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May 28, 2007
Magic and God and The Ladies of Grace Adieu
Oddly enough, the topic of some Christians' objection to fantasy stories about magic came up at about the same time that I started reading Susanna Clarke's The Ladies of Grace Adieu.
Clark's collection of stories is about magic and fairies, and is set in the land of Faerie and old England. I'm pretty sure no one has labeled it Christian fantasy. But I don't just read Christian fiction and the book looked good, so I dove in.
I wasn't disappointed. In the first story, which is "The Ladies of Grace Adieu," one of the characters tells a story about the Raven King. The story so moved me that I have read that section over and over again. (I wish I could quote you the whole thing here, but I can't. I recommend you buy the book and read it for yourself.)
The story is a perfect example of why I don't just read Christian fiction, and why I don't feel the need to eschew stories about magic. God can speak through any story, not just ones without magic or with the "Christian" label. God spoke to me through the story of the Raven King.
The story is about the Raven King as a child. His uncle is concerned about the Raven Boy and decides to check the boy's dreams to see how he is doing. Upon laying the dreams out on a table, Uncle Auberon is dismayed to see that each of the boy's dreams contain terrifying things like dark towers, black birds, wolves and ghosts. He asks about each dream, "was you not afraid?" To which the boy responds "no" and depicts the nightmarish elements in a harmless, even loving way; for instance, that the wolves nursed, cuddled and comforted him when he was too young to do such for himself.
Finally the boy loses his patience with explaining his dreams and a fairy speaks up, warning the boy that "There are all sorts of things in Heaven and Earth…that yearn to do you harm." He then lists some pretty scary ones for good measure.
The boy responds that he knew the fairy sent him the dreams, and that he is a human child and thus cleverer than the fairy. Moreover he says, "I am an English child and all the wide grey English air, full of black wings beating and grey ghosts of rain sighing, belongs to me. This being so…why should I be afraid?"
At this point I was crying because what I heard was "I am a child of God. All the big, wide world belongs to my Heavenly Father, who loves me and cares for me. Every frightening thing in the world is under His command. Why then should I be afraid?"
Secular book, maybe. Christian blessing, for sure.
Posted by Selena at May 28, 2007 04:43 PM