Christ Animated

I write a weekly column for a local newspaper, that's centered around my home community. When there's no community news for me to share, however, I write about other things. Here is one of my recent columns. I hope you like it. In C. S. Lewis' classic book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the young heroine Lucy enters the magical land of Narnia where she soon meets a faun named Mr. Tumnus. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Tumnus. I'm Lucy Pevensie”. She holds out her hand to the faun, who looks at it curiously. “Oh, you shake it,” she explains. “Why?” inquires Mr. Tumnus. “I … I don't know,” is her honest reply. Later on, her older brother Peter encounters a large beaver, not yet understanding that the animals in this strange world can talk. “Here, boy,” he says, holding out his hand to the beaver. “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Mr. Beaver stares at his hand for a moment, then says, “I ain't going to smell it, if that's what you want”. Holding out our hands in for...

My daughter Jessy, my wife Donna, and I were enjoying watching a television show on London, England, when someone commented that they never thought of England as being very big. Jessy said if we visited the country and got separated, it wouldn't take long to find each other. If we got separated, I said, they would find me at The Eagle and Child. From wherever in England I was, I would just give the cab driver the address of 49 St. Giles, Oxford, and settle in for the ride. Within short walking distance of Oxford University and St. Johns College, this traditional English pub has been around since 1650. Taking its name from the crest of the Earls of Derby, The Eagle and Child was nicknamed “The Bird and Baby” by an interesting group of writers who dubbed themselves “The Inklings”. It's because of this connection to JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis that I would be found there. I'm not a drinker, so I wouldn't be ordering any of their “cask ales”, “specially selected...

I'm interested, what would be your ultimate fantasy mash-up? Characters from Game of Thrones , Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, even The Walking Dead  ... what groupings would make the best: [1] Hero team? [2] Scariest villains? [3] Group to take to a show-n-tell type event at your school? [4] Worst one to wake up and find standing at the foot of your bed?