Please note the tatoo on the left forearm... :]

Another thing I appreciate about the adaptation is that it situates itself within the same universe as LBD without the need to reference it all the time.  According to Jane, she was inspired to embark on this project after watching Lizzie's vlogs.  In real life,  the creators of AOJE contacted Bernie Su to make sure they wouldn't conflict with any upcoming projects "Pemberly Digital" has on its plate.  Like the LBD, these creators have embraced transmedia across youtube, tumblr, twitter, pinterest, facebook, instagram, and multiple websites.

So, if this peaks your interest, you can start here with Episode 1.  I'd encourage you to stick with it for a few episodes.  When it feels home-made or awkward - it's supposed to.  That's part of Jane's character.  And I'll vouch for the fact that it gets really good!

You can subscribe to their youtube channel for new episodes every Wednesday at 9 am.  Follow them on twitter @TheAoJEOfficial or Jane (on twitter & insta) @eyrequotes and start to explore the world of Jane Eyre retold in our present day.

[1847 title page]

[2013 vlog]


Tuesday, June 25, 2013

"That's it.  If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest from home I've ever been."

I'm discovering, this is what it means to be a writer.

While many focus on the introspection required to write and write well, I'm discovering that to write is to leave home, leave the familiar of one's own thoughts.  Each thoughtfully-crafted piece of writing - be it prose, poetry, essay, fiction, non-fiction, etc. - each piece takes me further into the wild.  After finishing one, I find myself contemplating where I am, what these surroundings are.

To identify as "a writer" is to accept a nomadic imagination.  One that is never "home," only settling here or alighting there before taking off to explore the next place.  It often means leaving people behind (or at least, characters who have become dear friends).  I think it's why so many writers feel restless, the "hopeless wanderer" syndrome. 

I think this is one of the reasons I feared becoming a writer for so long.

Being that we're at the half-way point of the year, I've been reviewing some of my journals and blog posts.  And it struck me that I had no goal to "write more" this year or anything of the sort.  It's just been a season where I can't. stop. writing.  I've given up, waved the white flag, and surrendered.  Yes, you were all right when you claimed me or labeled me as a writer.  I was afraid, so I hid.  But looking back at a full journal, blog posts, and draft posts I need more emotional distance from before publishing (or more courage... take your pick) - I see there's no more hiding it. 

But what I've written thus far, the things I'm about to attempt, they've taken me on a journey far from what was comfortable.  And if I take one more step, it'll be the farthest from home I've ever been.  I'll have crossed into the unknown, unsettled territory of my consciousness.

Until the day when, like so many of our favorite characters, there is the final homecoming.  "A far green country under a swift sunrise."  The writer's journey proves its worth in it's memories and in the field of our imagination... but only when we cross the threshold to that home we never knew but were always searching for does the creator find their pearl of great price.

This is the hope I hold onto.

Signed,
A writer

Monday, June 24, 2013

If you haven't already... go read these things from today on Uncommon Collective and Hope is an Anchor.

And do not fret in this summer of becoming... Embrace it's inconceivable, wild spirit and let it shape you.

When September ends, we are all likely to be very different people.  And that is a hopeful thought.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Darcenator

Let me introduce you to the CUTEST Darcy you'll ever see:


My sister dressed up Jack and isn't he perfect?!? Just yummy! I love you, little-man Darcy :)

Check out more cute pictures of Jack here.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Fireworks - Green

Remember me mentioning Uncommon Collective as on of my Wednseday Creatives? 

Yes, well... I'm pleased to announce that I've written a guest contribution for the site!

I'd love it if you hopped over and read "One Foot in Fairyland."  And do let me know what you think!  This was a bold step for me, but I'm so glad to offer something to this burgeoning community. 



If you haven't already, do explore their site or their facebook page.  A personal favorite is Katrina's "The Need to Be Inspired" - it touches on things that are kind of my favorite :)

And "green," you may be wondering.  Green for fairyland and creativity and new beginnings.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Wednesday Creatives: The London Stage comes to Seattle

I need live theatre.  Not just want... I need it.  If I go too long without it I get twitchy!

And I'm not too much of a snob about it; a $5 UW Undergrad production of Macbeth satisfied me just as much as some ventures to 5th Ave.  But, like with Peter and Alice (which I wrote about here & here),  there are times when a production sounds SO good that the quality matters.  That's when I'm so very grateful for the digital age! 

Two sources in particular are doing great things to bring London's Stage closer to home:  Digital Theatre and National Theatre Live.


