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Take a Visit to Dylo’s World
Since I’ve been thinking about fantasy and fiction and legend and Story of late, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to point you toward an amazing blog by one of my friend’s (Scott Anderson of Desiring God) sons . . . who is only eight years old . . . and who has a REALLY lively imagination. His little fan-site blog has attracted the attention of the president of the the game company (who reads the blog daily!) as well as some independent gamer magazines. It’s pretty cool. You should especially check out his “homemade” creature.
And that leads me to this point: We are amazed at the creativity and wonder and excitement that children like Aiden and Hannah have with fantasy worlds. What is it that causes them to create imaginary creatures or write fantasy stories that possess, to some degree, "the inner consistency of reality"? What is at the root of their desire for “it” to be real? Whether it’s creating a story or creating your own stuffed Dylo creature, children seem to have a profound sense of the Creator-creature relationship and the world's need of redemption. Moreover, from the earliest ages, the idea of “story” seems to be imprinted on their hearts. More than just a desire, children seem to manifest a deep need to pretend, create make-believe worlds, and breakthrough to the happy ending. And they don’t have to be taught this; they just do it.
I don’t want to make more of this than one should, but often, when I read my daughter's stories or I take a visit to Dylo’s world, I hear little echoes of the Creator-creature relationship and the Great Story of redemption because I'm supposed to. It seems to me that many little "s" stories like this point to the big "S" Story because what man ultimately longs for, desires, groans for is big "R" redemption. Could it be that children (and adults) write stories like these because deep down they know that what the world really needs, what humanity really needs is for the Creator of all things to redeem us?
I’m going to highlight two up and coming bloggers this week, one today and the other on Thursday, as part of my Treasure Trove series. It will be interesting to see what these two junior bloggers end up contributing to the blogosphere.
Today I’d like to introduce my daughter’s new blog: Hannah’s Stories and More. She decided to begin blogging in order to develop her writing skills. Hannah has been writing short stories for some time now. Hannah is an aspiring author who hopes to write fiction someday. Give her a visit (she’d think it’s really cool if you concluded your visit by submitting a comment).
Today's blog recommendation is Conquering Thirst by James Gordon, a former student of mine. He's a philosophy major at the University of Michigan-Flint and writes an interesting blog. Give him a visit.
My students are quick to learn that I enjoy all things Middle-Earth. Tolkien's mythological world is rich with redemptive themes. If I would let myself, I could use his writings to illustrate some aspect of the gospel every time I step into the classroom. So, whenever I discover a blog that is dedicated to exploring the redemptive themes contained within J.R.R. Tolkien's writings, I'm hooked. I recently discovered such a blog. It's called The Lord of the Kingdom: Images of Biblical Character & Themes in the Writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. Check it out. There's a lot of interesting material.
Scott Anderson sent me the link to Jonathan Dodson's blog. It's called Creation Project: Living from the Beginning by Considering the End. I've spent some time reading a number of his posts and think you'll find him informative, insightful, and edifying. Here's his explanation of the purpose of his blog:
Welcome to creation project, well, you are actually already a part of the creation project–the purposeful unfolding of the world as we know it, from beginning to end. Perhaps you are thinking, how do we know this world is purposeful? And who says there is a beginning and an end (The Wachoswski brothers [read=The Matrix] certainly do)?It is precisely these kind of questions that this blog explores. I, in fact, believe that there was a beginning to the world, to the universe(s), and that even the primordial soup has its origins in the hands of a purposeful Creator. As a result, the world is shot through with meaning and you are not an accident. Knowledge is not merely the product of evolutionary self-enlightenment, nor our existence a cosmic joke.
What can offer such humble confidence? The triune Creator God. Through nature and nanotechnology, science and sport, math and media, art and all things profane, run the two interweaving threads of human purpose and divine drama. A wondrously complex project which has departed from its model, but not from its blueprint, creation and its cultures are destined for perfection. The beginning can only be understood from the end, and the end is a new beginning.
I invite you to join me a search for understanding and redemption, of peoples and cultures, because of the promise of a better ending to this project than beginning, because of the new creation hope offered to all who seek the Creator.
