A Victorian Christmas

In the Victorian age, a small table-top Christmas tree was usually set up in the living room area. Instead of electric Christmas lights, people decked their trees with real candles. Although the tree looked wonderful when every candle was lit, families couldn’t leave the candles burning for long because the open fires were dangerous. A bucket of water was often kept beside the tree for emergencies.

Also hung on the tree were strings of popcorn and cranberries, which were simple and inexpensive, but colorful and festive. Some families set up a Nativity or outdoor scene under the tree, using moss for grass and mirrors for ponds. Because ornaments weren’t popularly sold at stores, most ornaments were home-made. Young women spent hours crafting detailed, exquisite paper ornaments from scraps, adorned with lace, ribbon, and beads. Decorations included fruit, cotton-batting Father Christmas, pine cones, children’s mittens, paper fans and paper cornucopias filled with nuts, candies, and berries. Among the branches were hidden goodies and trinkets of all kinds, like jewelry, tin soldiers, whistles, dolls, and cookies, and of course, an angel at the top. Victorian families adored finding new exciting ways to give their gifts. One way they did this was by hanging tags on the tree, each with a family member’s name on it. Connected to each tag was a long ribbon, which they wound through the branches and around the furniture. Tied to the end was the matching name’s gift!

A Reappearing Flood Tale

History offers us two catastrophic flood narratives, which are exceptionally similar: the Biblical story of Noah’s flood and the Sumerian poem, The Gilgamesh Epic. In Genesis 6-8, the Bible tells of Noah, whom God, the God of Israel, commanded to build an ark. God directed Noah to load the ark with every kind of living animal so that when he sent a flood to destroy all of the evil people in the world, Noah and his family would be saved. Recorded in around 1200 B.C., The Gilgamesh Epic is a tale surrounding Utnapishtim, who, following the orders of the Sumerian Gods, built a massive boat, which rescued him and his family from a greatly destructive flood.
In comparison, these two stories have much in common, although they both originate form extremely different civilizations. Both basic stories are mostly the same; A man builds an ark on the belief that God is going to send a catastrophic flood to eradicate the world of evil. Another parallel is that when the storm finally ended, both Noah and Utnapishtim release a dove and a raven to find land. In likeness, both tales say that the men offer a sacrifice to their God, or gods, and that the aroma was deliciously pleasing. The biblical story of the flood and The Gilgamesh Epic are essentially the same tale, with many different twists and turns.

While the two narratives have many similarities, they also have some significant differences. Definitely, the most important difference is the representation of the gods. In the Bible there is, of course, only One God, who is all-powerful and omniscient, but who loves his creation, but the Sumerians, who wrote The Gilgamesh Epic, believed in many pernicious pagan Gods, who where not omnipotent or usually loving. When the storm raged in The Gilgamesh Epic, the gods even cowered in fear at what one of the gods had caused. All-powerful? Omnipotent? Surely not. Although there are many other details which vary, the most enormous difference between Genesis 6-8 and The Gilgamesh Epic is the temperament of the One God and gods.
Interestingly, the two narratives, written at different times and by people from different civilizations, seem to be telling the same story. These two stories are truly similar, but the greatest difference is in the God and Gods personalities, and obviously numbers. The most important thing about comparing and contrasting these two stories is to see that this story of the flood has popped up several different times in history, giving much authenticity to the tale.

Jack's Imagination and the World of Narnia

Who was the first to enter Narnia? Some might say Lucy or some might say Polly and Diggory, but the first to enter Narnia was C.S. Leiws. Born in 1898, C.S. grew up in Ireland. As a child, Lewis already had an exceedingly extraordinary imagination. Probably the books that he’s most famous for writing, The Chronicles of Narnia, soared to the top book sales in the 1950’s. When C.S. Lewis was an older man, he fell in love with Joy Gresham, who was also a writer.

In 1898 on November 29 the writer, Clives Staples Lewis was born on outskirts of Belfast, Ireland. His family consisted of his father, Alfred Lewis, his mother, Flora Hamilton Lewis, and his older brother, Warren Lewis. Assuredly deciding, when he was four that his name didn’t suit him, Clives changed his name to Jack. Growing up, Jack was always incredibly close to his older brother, although his brother was three years older than him. They were best friends. When Jack was young he didn’t go to school but was taught at home by a tutor until he was nine years old. Unlike most young boys, they enjoyed using their exceedingly grand imaginations to write stories and draw pictures to accompany them. They created their own medieval world called animal land. Using these characters, Jack also wrote a three act play. As a young Irish boy, Jack was a unique and passionate writer already.

