Month: August 2009

From the Horse and his Boy

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“And now my son, waste no time on questions, but obey. This damsel is wounded. Your horses are spent. Rabadash is at this moment finding a ford over the Winding Arrow. If you run now, without a moment’s rest, you will still be in time to warn King Lune.”

Shasta’s heart fainted at these words for he felt he had no strength left. And he writhed inside at what seemed the cruelty and unfairness of the demand. He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one. But all he said out loud was:

“Where is the King?”

by C.S. Lewis, the chapter called The Hermit of the Southern

Character

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I saw the Taking of Pelham 123 this afternoon with some friends. The movie is as much about character as it is violence and the f-bomb. If you can get past the latter two, the character part is good.

Walter Garber is a man who has come up the ranks in the subway control department of NYC. He started at the bottom and worked his way to the top, only to be brought down several notches when he was accused of accepting a bribe. The beginning of the movie shows him cheerfully at his job, accepting his assignment – low-man-on-the-totem-pole subway traffic director-guy (if you want the actual titles, watch the movie).

Through the process of getting caught up in a hostage negotiation, you see this man selflessly put himself and his pride on the line for the lives of others. He shows respect to an antagonistic boss and to the sad, hopelessly lost villain. He comes clean on his past mistakes when the lives of others depend on it. He shows care and concern and involvement with his family and his wife. He is willing to do the right thing throughout the drama, even to the end where he hesitates until the last possible second to take the villain down, in hopes of not taking the villain’s life. Mostly, you see him willing to accept what comes his direction – accepting it with grace, humility and candor, showing respect to every individual around him. In the end, all this earned him the respect of everyone involved; you may go so far as to say, even the respect of the villain.

3 Months

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It’s quiet.

Life is quiet.

Not boring, just quiet. And different. Very different.

Gone are the late nights studying and pushing through homework and reaching deadlines just in time. Gone are the hours at Starbucks with my ipod and my books and calculator. Gone are the rushed dinners grabbed at Chik-fil-a as I jet off to class. Gone is the stress of unfinished assignments and assignments yet to come. Gone is the pressure to keep the grades up. Gone is the general burden that becomes a familiar companion, and is then missed (?) when it is put to death by strange things like graduation and diploma.

Gone are the McGarys and the McScotties. This is a chapter in itself and one I dare not delve into here in cyberspace. Yes, this chapter is best kept for phone calls or in-person conversations or for prayer.

I’m still not sure how much I like the quiet. It’s different.

But I trust it is good. And for my good.