INSIDE OUT

INSIDE OUT

Do you feel your interior life a separate part of yourself than your exterior, ordinary life?  Is there sometimes a war between the two, or are you one of the fortunate few have you fully integrated the two? 

The Portent by George MacDonald

Duncan Campbell is born oppressed with supernatural hearing and second sight. As with most of the MacDonald genre one is presented with gaps to fill. We are not told what exactly possessed his mother to abandon her infant son for hours after his birth. Whatever the circumstance, Duncan is a child who sees and hears things others do not.

 He finds recluse in nature and has a safe place- a cleft in the rocky Scottish landscape in which he roams.  He has felt the need to come to terms with his ability which he has learned to call "second sight".  He is aware that in the natural world he loves there is 'other'.

Duncan becomes aware that there is an adversary in an otherwise ordinary life. He The danger is signaled by the sound of a horse with a loose clanking shoe no one else hears.

 Characters appear at propitious moments who are able to explain a bit here and there about the apparitions.  An old nurse, a caretaker, simple folk, who know history and have themselves seen things. The story is well propelled by these characters. Trials are predicted, past lives are illuminated. Trials for Duncan are thus found to be ordained and they do not delay in arriving.

The boy has lived by turns his ordinary exterior life which is invaded from time to time by the interior. He struggles with both. Written in early 1864 the story details surprisingly modern psychology about repressed intellect or talent.

 As a tutor of two children in a once great house, Duncan meets the strange and withdrawn Lady Alice who lives with the family in the manse as Lord Hilton's ward, but who is mostly ignored and made out to be a simpleton. or even insane. Duncan is attracted to this lost girl, prisoner like himself in the important way that people who are deemed different by society, those who dream, those who imagine, those who see and hear things others do not and who are locked away by that society that does a better job at suppressing their imaginings.

The two haunted souls begin to meet regularly in the manse's haunted room where no one ever enters.  Duncan and Alice share their hopes of escaping this death they are living.

But, how to escape? How to achieve integration of one's interior and exterior life? How to become one's true self?

MacDonald has written the happy ending his publishers may have required. Or it may be an ending in keeping with MacDonald's faith that all is for God's good in love.  The portent loses its power. The theme of interior life and exterior life unified in what C. S. Lewis noted as a baptized imagination resonates.

THE HORSE AND HIS BOY



THE HORSE AND HIS BOY

The Story is part of the Chronicles Of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.  This story reads an adventure story for children.  In fact it was dedicated to Lewis's stepsons, David and Douglas Gresham. 

The story takes place in the land of Narnia and Calormen.  Narnia is a kingdom of the North allied with Archenland that on the edge of the desert protects Narnia from would be invaders.  Calormen is the  kingdom of the South at other end of the great desert.  The two kingdoms, Narnia and Calormen are on good terms as the story opens, though their cultures are vastly different.

 In Calormen, a young boy calls Shasta calls Arsheeh, the poor fisherman he lives with, Father.  If Shasta sold the fish they caught well Arsheeh would be in "moderately good temper".  If not, he beat Shasta.  Shasta found himself dreaming of North perhaps to escape the hard life he was forced to endure.  But when he asked his father about it, his father dismissed him warning him not to steer to this ship of folly.

One day from the South came a stranger.  He was riding a magnificent dappled stallion, and was decked out in silver and gold.  He had a helmet and carried shield and curved sword.  Obviously he was a great lord, a Tarkaan. He demanded hospitality and was not refused.

At night, Shasta listened in secret to the conversation between the Tarkaan warrior and Arsheesh.  The Tarkaan noticed that the boy Shasta had a complexion lighter than inhabitants of the area and that it was likely the fisherman had stolen the boy.  The fisherman confessed. The two men began bargaining for the sale of Shasta to the warrior.  Upon hearing this, Shasta felt relief as he had found that he was no relation to the fisherman at all. And thought he might have a better life in the wars and battles, live in a castle and wear fine clothes.  On the other hand, he thought, he might have to work in the fields in chains.

At dusk Shasta went to see the stranger's magnificent horse.  He patted the great neck as the horse went on tearing up the grass and seemed not to notice the boy at all.  Shasta said aloud to himself. I bet if this horse could talk he could tell me if his master is kind.

The horse lifted his great head.  The boy thought he was dreaming when the horse said, "But I can". He explained that where he came from, Narnia, all animals could talk.  He had been kidnapped as a foal he had been a slave to humans ever after.  He never told anyone after his capture as he hadn't wanted to be paraded in fairs, and have his hopes of escaping captivity lost forever. 

The short of it is, the talking horse Bree and Shasta decide to escape to the North together- each needing the other's help. They meet a slender girl dressed in mail, Aravis, riding a most elegant mare, Hwin. The girl is escaping an arranged marriage in the city to someone who is abhorrent to her. Hwin, like Brea, was kidnapped from Narnia also. And she also is a talking horse, but with a fine and gentle calm about her in contrast to her feisty rider and the proud stallion Bree.

The four form a rocky and difficult alliance, to escape over the punishing terrain which leads to the North.  Fortunately the horses are very wise and have senses that their humans don't possess. 

It's a thrilling journey, with many impediments and trials as only the best stories have.  And they do meet that magnificent lion Aslan- who though the most loving being anyone has ever known, is certainly not tame!

Christian lessons are hidden within the story.  I say this knowing the many, many readers of the Chronicles  of Narnia over the years have argued that there is nothing Christian meant in these works.  C. S. Lewis, as his friend Tolkien, knew the power of stories to edify children in a way no other writings could.  Certainly not theology, though Lewis wrote many Apologetic works still published, read and studied by many today. 

Themes in The Horse and His Boy range from the value and even the necessity of humility over pride.  Learning to look far, far beyond outward appearance of those one meets.  The necessity of working for a goal no matter what the difficulty or circumstance.  Helping one's friends and absolute loyalty. Sacrifice for others for a greater good.  There is even a scene in the story where someone is slashed by claws to effect a change in direction and purpose of that person necessary not only for the person, but the salvation of others.  I wonder how adults who read this part to their children explain it, or if they understand it themselves.  A very difficult concept for all, and never answered with complete satisfaction.  Lewis made a valiant effort in his book The Problem Of Pain.  But even that leaves questions. 

The Horse and His Boy may occasion discussion with children about those times when bad things happen to good people.  And discussions about faith. Could it be that pain may be used by God's good Grace for an ultimate good- God's megaphone for we who have not ears to hear God's  message to us.  There is the assurance that good can come from the most dire circumstance. That hope is held out to children who read this story, or even to grown-ups too.

Philippians 2

Unity Through Humility

 ¹ Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, ² fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. ³ Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ⁴ Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.