A pilgrimage, of sorts. . .

Caution: This is an odd post!!! Read on at your own risk.

On Friday, July 11, Linda and I took a day trip (and wow, we really took the whole day!) to Oxford. We rode the tube, and a train, and buses all in one day. For this post, I'm kind of going to skip over the Oxford part, and get to the other part. We rode a hop on, hop off sightseeing bus, and took part of the route around Oxford. We got off near Magdalen College and wandered in. Magdalen College was originally founded in 1448. It counts among its alumni, Oscar Wilde, Dudley Moore, nine Nobel Prize winners, and most importantly to me, CS Lewis. Again, Magdalen (which is pronounced "maudlin" for some strange reason) will probably be another post, all by itself, but we're moving on to CS Lewis. I need to start by saying this: My faith, and my relationship with God, is a huge part of my life. My father is a pastor, I've gone to church my entire life, I was born on a Wednesday and was taken to church on Sunday and never missed hardly any since then. There are so many parts of the "Chronicles of Narnia" that crystallized and solidified issues of my faith. There are so many specific examples in the books of pictures that illustrate key pieces of what I believe about God, and faith. So, having said all that, yesterday Linda and I went to "The Kilns" which is the house that CS Lewis lived in for years, and most likely, the house where he wrote "The Chronicles of Narnia." This simple house became the home of evacuated children from London during World War II, and one of those children asked him what was behind the wardrobe. It took nine years, but eventually, his wardrobe introduced us to another world. Yesterday, we walked right up to The Kilns, knocked on the door and were invited in. We had made arrangements ahead of time, anybody can't just walk right in, but we sat in a study surrounded by books and pictures and right behind us to the left, a statue of Aslan, across from us, a framed map of Narnia. I can't even tell you how I felt because I'm not sure I know the words to explain it. We were interviewed, sort of, about our interest in CS Lewis, and then given a tour. Every room has its own feelings, and its own feeling. Again, I can't explain it – the whole experience was completely emotional and I was entirely drained when we got back onto the train. We also traipsed over the road, up the hill and down a hill to Holy Trinity Parish Church, where CS Lewis is buried and there is a Narnia window. The church was locked, we couldn't get in, but I saw the window from the outside. We did follow the small, discrete sign to see his grave. I know that this blog kind of rambles on and is not at all what I felt, but I can't say it. Linda worked on her blog all morning, and hers is probably much better than mine but even she was having a hard time saying what she felt.