The Story of Joan the Maid

Good stories have tremendous power to forge courage, conviction, and calling in the hearts of their hearers. This remains the case whether stories are true or mere "lies breathed silver" - but when they are true, no matter how fantastical, they are that much nearer to us. Close enough that we believe someday we may …

L’Abri: the Last Homely House

My Rivendell As an avid reader and amateur scholar of stories, I'm constantly thinking about why we are drawn to them, and about the shapes they take. I probed the question before, and came away believing that, from childhood, we live with an inborn awareness of the categories of "good" and "bad". We are aware …

No Story but Your Own

"Who are you?" "One who has waited long for you to speak." The Horse and his Boy, C.S. Lewis I love listening to stories of God's work in the lives of others. Surprised by Joy was a delight to read, a Romance of Divine proportions, as the story of a shabby and unappealing Oxford don was wooed by …

Still Wick

"I've been rereading Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden - the book from which this blog draws its title - lately. I love the book dearly, and I think this go-round I'm reading it in an effort to rediscover my own heart. In an attempt to shake myself out of the stupor I've been walking in …