Imagining a snowy wood, Jack pictured a faun carrying an umbrella and parcels. Suddenly appearing to Jack, this image would form into the brilliant story known as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. When Jack wrote The Chronicles of Narnia he said that if no one else would write the sort of books he wanted to read, then he would write them himself. In 1950 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was published. Immediately, the book soared to the top sales along side The Lord of the Rings, which was written by his friend J.R.R. Tolkien. After writing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Jack went on to write the other books which are The Horse and his Boy, Prince Caspian, The Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Last Battle, and The Magician’s Nephew, which completed the series. It took him years to write all seven books. Children especially loved Jack’s books, and he received many letters from children about them. He always replied. Welcoming thousands to Narnia, the faun is the first character readers meet in Narnia when they open the book and escape there.

Jack met Joy Gresham, who was an intelligent and witty woman and also a writer, when she asked him to lunch after corresponding about Jack’s books in 1950. Finding her to be engaging, Jack invited Joy and her two sons, David and Douglas, to come stay at the Kilns for Christmas. Unfortunately, Joy’s marriage was wavering, and her husband was demanding a divorce, so Joy took her boys to live in London shortly after Christmas. When Joy, David, and Douglas moved to London, Joy struggled financially. Jack helped fill this need. Throughout this time Jack and Joy maintained a strong friendship until 1956 when the government refused to renew Joy’s permit to live in England unless she married a British citizen. Jack married her so she could stay but they regarded the marriage as a practical arrangement. Falling ill to cancer, Joy was extremely weak and had to fight hard for her life. When Jack heard this, he revealed his feelings for her and insisted on a real Christian wedding. This took place in 1957. Steadily Joy began to recover and the next years were “filled with Joy” and Jack was completely in love. Before long, her cancer returned and Joy’s health quickly deteriorated. On July 13, 1960 Joy passed away with Jack at her side. Joy’s son, Douglas Gresham, wrote later, “There were never two people alive in the history of the world who were more in love than Jack and Joy.” Belonging together, these two writers, Jack and Joy, Connected spiritually and shared many loves.

Creating Narnia as a middle aged man, C.S. Lewis was still a child at heart. If there was ever a child with an excessively wild imagination, it was Jack, who used it to write stories of other worlds. Jack loved to create magical worlds. After years of friendship with Joy Gresham , he married her 1957. The most significant thing about Jack was that knew how to use his imagination and he shared it with people through his stories.

A Story of Rescue

The talking animals, the green forests, and the roaring Lion are bits and pieces of the beautiful land of Narnia where everything is more colorful, more lovely, and more exciting. Ruled by the Lion, Aslan, Narnia is a world were animals talk, Kings and Queens rule, and magical things happen. But Narnia also isn’t too different from our world in some ways. Narnia was created by a God, sin entered by another source, and history has purpose.

In Narnia, Aslan, the great magnificent Lion, is God. Singing Narnia into life, Aslan is the creator of Narnia, as God is the creator of our world. When the Lion sings, lights appear, the earth is covered in growing things, and animals appear from humps in the ground. “Narnia. Narnia. Awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters,” Aslan says. Aslan is omnipotent. Aslan always forgives wrongs, even the worst wrongs. Although Aslan always forgives, he is a holy perfect God and firmly wants justice, and believes that all wrongs must be righted. Sacrificing himself in the place of the traitor, Edmund, Aslan dies as the perfect offering, but rises again because he had done no wrong. Aslan, who is perfect and holy, laughs, cries, and talks with his creation. He is all-powerful and personal.

Like the Biblical view of our world, the nature of Narnia is that it was created by God and it has a seen and unseen portion. Created by Aslan, Narnia is intricately designed and didn’t pop into being by chance. God made it. “Thus, with an unspeakable thrill, she [Polly] felt certain that all the things were coming (as she said) ‘out of the Lion’s head.’” There is and unseen portion too. Sadly, some in Narnia can’t see Aslan or hear his voice because they are too focused on unimportant things or because they choose not to. “The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. Uncle Andrew did. He soon did hear nothing but roaring in the Lion’s song. Soon he couldn’t have heard anything else even if he had wanted to.” The nature of the Narnian world, which follows the Biblical word view, is that it is created by God and that there is a seen and unseen portion.

