I've been reading a ton over this current trip:
Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordian
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordian
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordian
The Rage Against God by Peter Hitchens
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
The Narnian by Alan Jacobs
I'm halfway through LOTR and The Narnian, the latter being the best I've encountered all vacation. The way Jacobs constructs a narrative for a life of constant scholarship is a breath of fresh air to what I'm afraid had become to me a rather stale subject.
Reading LOTR and revisiting the life of CS Lewis hearkens me back to my early days of literature and teenagehood (today, that's a word). Back when I believed I WAS Aragorn, Legolas, or any other hero from Middle Earth. Nowadays, I can only work, study, and let my greatest exploits in life play out on Stankowski or in the Rec Center.
Yet, my early days of childhood always do seem to raise their mischievous heads on my trip to MI. My favorite high school headmaster and I decided that in light of my recent literature material to construct Minas Tirith and Helm's Deep out of sand on the beach outside our Michigan condo. Suffice to say they were resounding successes. They both stood the attack test rather well (from both human and NazGULLs) and I found the whole process very rewarding as I got to work with my hands again after a long summer of working outside.
Yet, in the end, it all seems rather comical in my opinion. Looking out over my deck at one of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen this summer, I chuckled to think how much thought and care I put into these castles of sand all week. Agonizing as it was to see those Nazgulls and beachgoers send wave after wave of deadly assaults on our poor city, it was very convicting to take a step back and take in the awesome creation that our Lord has provided us. As the stars blinked into focus after sunset, our eyes turned from blinking on the horizon to wide-eyed amazement at the heavens God has given to us. In that moment my little castles of wet sand seemed paltry compared to the greatness of this world we've received from our Lord in heaven. So much more may we enjoy the earth free from sin and death in Christ's second coming.
