Chesterton, the Church, and Imagination

I found this recently while reading G.K. Chesterton's Everlasting Man. Here is your dose of Chesterton for the day:

"In order to strike, in the only sane or possible sense, the note of impartiality, it is necessary to touch the nerve of novelty. I mean that in one sense we see things fairly when we see them first. That, I may remark in passing, is why children generally have very little difficulty about the dogmas of the Church. But the Church, being a highly practical thing for working and fighting, is necessarily a thing for men and not merely for children. There must be in it for working purposes a great deal of tradition, of familiarity, and even of routine. So long as its fundamentals are sincerely felt, this may even be the saner condition. But when its fundamentals are doubted, as at present, we must try to recover the candour and wonder of the child; the unspoilt realism and objectivity of innocence. Or if we cannot do that, we must try at least to shake off the cloud of mere custom and see the thing as new, if only by seeing it as unnatural. Things that may well be familiar so long as familiarity breeds affection had much better become unfamiliar when familiarity breeds contempt. For in connection with things so great as are here considered, whatever our view of them, contempt must be an illusion. We must invoke the most wild and soaring sort of imagination; the imagination that can see what is there."

A Bit of Magic for the Holidays

I found this monstrously cute dwelling on Mark Shea's blog. Do yourself a favor and click on it.

.... Ahem, however, I'd rather do without the compost toilet. I've actually had to use one of those before. I don't plan on repeating the experience.

Fairies, Christmas, and the Doctor

 It's been a while since I have posted. I have been busy working everyone's last minute vacation hours at work, trying not to spend all my money on lovely presents for lovely people, trying to do some drawing tutorials here and there, and falling in love with Doctor Who in between.  

    I bought my sister a book of Flower Fairies for Christmas- partly for me, partly for her. I want to practice drawing children's faces, and the faces in this book are adorable. Besides, I've always like the Flower Fairies: they are old fashioned and proper. 

   I am particularly fond of this little guy:

(I am having some difficulty with the formating in blogger lately- thus the reason all my images are in the middle, and not put stylishly on one side or the other. I am sure I must have selected some option that has caused this, or something like that. I hope to fix it soon. This is annoying.)

    Anyway, so there was a Doctor Who Christmas special on, I watched it, and I am officially hooked. At least, to the 11th Doctor. I rather love him rather a lot. I will try to spare you too many quotes and general fandom, but the last thing I can do is promise that the Doctor won't make an appearance now and then. For now, "bow ties are cool." 

    I hope you had a Merry Christmas!

By the Way....

It's Rubeus Hagrid's birthday!

Drawing by Cory Godbey. I love the little Harry! 

"NEVER-INSULT-ALBUS-DUMBLEDORE-IN-FRONT-OF-ME!" -Hagrid


"What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does." -Hagrid

For Girls

I found this comment on facebook on a post about dating and the like. I don't know who the guy is, and I tried to see if I could comment and ask permission to post, but I didn't find a way. I am sure he wouldn't mind me sharing his awesome comment.
    I have to wrestle with the culture and some girl friends on this issue who JUST WON'T BELIEVE me when I say 1) for heaven's sake be single and get to know Jesus for a while and attract a real guy who knows how to LOVE, and 2) there ARE such men out there. You've got to believe me. But how on earth do you plan on attracting someone better unless you yourself become better? Until you know what true love is? Yes, girls are wonderful crown jewels of creation, they are beautiful and special, etc- but they are fallen, come from dark places, and need to grow as well. And having a boyfriend who is bad for you will not help you grow. YOU have to grow on your own. You and Jesus do that. 

Photo courtesy of Felipa-de-Noailles/deviantart.

"On a similar note, I think it is so sad that there are people out there who think Chivalry is dead. Believe me it's not dead, you're just hanging out with the wrong guys. So many girls have had to settle, instead of waiting for the right guy who sweeps them off their feet. I know it's hard to be patient and wait for the perfect guy, and I understand you may think you'll wait forever. But when I meet the girl of my dreams, I don't want her to have dated every single guy on the football team. I can't begin to tell you how attractive it is when I learn that a girl has been single for a while because they haven't found Mr. Right. And don't get me started on guys who disgrace the male population. They are everywhere, and they honestly make my blood boil. Truth is there are a lot of awesome, Holy men out there too! They aren't usually the most good looking, but when it comes to being faithful and giving of themselves, they would sacrifice their life for the girl they love. And honestly, girls have lowered their expectations, and guys have become lazy and followed suit. Call it the media, the sexual revolution, or just the society we live in. But it shouldn't be that way, and I know there are plenty of men out there who agree with me. If a guy isn't treating you right, and he's not willing to do everything in his power to change ASAP, then he never will, especially not after marriage. Ditch his sorry butt, because chances are he's keeping you from meeting Mr. Right. And if that means you have to be single for a while, then BE SINGLE! Take the time to fall in love with Jesus, the perfect example of true love. Let Him romance you first, because only then will you be able to recognize true love when you see it. Don't settle, and don't waste your time chasing after guys you wouldn't marry, no matter HOW hot they are. If everyone took the time to fall in love with God first, and to wait for the person that He has picked out especially for you, we wouldn't need divorce in this country. Let God be your matchmaker. He won't lead you wrong :)"

I Don't Know If You Noticed...

But I changed the title of the blog for a while, to see what I thought of it. Well, while the point of the blog may not be for me to post a drawing EVERY day, I did miss my old title. Besides, it matches the header image.

If you missed what I am talking about, well, maybe that's for the better. You didn't get to witness my indecisive tendencies in person.

Christmas is Coming!

And an update: as you can see the title has changed, as the purpose of the blog has been tweaked. If you want an explanation click on the "About" page.

Alright then, now for some fun:

Yes, it is ridiculous. I like the pattern on the vest there Jeffery. Now his way of singing will be in your head whenever you hear the songs he used. You're welcome! I love spreading joy! I love Julian Smith.

Now for something a bit more appropriate for Advent:

If you don't know the The Civil Wars, fix that. I am not usually one who likes folk or country versions of traditional Christmas songs, but this is lovely- because The Civil Wars style is lovely music itself. So it works. In my opinion at least.