Digital Theatre works with several great theatres - including the RSC, Royal Court, Shakespeare's Globe, and an array of West End productions.  Their site allows you to rent or buy digital copies of these productions.  They have a strong Shakespeare collection, but also several award-winning, contemporary options.   My personal favorite is their modernized Much Ado About Nothing starring David Tennant & Catherine Tate

[This was actually playing when I was in London, but, alas, was sold out]

[Yes - Doctor Who S3 becomes Shakespeare!]
The other, is National Theatre Live.  Beginning with the National Theatre of Great Britain 5 years ago, now extended to several other theatres, NT Live's purpose is to broadcast productions to cinemas around the world - making theatre accessible, while maintaining the collective viewing experience singular to the theatre.  When possible, they broadcast the plays live.  That means going to see a play in Seattle at noon while it is concurrently taking place at an 8 pm showing in London.  100% live.  They do encores as well, where they have recorded productions.

Through NT Live I've seen Danny Boyle's Frankenstein (starring the Olivier Award-Winning pair, Jonny Lee Miller & Benedict Cumberbatch) a few times - and it's returning this Fall!! - as well as Alan Bennett's play People.  They've both been fabulous quality!


Through SIFF, you can catch most NT Live productions.  Some upcoming hilights:  Helen Mirren in The Audience,  Rory Kinnear & Adrian Lester in Othello, and, coming next January, Tom Hiddleston is Coriolanus (!!)


All that to say - London can sometimes feel closer than it actually is.  And there are some surprisingly affordable ways to catch a viewing of some of the greatest actors reciting the greatest lines. 

If any of the NT Live showings strike your fancy, leave a comment - maybe we can go together!

Peter and Alice: A Review

So my Oxfordian friend, Simon, who was the first to tell me about the play Peter and Alice finally posted his review.  Do check it out; here's an excerpt to tempt you:

Peter and Alice goes a bit mad - in the best possible way; in a way that is perfectly in keeping with Wonderland and Neverland. The bookshop set is pulled up to the ceiling, and behind is a land with Tenniel and picaresque illustrations intermingled. J.M. Barrie, Lewis Carroll, Alice, and Peter (the fictional characters in these last two cases) all join the stage, and the dialogue whips back and forth among them all. Childhood memories mix with retrospective reservations, which interweave with the excited shouts of the childish characters, or the justifications of the authors. It should be confusing, but the excellent writing and acting mean that it is not. So many tones come together - there are moments of nostalgia, and seeing Judi Dench take on the gait and manner of a young girl is quite breathtaking to see; there are moments of recrimination; of guilt; of confusion; of regret....  [Yet] The midpath between nostalgic indulgence and Nihilistic noir has been expertly judged - and perfectly acted by a brilliant cast, led, of course, by Dench and Whishaw.
 
I've sent out inquiries about a chance to see it... so, stay tuned ;)

Fireworks - Red

Sorry for the vague-blogging last week.  Let's start to clarify :)


Well, so one of things I was hinting at here and here last week (and dreaming of for a while) was this - I am now a red-head and loving it!


[It's very dynamic and so looks different depending on the light.]

I'd never ever colored my hair before, so this was a big step.  And I'd been warned red is dangerous... but I'm so glad I tackled it.  My stylist is amazing, so I really had nothing to worry about.  But my need for understanding and flare for the dramatic sometimes rage at war conflict - hence being all nervous/excited.

But I am so excited to join the league of red-heads!


 
"I've never been ginger!" - 10th Doctor
Now I have, Doctor.  Now I am :)

[Before and after]


Thursday, June 13, 2013

Fireworks

There are some seasons in life where everything is steady.
It's when you're saving for something, taking in ideas & input, you're waiting and just holding steady.






But then there are times when things actually happen.






And then there are specific times when a lot of things happen all at once.
Like you were waiting for all of these changes and BAM!
Change.



And it's amazing!
It just means my emotional capacity is getting stretched. 
It means overwhelming emotions.  Sobbing on the kitchen floor.  Silent screams in the bathroom at work.  Crying laughing.  All of the above.


All these things are finally happening!
The wait is nearly over.
It's like having the ticket in hand for a long awaited journey.


It's like the fireworks show is about to go off!

I whole heartedly agree with Coco Chanel when she said,


A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life.







I would only add,

A woman who colors her hair is about to change her world.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Waiting




It's a theme right now.



But change is just around the corner.


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Trivia Tuesday: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Want to know some fun trivia about this guy?



His mom ran for congress in the 1970's.  His dad was once the producer of a Radio Station in LA.

His grandfather, Michael Gordon, was a director in the 1940's & '50s.  His most notable film is Pillow Talk, starring Doris Day & Rock Hudson?



Do you remember seeing him as this adorable kid?


