LAST ONE! Twenty-one posts and two months later! I made it!
I had hoped to finish strong; have something really profound to say for this last one, or maybe even something to draw all of my other posts together, but no inspirations have come to mind, so instead, I'm going to share another person's blog post about the movie Dunkirk that I saw last night...
There are many war movies out there, but Dunkirk is different. It speaks to the raw emotions and uncertainties of each moment with masterfully orchestrated suspense, and dialogue that is eloquent in its sparsity. For a few hours we get an omnipotent sense of the character's intertwining lives - faces are put to the soldiers, pilots, officers, and civilians while keeping a sense of their anonymity in the greater conflict. Viewers are given very little insight into the backgrounds of these ordinary people. The confusion and enormity of the war is palpable.
Yet I couldn't help reflecting that none of them were anonymous to God.
Really there are many levels on which I think this movie could be approached, the following blog post speaks to just one of them...
Imagination
The other night during dinner, my family was reminiscing over the days when my sister and I played pretend.
We could play for hours and hours without a thought to time, but sometimes we had to return from our imaginary worlds quickly if we were called to supper or bed. In such moments my mom remembers coming upon our toys and sets left mid-play waiting expectantly for our return, and loving the little glimpse into our lives and imaginations.
Life was pretty simple...For awhile my biggest dream was to have my dad build a wooden house for my little pioneer figurines. I'd draw sketches of the curtains, the "garden" I would plant for them outside, and the meals they'd make. Dad did make me my house - I was never able to make it quite as elaborate as I'd envisioned it, but I was content.
Its been said that "play is the work of childhood," (Jean Piaget) which is very true, or at least should be true. Play is important. Although we were deep in the land of imagination we were really exploring and building upon our understanding of the world...
There was the bubble factory my sister and I created in the backyard under the deck. We'd first be the receptionist and gather the orders (who wouldn't want to order custom made bubbles?!). Then we'd mix food colouring into bubble liquid. It didn't change the colour of the actual bubbles, but it was the idea that counted.
Then there were the times we drew chalk roads, gas stations, and buildings and played town and cops and robbers. The jail was the garage.
There were the countless videos my sister and I created of the news, the silly skits we performed in the living room, and the birthday parties we'd throw for our stuffies.
Once we built forts out of pillows with my cousin and burrowed in them like foxes and moles (we could never convince my sister to be anything less than a unicorn).
Its good to remember these things. I'm thankful for playmates and my parents who encouraged and celebrated our use of imagination!
Do you have any special memories of make-believe?
A Collection of Quotes Part II
Again, these are really random, but thought provoking nonetheless :)
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
"It may be that the night will close over us in the end, but I believe that morning will come again. Morning always grows out of the darkness, though maybe not for the people who saw the sun go down." - Lantern Bearers, Rosemary Sutcliff
"Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true." - Charles Dickens
"'That's a lovely idea, Diana,' said Anne enthusiastically. 'Living so that you beautify your name, even if it wasn't beautiful to begin with...making it stand in people's thoughts for something so lovely and pleasant that they never think of it by itself." - Anne of Avonlea, L. M. Montgomery
"We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God."
- Bonhoeffer
