Blog 409 – 09.19.2016

That is the way that many a fairy tale begins but many people do not think of their life as a fairy tale. There are at least some similarities. For one, our life like a fairy tale takes place in time which is a sort of construct to begin with as the phrase once upon a time seems to imply.

Once upon at time…in a galaxy far, far away or once upon a time…on a dark and stormy night or once upon time…on a frosty morning down in Dixie. However your particular story began you are writing it now. Just maybe you have been writing it from the beginning. This wondrous adventure in time and space is your story and we who have been following it as it intersects with our own story marvel at all the plot twists and interesting characters you have written into the story.

My dear and recently departed son, David Jerome Heyen, loved The Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis as a boy. David’s favorite of the series was The Silver Chair and I remember once he said to me, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful, Dad, if life was as exciting as it is in the Narnia stories? And I replied, “But, Son, it is.” If you have never read The Chronicles of Narnia I encourage you to do so. They have recently made movies of the first three and I hope they will continue with the whole series. I am especially anxious to see how the movie makers handle The Silver Chair and The Magician’s Nephew, two of my favorites. Lewis wrote these wonderful books dedicating them to some friends’ children. Lewis dedicated the first book to Lucy Barfield, his God daughter and named the youngest of the Kings and Queens of Narnia, Lucy, after her.  Lewis told his charming fairy tale like story not just to entertain, but to provoke thought, and to encourage. That is a pattern one finds in all good stories, fairy tale’s or otherwise.

All great fairytale’s end with “and they lived happily ever after” though they have an often scary and troubled time getting there. Sound like the way your life has been going to you? Well, please don’t quit writing and reading till you get to the end of the story. Spoiler alert: The Great Co-author of History has already written the ending. It seems He did not trust some of you to get it right, Marilyn  and Alene and others – you know who you are. No matter how dark and tragic a story line that you or others come up with, the final ending is always the same. That’s right – and they lived happily ever after. So relax and enjoy the book. It is only a story and it gets better and better with every re-telling, re-writing or re-reading.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White