The cause of evil and suffering in Narnia is the free choice of individuals and is from an outside source. Evil doesn’t come from Aslan. In Narnia, all are given free will and aren’t the slaves of Aslan, but are his friends. Absolutely different from Narnia, the ancient city of Charn is where Diggory wrongly rang the bell, which caused evil queen Jadis, to awake and escape to Narnia. Although evil found its way into Narnia it was because of a wrong choice from another source, and not because of Aslan, who is holy and perfect.

Throughout the lives of the people of Narnia, Aslan is involved, weaving in and out of the circumstances and developing his plan through them. Proudly parading through the streets of Tashbaan, the so called “great” royalties notice only their own riches, wealth, and power, which is all they value. Although not immediately apparent to many, there are things of importance that don’t fit into the category of the flashiest fashion or the newest gossip in Tashbaan. Aslan, King of All, is right before them, nudging his plan along, but they pay as much attention to him as if he were in another dimension. “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). There is a meaningful sequence of events in Narnia. Pushing Shasta to shore when he was baby, Aslan saved his life so that years later he could save Anvard. Aslan has a plan. In Narnia the sequence of events is significant even outside Aslan’s plan. Because Diggory rang the bell in Charn, the witch woke and escaped to Narnia, which eventually led to Aslan sacrificing his life. Similar to the Bible, in Narnia there is another world adjacent to ours, which is Aslan, and the sequence of events is relevant.

When Aslan, who is the God of Narnia, created Narnia, it was completely perfect because Aslan is perfect. Tragically, sin contaminates Narnia because of another’s choice in another place. Because history has meaning, this choice leads to Narnia becoming a desolate place for years to come. The reason this story is most beautiful is that it’s our story, the story of our loving God rescuing us because we couldn’t rescue ourselves.

A Determined Nurse

Extremely intelligent, extraordinarily brave, and exceedingly committed, Clara Barton, who was called the angel of the battle field, became the sign of hope for the soldiers of the Civil War. Living in Oxford Massachusetts, Clara was born into a large family in the middle of the eighteen- hundreds. While growing up in a typical farm family, she did not do typical things for a young girl of that time. Despite the dangers, Clara Barton founded the first Red Cross in America to help people in need of supplies and medical assistance, when they needed it most.

Clara Barton was born the youngest child of seven on December 25, 1821. Relatively small for her age, Clara was exceedingly shy, while still possessing great courage. Until she was fifteen years old, when she started teaching, she was educated at home. Clara was a tomboy. When Clara was young, she disobeyed her father by going ice skating, which was a very unladylike activity at the time, and fell and hurt her knee badly. Staying in bed for many weeks, Clara learned what a wounded person felt like. After Clara’s brother David was in a serious accident, she took care of him night and day, although she was only eleven. Clara Barton’s father had once been a soldier, and he told her stories of the battles he’d fought, which instilled an interest in Clara about military affairs. Although Clara Barton was shy, small, and the youngest of seven, she had a great passion for nursing even as a child.

When Clara Barton was in her teens, she had a great interest in becoming a nurse, although this was an uncommon profession for women. After teaching for many years, she resigned, but was appointed to be a clerk in the Patent Office in 1854. Single-handedly, when the Civil War broke out, she distributed supplies and organized supply depots, facilities to recover soldiers’ baggage which had been lost. Clara also set up a bureau to search for missing men in 1865 at the request of President Lincoln. Helping in dangerous areas, Clara Barton often courageously served near the line of fire. She was a fearless leader. Clara traveled with the army the rest of the Civil War. Nursing in harsh conditions for years, Clara Barton is now known for her courage, endurance, and resourcefulness. Thankfully, Clara Barton followed her dream of being a nurse because many would have suffered without her.

Truly, the Red Cross was an important part of Clara Barton’s life. When the German-Franco War broke out, Clara helped by distributing relief supplies. In Europe she was associated with the Red Cross. Handing out brochures and giving speeches. Clara started the Red Cross in America in 1881. Clara Barton wrote an amendment to the Red Cross, which is not only for relief in time of war, but also for famines, floods, earthquakes, cyclones, and pestilence. She was extremely dedicated. Clara Barton resigned from her position in the Red Cross in 1904 when she was eighty-two years old.

