The Secret Country is a book that I’ve been reading to my 7 and 5 year-old sons at bedtime. It’s an engaging story about a young boy who meets a talking cat from Eidolon, “The Secret Country” and uncovers a scheme where creatures are being smuggled out of Eidolon into our world. All of the creatures suffer and start to die in our world because there is “no magic”. I haven’t finished the book yet, but there are countless alegories in the book that echo the Christian tradition, and it’s fun to read.
Because of Winn Dixie is a delightful movie (my wife says it’s a GREAT book too… she read it to our kids as well) about a little girl whose mother ran away and who’s father is a hurting and marginally effective preacher in a small town in Florida. Opal (the little girl) befriends a dog who she names Winn Dixie. The dog with a penchant for meeting people and smiling a lot (hard to tell if it’s just CG or they found a dog that can smile) introduces Opal to a bunch of “sad” people all isolated from each other and in the process builds genuine and beautiful community. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all live like Opal?
I think there's a strong connection between theology/truth and myths/legends/etc. I've been reading Waking the Dead by John Eldridge, and he makes the argument that the age of reason has killed our sense to see and accept truths that can be gleaned through myths, etc. In other words, myth does not equal falsehood. I love reading books like you're describing and think it's often easier to gain insight and truth from such stories as opposed to logical, fact-riddled books.
ReplyDeleteHey Don! Yeah, I like what Eldridge has to say about truth and myth. Waking the Dead and Wild at Heart are great books. I'll loan you the Secret Country when we're done with it ;)
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