When I picked my sister up from where the airport shuttle had dropped her (I hate driving in major cities and fortunately there is shuttle service to the University), we chatted about many things including what we used to dress like and how her grandchildren can't imagine her in anything but grandma clothes.My sister is still attractive for her age but when she was in her 20s and 30s she was drop dead gorgeous. She loved soft sweaters over slim skirts (probably where I developed the love for sweaters) and pearls (ditto, even if none of mine are real) and Midnight In Paris perfume. I was still quite small at this time but I remember her beauty and how she taught me to love 1940s and 1950s swooners.
This conversation started when we were talking about my abscessed tooth I had pulled this summer and then how Bobby Darrin (whose music we both adore) passed away because he didn't take antibiotics before having the same procedure done... you know how such conversation begins and then drifts to other things.
I mentioned how Christopher cannot wrap his brain around Mom ever wearing suits and heels... much less carry a briefcase. Even though he has used the said briefcase for debate class (good leather wears well). We lived a completely different life when there were but three... but we were happy to be joined by the baby boy.
I am rather um... unusual... for a homeschool mom. Perhaps it is because I started the journey rather late in life, starting when friends were sending the last of their children off to college. My first began her first day at University the same day my second started Kindergarten (we started homeschooling after first grade).
Perhaps it has something to do with beginning my Christian walk as part of the Jesus Movement of the 70's... we were all rather unusual. I certainly developed my love for Contemporary Christian Music with Larry Norman, The 2nd Chapter of Acts, Dallas Holmes, and even a little Keith Green.
Or... because I'm a Calvinist and a Charismatic (albeit a quiet one...)... it's the former Presbyterian thing again. For the Charismatic movement came out of the Jesus Revival... or visa versa... and anyone who found the genesis of their Christian walk during that time must see the world with different glasses.
For my friends, those were the years when the fire of revival swept the nation and "the least, the little, the lost, and the unlikely" were wooed by the One Who Created All Things and brought us to Himself. At the time, I thought this was the Christian life. Little did I know we were in the midst of revival in the land.
This was the world of great expectations for the Church, when Campus Crusade and The Navigators were busy on campus, Hal Lindsey preached the soon return of Christ, Francis & Edith Schaeffer ministered from L'Abri and were publishing books, and it was the beginning of music that stirred the soul for such a time as this.
Most of us who came together in that Christian coffeehouse ministry went on to live normal lives... teachers, professors, homemakers, scientists, engineers, carpenters, contractors... and even a pastor or two or three. The older we got, the more the magic faded... Narnia magic. The kind which the young experience before life has thrown you more curves than you ever imagined and you were innocent to the fact that you cannot change the world overnight. So many stopped trying.
However, deep within there is a shadow of she who was left behind. Christopher's friends were aghast when he took me to see the Transformers movie for my birthday last year. He tried to explain to them that his mother really, really likes Science Fiction... especially Jean-Luc Picard and the third season of Babylon 5.
There's something about Science Fiction that gives one's brain freedom... like the C.S. Lewis Space Trilogy gave me insight into Creation in Perelandra. Many books are like that whether they be fiction or not. There in the midst of ink on pages one can be transformed again into the person they were meant to be. Whether through the pages of great fiction or the wisdom of an excellent Bible teacher. Words bring us the closest we will be to infinity this side of the River... God's gift to fallen man.
Just some ponderings at the end of a busy day when visiting with my sister reminded me of years long past. I'm tired so I'm not certain these pondering make much sense... but I miss the Magic (Narnia Magic that is, when Heaven touches Earth in a special way)... may revival sweep the land again.
Picture: Coca Cola poster (which reminds me of my sister at that age); allposters.com
9 comments:
A Calvinist and a Charismatic...hmmm, that's enough to make my brain light up...;D
I remember my aunt in much the same way that you remember your sister. The sweaters and the slim skirts. My, she was beautiful. At 80, she still is.
It's always a pleasant time reading at Coffee Tea Books and Me. You bring up topics and thoughts not remembered for so long.
By any chance did you attend Jesus '76? How I miss The 2nd Chapter of Acts! Their sound was the most beautiful harmony I have ever heard.
"There's something about Science Fiction which frees one's brain" (or somethin along that line). I love it! I might have to 'steal' that line!
I agree. I would love to see Transformers. Alas, my children are toddlers, and hubby can't wrap his brain around anything that couldn't be real.
Fun to read about your past ...
I got teary eyed as you harkened back to those magac times I remembered too. Unless you really were there living through that particular time you can't grasp the specialness of it. We were so open..so hopeful..so in love with the Gospel message. I wasen't as much a part of it as you were but even on the fringe I felt it. Where did it go...did our on going life smooth its edges and dull it in or have we in other ways refined it? Have we grown in understanding of people and the Word but lost some of our zeal? We need to keep those memories of those times in each of our lives when the Lord burned in our hearts as a standard bearer for what could be. ... what should be. I am preaching to myself when I say this. Thankyou for wakeing me up again. Jody
Oh, I loved this meandering, reminiscent post. It brought back some thoughts of my own. I also love that none of us fits nicely into a one box.
Absolutely fantastic words. What a story teller you are!
I am quite a bit younger than you are, but I love reading your post. My husband and I married and started our family later than most of my friends, too.
I am tagging you. To see what it's all about, visit my blog. I hope you don't mind, but it's fun and someone else started it and I am continuing it. It's a neat way to get to know some more blogging friends.
Brenda, you made me think of the 70's and how I was so young and had a little baby girl and it was all before me. Did you ever read the Vision by David Wilkerson? It was such a great prophetic book and I need to get on Amazon to find an old copy. Your posts are always so good.
A lovely, transparent post that sheds light onto who you are and what matters most to you. Brenda, Narnia magic is still there for the taking if you mean fighting the black witch for the mind and hearts of the inhabitants of Narnia. "Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed . . ." (Jude 3)to Narnia. At stake are our childen and families who are being mislead and confused with "beautiful lies" that tickle our ears. There is still a need for the passion, the single-mindedness within the invisible church -- that person who you remember being -- You are a talented writer, a voracious reader, and most importantly have a love for the Lord that can transcend the culture. You are needed to encourage women to be careful what they let into their homes and the minds of the people they love. There is a revival happening right now -- and it is not the one for us. Perhaps the Lord has surfaced these memories of a time when you were fiercely protective of the life giving Gospel He gave you and is calling you to that struggle again.
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