Tolkien's Magic

Since he was born, J.R.R. Tolkien had a hard childhood where many terrible things happened. Living at Oxford University years later ultimately led to his friendship with C.S. Lewis. Unexpectedly bright, J.R.R. Tolkien started his life’s work, The Lord of the Rings. When Tolkien died, his books sold quicker than he could have imagined.

On January 3, 1892, a sickly baby named John Ronald Ruel Tolkien was born to Arthur and Mabel Tolkien. Growing up to be a small, pale child, Tolkien loved stories about dragons. Arthur Tolkien died of acute peritonitis in February of 1896 and young Tolkien’s mother followed in 1904, dying from diabetes. Before his mother died, Tolkien was enrolled at King Edwards School. Quickly finding a love for poetry there, he began to write at once. Also, while he was there he studied languages.

In 1926 J.R.R. Tolkien met C.S Lewis at Oxford University. Becoming friends, they both were mesmerized by Norse mythology, and they would spend many nights staying up terribly late. While they were close friends, they were both great writers. However, J.R.R. Tolkien could not stand his friend Lewis’s books simply because of the non-subtlety of the allegory and symbols.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” Starting with these words, Tolkien brilliantly wrote The Hobbit. Happily, Tolkien wrote in a letter that in many ways he was much like a hobbit: “I am in fact a hobbit in all but size. I like gardens, trees, and unnmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and I like good plain food, but detest French cooking; I like and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field), I have a very simple sense of humor (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome), I go to bed late and get up late (whenever possible). I do not travel much.” The Hobbit, which was published on September 21 of 1937, was such a big hit that it sold out by Christmas! While the book The Hobbit was still new, Tolkien decided to write a sequel. J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy, The Lord of the Rings followed many years later on October 20, 1955. J.R.R. Tolkien was later nominated Author of the Century

Although he had a rough childhood, J.R.R. Tolkien loved fairytales, which became his reason for writing myths and legends. C.S. Lewis also shared the love for stories with magic, and they were close friends because of it. Writing the brilliant trilogy The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien became famous. Author of the Century, Tolkien’s legends still survive today.

Clara Barton: American Patriot

Remarkably intelligent, resolutely brave, and readily committed, Clara Barton, the angel of the battlefield, became a heroine for girls. Born on Christmas in Oxford, Massachusetts, she grew up in a large family. While growing up in a typical farm family, she was bright and hard working. In the Civil War, Clara Barton helped fallen soldiers in some very interesting places on the battlefield. She also started the Red Cross in America after the war, which became her life’s work.

While being youngest of seven children, Clara Barton was also shy and small. Living on a farm, Clara was home schooled. Happily, she delighted in animals like her pet turkey. Suddenly her brother David got smallpox when she was eleven, which was very serious, and made her aware of suffering. Clara once told her father she was going skating, and he told her that where she was going was not appropriate for young women, but she deliberately disobeyed him and skated anyway. While she was skating, she fell and hurt her knee. She didn’t tell her father, but her knee became infected, and she had to admit what she had done. But she resolved from that point on that she would help the hurt. For being smallest and youngest of seven children, Clara had a big future waiting for her.

During the Civil War, food and supplies were scarce, which meant the American troops were starving on the battlefield. Determinedly, Clara Barton bravely distributed supplied to those in need. While the war was raging, the president requested that Clara find many missing men. Clara became superintendent of nurses as she worked continuously near the front lines of the battlefield. During the war she also suffered from nervous exhaustion from strenuous work.

After the war, Clara departed for Europe to study the Red Cross action. When Clara finally came back to America, she treated many sick and started the famous American Red Cross. Working as president of the Red Cross for twenty-three years, Clara, who decided it was long enough, resigned her position. Actually, the Red Cross still exists today because of Clara Barton.

Growing up in a large family, Clara Barton helped with sick siblings which ultimately led to her love for being a nurse. Determinedly working on the battle field during war, Clara Barton was resolute in her job. While helping sick during the Civil War, she also started the Red Cross in America, which she gave her life to. Americans remember Clara Barton for her patriotism and founding the Red Cross.