Bonus Trivia:  Did you know Angels in the Outfield also starred Adrien Brody and Matthew McConaughey?  It's true!  Both were just starting out their careers.  Hopefully those connections will help your next game of 6-degrees-of-separation ;)


[A very young Academy Award Winner Adrien Brody]


[Matthew McConaughey's character was the first to get helped by an Angel.]

And you may have seen this before, but it's too funny!



[They went to high school together in Tacoma!]

Well, actually, on the set of 10 Things I Hate About You, which was filmed in a Tacoma high school as well as locations in and around Seattle (including Gasworks Park and the Fremont Troll). One last piece of bonus trivia:  The scene in which Kat reads the "10 Things" poem was the first and only take, according to the DVD extras. Kat's tears towards the end of the poem were not planned.  [Such a great scene!  And so cool she nailed it in only one take]

He's been published.  He curated & edited The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories.


[Volumes 1 & 2 are out, with Volume 3 coming by the end of the year.]

[I agree whole-heartedly!]

He speaks French.

Oh, and he sings.  I'm sure you've seen his duet with Zooey Deschanel for "What are you doing New Year's Eve?"   He's covered quite a few songs, including this french one with Anne Hathaway.

And, taking after his grandfather, he's about to have his directorial debut. 


[Renaissance Man]
"The most valiant thing you can do as an artist is inspire someone else to be creative."
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt


Sources of Triva: IMDB, Wikipedia

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Speaker for the Dead: Parables Re-told

So, I mentioned a while back how impacting Ender's Game was.  Well, I'm now on my 4th book in the Ender Saga.  Yah. 

First there was Ender's Game. Then Ender's Shadow, a parallel novel.  Then Speaker for the Dead, the first sequel to Game (and the one that gave me major book hangover today).  And I've started Shadow of the Hegemon, the 2nd of the 4 Shadow novels.  It's a bit confusing... but then I guess it's sci-fi.  

I know there's a lot of controversy surrounding Orson Scott Card.  Some of it may be just exaggeration or rumors; some is probably true.  I don't know.  But Card's writings have reached depths of empathy and sacrificial love that other writers can barely scratch.  The Hunger Games?  Yes, I loved them - but Card's first novel packed the same emotional punch as Collin's entire trilogy!  All I'm saying is I've been amazed. 

But how to share my enthusiasm without sharing too much?  Well, there's an excerpt from Speaker that I came across yesterday and wanted to share to give you a taste of Card's power as a writer.  It's a retelling of a parable, rather than a direct relation to the plot.

The only context is that, within the story, this is found in the writings of a devout Catholic:


A great rabbi stands teaching in the marketplace.  It happens that a husband finds proof that morning of his wife's adultery and a mob carries her to the marketplace to stone her to death.  (There is a familiar version of this story, but a friend of mine, a speaker for the dead, has told me of two other rabbis that faced the same situation.  Those are the ones I'm going to tell you.)

The rabbi walks forward and stands beside the woman.  Out of respect for him the mob forbears, and waits with the stones heavy in their hands.  "Is there anyone here," he says to them, "who has not desired another man's wife, another woman's husband?" 

They murmur and say, "We all know the desire.  But, Rabbi, none of us has acted on it."  The rabbi says, "Then kneel down and give thanks that God made you strong."  He takes the woman by the hand and leads her out of the market.  Just before he lets her go, he whispers to her, "Tell the lord magistrate who saved his mistress.  Then he'll know I'm his loyal servant."

So the woman lives, because the community is too corrupt to protect itself from disorder.
Another rabbi, another city.  He goes to her and stops the mob, as in the other story, and says, "Which of you is without sin?  Let him cast the first stone."

The people are abashed, and they forget their unity of purpose in the memory of their own individual sins.  Someday, they think, I may be like this woman, and I'll hope for forgiveness and another chance. I should treat her the way I wish to be treated.

As they open their hands and let the stones fall to the ground, the rabbi picks up one of the fallen stones, lifts it high over the woman's head, and throws it straight down with all his might, crushing her skull.

"Nor am I without sin," he says to the people.  "But if we only allow perfect people to enforce the law, the law will soon be dead, and our city with it."

So the woman died because her community was too rigid to endure her deviance.

The famous version of this story is noteworthy because it is so startlingly rare in our experience.  Most communities lurch between decay and rigor mortis, and when they veer too far, they die. Only one rabbi dared to expect us such a perfect balance that we could preserve the law and still forgive the deviation.  So, of course, we killed him.

