When kids ask about dragons and fairies, giants and dwarves, may I recommend in the strongest possible terms we do not immediately answer something like, “Oh Dear, those things don’t exist.” I am more inclined to say they have and/or do, than absolutely don’t/couldn’t. At least, before you dismiss these possibilities outright, read G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy first, or the Old Testament. Or both.

Many adults would do better to listen to a child for an hour than the child would do listening to the adult. “We have sinned and grown old,” says Gilbert Keith Chesterton. Indeed. We could all do with a trip to “the sunny country of common sense.” That is: Fairyland.

Here’s the story from The Science Punk Blog.

HT: J. Wesley Bush

“Czeslaw Milosz, the Christian Polish poet and Nobel Prize winner, called the poet ‘the secretary of invisible things.’ Unlike Romantic theories of creation, he said the poet did not create things so much as discover things. The poet is a prober of reality, not its maker. And many of the most important things cannot be seen or touched.”

Read the rest here.

Picture lifted from Dan’s site.

Click to enlarge.

HT: Jon Swerens

I saw today that Justin (pictured above -with me- doing Blue Steel or a variant) has a new sketchbook out for 2011. I promptly ordered it to enjoy for myself and to serve as inspiration for my young future/current illustrator. I say current because a few days ago he created a fine, comic story, well-illustrated, about onions. It did not make me cry, but I did laugh out loud.

Maybe Justin hasn’t sold out of his Sketchbook yet. (You can order it here.) And be on the lookout for more fantastic stuff from him and Zach.

From Zach’s Gallery

From Justin’s Sketchbook

N.D. Wilson is doing the thing I so long to see done. He is writing excellent stories from a deep well of thoroughly Christian understanding. In other words, he sees the world as it really is, magical, and is sharing delightful stories out of this well like a sloppy bucket poured out on dusty farmers.

And boy has it been dusty. We need this kind of refreshment.

He is also telling fantastic, American stories. He talks about that and more in this excellent little interview with NPR.

I just learned Amazon has reduced the hardback of The Dragon’s Tooth 40%.

A friend of mine is doing a project I wanted to share with you.

He and his wife are photographers and they have a thriving business in Huntington, West Virginia called Boekell Photography (Boekell is their name). They aren’t like your aunt’s cousin who has a digital camera and a Facebook page (no offense). They are professionals and this is their vocation. They are artists.

Anyway, now that I’ve made everyone and their aunt’s cousin mad, I’ll tell you about this artful, uncomplicated project that I’ve enjoyed watching.

They are taking one picture each, without consulting one another, and then sharing them together in something (I had to look up) called a diptych. They are going to do this every day for one year. They are using only an iPhone and only Instagram for editing.

They started it on their 3rd anniversary. It’s called the life.together project.

The results have been neat so far. Go over and check out the site where they are daily displaying these pairings of separate things into a joined up work of art. And maybe think of how beautiful marriage is.

Marriage is a poem. It is a diptych, an ongoing work of art. We are not really less when we are paired, only more.

This, obviously, is one of their images.

I am super-delighted to report that my church, Providence Bible Church, will be welcoming Randall Goodgame to Beckley, West Virginia at 7pm on 11/11/11. (That’s November 11th.) We’re inviting all kids and their parents to come and enjoy a happy, hopping time at our area’s first Slugs & Bugs show! Yay. Check out our Facebook page for the concert for details and let us know you’re coming.

The new Slugs & Bugs record, Under Where? released Wednesday. You can buy it here. Our family LOVES it and I’m pretty sure yours will too.

There is an absolutely spot-on review of the new Slugs & Bugs record from Randall Goodgame over at The Rabbit Room.  Jonathan Rogers puts it through the uprights from 75 yards with 20 yards to spare. Here is a small portion. -Sam

“There is a long tradition that treats story and song as a means of sneaking lessons past our children’s defenses. “Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down,” according to Mary Poppins. Mrs. Jerry Seinfeld published a book called Deceptively Delicious, with recipes for spinach brownies and chocolate chip muffins with yellow squash and whatnot, whereby children unwittingly ingest vitamins while they eat dessert. That’s not what happens here. In the Slugs & Bugs world, the sugar is the medicine. It’s a world where delight carries the day, whether that’s the delight we experience in ninjas and lightning bugs and getting dizzy, or the delight that God experiences when he sees the children he loves so deeply. Slugs and Bugs reminds us that delight is intertwined with grace, coming and going.

“So, children, what lesson can we learn from Slugs & Bugs: Under Where? Simply this: the world where we live and move and have our being is a world full of delight. And also this: you, child, are a source of delight yourself. You are loved.”

