SERENDIPITY

Serendipity–The faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident (Oxford English Dictionary). I have been told that there are no coincidences; that all things are planned by God. I am not sure about that. I do know there are serendipitous happenings. Whether these are purely accidental or or entirely planned, I shall leave for the philosophers and theologians to decide. I’ll just enjoy them when they come.

One came a week ago. I have long known that the author George MacDonald had been an influence on C. S. Lewis and G. K,. Chesterton. MacDonald (1824-1905) was a Victorian-era fantasy writer. He was also a mentor to Lewis Carroll encouraging him to publish his “Alice” book. I had never read any of MacDonald’s books myself. A week ago I was wandering trough the Library books store where they seel used books. My eye just happened to pass over a volume in the children’s section. It was a collection of three children’s novels by MacDonald. Being interested in children’s fiction I glanced through the book. Since it was only a dollar, I bought it.

Now it just so happens that the week before some books I had ordered arrived in my mailbox. These were books (on sale, of course) that I bought solely on the basis of their description in a catalog. On of the books was Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination by Vigen Guroian. This is another subject I am quite interested in. Among the stories discussed in Pinocchio, the Velveteen Rabbit, The Wind in the Willows, and The Princess and the Goblin. Wait! Wait! That last title is one of MacDonald’s Stories.

The connection between my two books drove me to start reading The Princess and the Goblin I am a little more than halfway though. What a marvelous story. The telling is old-fashioned, of course, but none the less captivating. You can see how this sort of writing would influence Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Madeline L’Engle.

went to the Internet to learn more about MacDonald. I find that he was a Congregational minister although he did not serve a parish for many years. His preaching about the universal love of God didn’t sit well with some people. I discovered that MacDonald shared my theological problem with the substitutionary atonement. That is the belief that Christ atones for sin by being punished by God in place of sinners. MacDonald took a view that Christ died to overcome sin. This view was held in the early years of Christianity and is still the view of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was brought back to the forefront in Protestant theology by Gustaf Aulén’s book Christus Victor.

Well, that has proved to be a very happy set of connections. Serendipity! Whatever happy accidents happen on your way, may the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival. Wayne






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