D-Day - London War Notes

As many of you know, I recently finished Mollie Panter-Downes' London War Notes.  I was deeply impressed by the account of day to day life in London.  In honor of today's anniversary of D-Day, I wanted to share the post she wrote that week about how England responded.  Here it is, thanks especially to my friend Simon, who shared this a few months back, inspiring me to seek out the book for myself.  So worth the read.

* * * * * * * * * *


For the English, D Day might well have stood for Dunkirk Day. The tremendous news that British soldiers were back on French soil seemed suddenly to reveal exactly how much it had rankled when they were beaten off it four years ago. As the great fleets of planes roared toward the coast all day long, people glancing up at them said, "Now they'll know how our boys felt on the beaches of Dunkirk." And as the people went soberly back to their jobs, they had a satisfied look, as though this return trip to France had in itself been worth waiting four impatient, interminable years for. There was also a slightly bemused expression on most D Day faces, because the event wasn't working out quite the way anybody had expected. Londoners seemed to imagine that there would be some immediate, miraculous change, that the heavens would open, that something like the last trumpet would sound. What they definitely hadn't expected was that the greatest day of our times would be just the same old London day, with men and women going to the office, queuing up for fish, getting haircuts, and scrambling for lunch.



D Day sneaked up on people so quietly that half the crowds flocking to business on Tuesday morning didn't know it was anything but Tuesday, and then it fooled them by going right on being Tuesday. The principal impression one got on the streets was that nobody was smiling. The un-English urge to talk to strangers which came over Londoners during the blitzes, and in other recent times of crisis, was noticeably absent. Everybody seemed to b existing wholly in a preoccupied silence of his own, a silence which had something almost frantic about it, as if the effort of punching bus tickets, or shopping for kitchen pans, or whatever the day's chore might be, was, in its quiet way, harder to bear than a bombardment. Later in the day, the people who patiently waited in the queues at each newsstand for the vans to turn up with the latest editions were still enclosed in their individual silences. In the queer hush, one could sense the strain of a city trying to project itself across the intervening English orchards and cornfields, across the strip of water, to the men already beginning to die in the French orchards and cornfields which once more had become "over there." Flag sellers for a Red Cross drive were on the streets, and many people looked thoughtfully at the little red paper symbol before pinning it to their lapels, for it was yet another reminder of the personal loss which D Day was bringing closer for thousands of them.


In Westminster Abbey, typists in summer dresses and the usual elderly visitors in country-looking clothes came in to pray beside the tomb of the last war's Unknown Soldier, or to gaze rather vacantly at the tattered colours and the marble heroes of battles which no longer seemed remote. The top-hatted old warrior who is gatekeeper at Marlborough House, where King George V was born, pinned on all his medals in honour of the day, and hawkers selling cornflowers and red and white peonies had hastily concocted little patriotic floral arrangements, but there was no rush to put out flags, no cheers, no outward emotion. In the shops, since people aren't specially interested in spending money when they are anxious, business was extremely bad. Streets which normally are crowded had the deserted look of a small provincial town on a wet Sunday afternoon. Taxi drivers, incredulously cruising about for customers, said it was their worst day in months. Even after the King's broadcast was over, Londoners stayed home. Everybody seemed to feel tat this was one night you wanted your own thoughts in your own chair. Theatre and cinema receipts slumped, despite the movie houses' attempt to attract audiences by broadcasting the King's speech and the invasion bulletins. Even the pubs didn't draw the usual cronies. At midnight, London was utterly quiet, the Civil Defence people were standing by for a half-expected alert which didn't come, and D Day has passed into history.


It is in the country distracts just back of the sealed south coast that one gets a real and urgent sense of what is happening only a few minutes' flying time away. Pheasants whirr their alarm at the distant rumble of guns, just as they did when Dunkirk's guns were booming. On Tuesday evening, villagers hoeing weeds in the wheat fields watched the gliders passing in an almost unending string toward Normandy. And always there are the planes. When the big American bombers sail overhead, moving with a sinister drowsiness in their perfect formations, people who have not bothered to glance up at the familiar drone for months rush out of their houses to stare. Everything is different, now that the second front has opened, and every truck on the road, every piece of gear on the railways, every jeep and half-track which is heading toward the front has become a thing of passionate concern. The dry weather, which country folk a week ago were hoping would end, has now become a matter for worry the other way round. Farmers who wanted grey skies for their hay's sake now want blue ones for the sake of their sons, fighting in the skies and on the earth across the Channel. Finally, there are the trainloads of wounded, which are already beginning to pass through summer England, festooned with its dog roses and honeysuckle. The red symbol which Londoners were pinning to their lapels on Tuesday now shines on the side of trains going past crossings where the waiting women, shopping baskets on their arms, don't know whether to wave or cheer or cry. Sometimes they do all three.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Wednesday Creatives: Obvious State

Ok, I know I've mentioned them before here and here and probably one too many times in conversation... but it's worth dedicating today's Creatives to Obvious State - because today I finally bought my first lit poster from them! 