That was Jonathan Rogers. Read the entire Rabbit Room review AND LISTEN TO A FREE SONG YOU WILL LOVE here.

Image by Justin Gerard.

Here’s a section of N.D. Wilson’s excellent (and short) post on Stories As Soul Food. Read the entire thing here. This is one of the principal things God has been giving me over the last several years. I believe this kind of understanding is true, beautiful, good, and liberating. -Sam

N.D. Wilson…

A Mistrust of Magic?

Bible-believing Christians frequently have a deep mistrust of fiction. In particular, they have a deep mistrust of, ahem, magic. This is impossible for me to understand, partly because I was weaned on C. S. Lewis and Tolkien, but more profoundly because I was marinated in Scripture at a very young age (by my parents). And Scripture is full of . . . stories. More than that, Scripture is full of the miraculous and the amazing. “Throw water on the altar,” Elijah says. “Fire will still fall from Heaven.” A famous shepherd boy takes down an infamous six-fingered giant. Don’t let the long-haired man near a jawbone. Collect the animals and build a boat. Whatever you do, don’t listen to that serpent.

Bible pop-quiz: Did Pharaoh’s magicians really turn staffs into snakes? (Hint: yes.)

Christians serve the Man who walked on water. We serve the Man who could not be kept in the belly of the great fish, the Man who shattered the grave, and all alone, ripped the city gates off a place called Death.

Loathe the Darkness and Love the Light

Christians believe that this world is so much more than a mechanical soulless machine. And yet, we tend to tell our children stories that (we hope) will only speak to their intellects. We want to give them a list of facts to tick off, like we’re trying to communicate a party platform to new recruits, like they’re nothing but brains ready for programming. We feed their souls sawdust and are surprised when they drift away to other cooks (with different tales about reality).

Kids (and adults) don’t just need the truth in their heads — they need it in their bones. They need to know what courage looks like and tastes like and smells like before they ever have to show it themselves. They need to do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly — heroes and villains can show them why. They need to loathe the darkness and love the Light.

These are as many of the post-Hutchmoot posts as I could find, gathered for the purpose of easy access now and in the future. (A few are pre-’moot.)

Also, it’s convenient for those who weren’t able to be there to read and enjoy some of the fruit of that experience. (You can also see last year’s collection here.)

A good place to start is with Kristen’s first post. I haven’t read all of these yet, but look forward to doing just that.

Let me know (comments, e-mail) if you have a post to add to the list. The list will likely expand and I’ll put new posts in parenthesis near the top.

In most cases, I put the name as it appeared on the blog. I want to respect the reasons you may not have your full name, so let me know if you want me to change that here and how you would like it to appear. Thanks. –Sam

Kristen….. A Hutchmoot, Banned Books

Jen….. A Place At The Table

Alyssa Ramsey….. Confessions of an Unexpected Poem, Hutchmoot: The Morning After

Breann….. A Way To See In The Dark Concert Review

Micah Hawkinson….. Hutchmoot II:In Which I (Finally) Make It To Nashville

Tom Henderson….. Requisite Post-Hutchmoot Commentary

Heather….. Hutchmoot (great pictures)

More below…

Dan Kulp….. Hutch 1! Hutch 2!,  Moot Day 2,  HM: The Morning After,  Hutchmoot In Poems Called Clerihew,  Seriously Now: Hutchmoot 2011

Julie Silander….. At the Start Line Again…This Time for Hutchmoot,  Along the Road: Hutchmoot 2011

Tricia Prinzi….. Hutchmoot Reflections

Redhead Kate….. Scarred by Hutchmoot

Lori….. Post moot wanderings

Barb Lane….. Seashells: At The ‘Moot

Jen Rose….. you belong. (a reflection)

Gina G. Smith….. Maybe I’m a Robot…Trying to Process an Art-Filled Weekend

The Nerdy Blogger….. Conference Preparations: Hutchmoot 2011

Sally….. Leading With Our Wounds,  What, Me Worry?,  Hutchmoot Dining,  How Much Can Children Understand

Leanne….. Hutchmoot 2011

Ashley….. Hutchmoot

Under the Radar….. Hutchmoot 2011 Recap

Jaime G….. Experience leads to Doxology: a Gracious Plenty

Katherine….. Nerds

Janna Barber….. All I Need

Dave Bruno….. Of Hutchmoot and Suburbia

The Sound Opinion….. What is a Hutchmoot (and how did it sell out in 6 hours?)