A bit of background for those who I haven't talked to...

Obvious State is a multi-disciplinary creative studio co-run by Nichole and Evan Robertson. Our projects reflect our shared love of Paris, language and literature.

Obvious State is a husband / wife creative duo.  An English major, she worked in fashion & beauty; he went to Julliard and pursued the stage - both in acting & music.  After starting life and their family in the big city, they felt the need for change.  So, in 2009, they packed up their life in NYC and moved their things and two boys to an itty-bitty place in Paris.  They are currently back in the states - though frequently hopping the Atlantic to pursue their creative projects.

[Can you say "couple crush"?]


They started creating... and they haven't stopped.


She found a niche as a photographer and blogs about their adventures.  He designs fantastic posters based on quotes from famous authors. 


[Someday this will hang in my kitchen.]


[Love this one for This Side of Paradise]


[She also has done some Illustrations, each capitalizing on multiple images.] 


[Paris in Mint!]


[Assorted "Paris in Color"]

Her breakout book, Paris in Color is regularly featured by Shakespeare & Co.;  I happily spotted his posters on display on my last trip to Powell's.



[They, understandably, didn't want us taking pictures of the artwork... but they were right above my head in this shot]
 Together they've recently launched an ambitious and exciting project to create a virtual experience - using photography, video, and text - to give their readers "a day in a Parisian neighborhood."  The app and first neighborhood for their "The Paris Journal" are available free on the app store



I so appreciate the Evans' sense of adventure and their creative vision.  It helps that we share an affinity for Paris, Norton anthologies, and the strong sense both that "a picture is worth a thousand words" and that "a word is worth a thousand pictures."

I've been waiting to amass a few of their items for quite a while now.  They have shown up on Birthday & Christmas & general wish lists for over a year now.  This past birthday, I was given the Paris in Color: Notecards by a sib. 


[These now await frames and more wall space... but I can't wait to display them]

They currently have a 2-day promotional going on - go visit either of their Etsy's and use FACEBOOK20 when checking out to receive 20% off.  The promotion was the added incentive for me to purchase one of the literature posters.  I'm going to warn you - it's a reeeally hard decision to just choose one.  But I just told myself, I'd be back to purchase several more.


[Paris inspired fashion. Also, apparently my striped green shirt likes Obvious State too ;) ]
If you like Paris or literature or photography or adventure [or life], you will enjoy browsing their sites and shops.  Check out obviousstate.com, their page on facebook, The Paris Journal, their Etsy shops (listed below), or @obviousstate on twitter.


*All photography comes from obviousstate.com or the Etsy sites for Obvious State or The Paris Print Shop.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Questions

Ours is NOT a blind faith. 

"The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith is the firm foundation under everything which makes life worth living.  It's our handle on what we can't see."

Or according to the Amplified, faith is "the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see, and the conviction of their reality."

So faith is not the absence of intellectual engagement.  Rather it is a stake in the invisible.  The soul's confirmation of an unfulfilled promise.

Christ didn't require that people shut off their minds, only that they quiet them and be open-minded enough to think in new ways.  To consider "re-birth."  To try "casting their nets" on the opposite side of the boat. 

In literature, there is a profound phenomena called "the suspension of disbelief."  A homo sapien, a being defined by rationality & creativity, can choose to abandon what they know of reality to enter and enjoy a story with fantastical components.  In this way, children fly to Neverland on fairy dust and a happy thought.  In this way, superheroes fight off aliens, toys come to life, and halflings save a distant world.  We are able to enjoy and even engage rationally with these narratives when we hush the voice that says, "That could never happen."

Faith acts in the same way.  But rather than reading, listening, or watching a story unfold, rather than merely "identifying" with a character, Christ invites us, dares us to enter the narrative for ourselves.  To suspend our disbelief and walk with a conviction of the reality that we hope for.  Like the best novelists, He has crafted a narrative we can trust - but not one devoid of questions.  There may come a day when we think "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." There are, like in so many of our favorite stories, times when we wonder or question or even doubt.

And yet this is faith to.

We choose to believe "It isn't what it is" - that there is a deeper magic.  But we also choose to engage with the narrative and the Narrator deeply enough to ask the haunting questions.  For in seeking the answer, in wrestling with the Angel, in crying out with anguish, like David before us - in these moments faith is made real.  We draw nearer to Father.  We discover our real name.  We exchange the "title deed" for the Promised Land.