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X-WR-CALDESC:George MacDonald’s (1824-1905) influence as an author of looms
  so large in modern literature as can hardly be described. He was a mentor
  to Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)\, friend with Mark Twain\, Henry W
 adsworth Longfellow\, and Walt Whitman. He is a noted influence of such va
 ried authors as Flannery O’Connor\, C.S. Lewis\, J.R.R. Tolkien\, Aldous H
 uxley\, Madeleine L’Engle\, W.H. Auden\, G.K. Chesterton\, Oswald Chambers
 \, and Thomas Merton (and dozens more besides). A Scottish minister by tra
 de\, MacDonald himself wrote dozens of works of fiction\, multiple compend
 iums of poetry\, and several works of theology. But MacDonald is best know
 n\, even today\, for his fairy tales.\nOf course\, to label his stories as
  ‘fairy tales’ is to risk their immediate dismissal by ‘serious’ adults. ‘
 Such silly stories are for children\,’ they think\, ‘surely there is no be
 nefit to my reading them.’\n“I do not write for children\,” answers MacDon
 ald\, “but for the childlike\, whether of five\, fifty\, or seventy-five.”
  True\, his tales are full of whimsy and playfulness\, of princesses and g
 oblins and treasures and fairies. And true\, many a child has found hersel
 f lost in the worlds he paints with his pen. Yet MacDonald’s work is equal
 ly marked with the severity\, even the cutting edge of truth. A fairy tale
  takes place in a world with laws of nature quite different than our own- 
 but a fairy tale is powerful\, MacDonald argues\, precisely because of wha
 t laws remain the same. Laws like truth and beauty. Laws of justice and of
  courage. The law of love- and indeed of sacrifice. These wondrous truths 
 of our daily lives\, and of the gospel\, so often buried in the mundane\, 
 are encountered afresh in MacDonald’s work.\nThis is what fiction\, and es
 pecially fantasy\, does so well. It steals us away from ourselves and our 
 preoccupations\, and surprises us in a world we do not know\, in order to 
 reintroduce us to the world we do\, with all its forgotten wonders reclaim
 ed. The truth we stumble upon in fiction is like a rough diamond set high 
 in a new setting: suddenly\, for a moment\, we have a chance to see what h
 as always been before us.\nThis Lent we will be spending four weeks readin
 g the shorter stories of George MacDonald and reflecting on the truths of 
 the gospel found therein. Three of our favorite speakers from last year wi
 ll be joining us again\, along with several new voices. During our fifth s
 ession\, we will hear from a pair of modern authors who are crafting new f
 airy tales for the sake of church\, and hear their take on the role of fan
 tasy in the formation of Christian faith. This will be an exceptional Lent
 en series\, and we hope you will join us for it.
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DTSTART:20231105T020000
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
RDATE:20241103T020000
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UID:601a22e1-8ec1-4ce7-b685-3bbdff0bd10b
DTSTAMP:20260515T003034Z
DESCRIPTION:George MacDonald’s (1824-1905) influence as an author of looms 
 so large in modern literature as can hardly be described. He was a mentor 
 to Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)\, friend with Mark Twain\, Henry Wa
 dsworth Longfellow\, and Walt Whitman. He is a noted influence of such var
 ied authors as Flannery O’Connor\, C.S. Lewis\, J.R.R. Tolkien\, Aldous Hu
 xley\, Madeleine L’Engle\, W.H. Auden\, G.K. Chesterton\, Oswald Chambers\
 , and Thomas Merton (and dozens more besides). A Scottish minister by trad
 e\, MacDonald himself wrote dozens of works of fiction\, multiple compendi
 ums of poetry\, and several works of theology. But MacDonald is best known
 \, even today\, for his fairy tales.\nOf course\, to label his stories as 
 ‘fairy tales’ is to risk their immediate dismissal by ‘serious’ adults. ‘S
 uch silly stories are for children\,’ they think\, ‘surely there is no ben
 efit to my reading them.’\n“I do not write for children\,” answers MacDona
 ld\, “but for the childlike\, whether of five\, fifty\, or seventy-five.” 
 True\, his tales are full of whimsy and playfulness\, of princesses and go
 blins and treasures and fairies. And true\, many a child has found herself
  lost in the worlds he paints with his pen. Yet MacDonald’s work is equall
 y marked with the severity\, even the cutting edge of truth. A fairy tale 
 takes place in a world with laws of nature quite different than our own- b
 ut a fairy tale is powerful\, MacDonald argues\, precisely because of what
  laws remain the same. Laws like truth and beauty. Laws of justice and of 
 courage. The law of love- and indeed of sacrifice. These wondrous truths o
 f our daily lives\, and of the gospel\, so often buried in the mundane\, a
 re encountered afresh in MacDonald’s work.\nThis is what fiction\, and esp
 ecially fantasy\, does so well. It steals us away from ourselves and our p
 reoccupations\, and surprises us in a world we do not know\, in order to r
 eintroduce us to the world we do\, with all its forgotten wonders reclaime
 d. The truth we stumble upon in fiction is like a rough diamond set high i
 n a new setting: suddenly\, for a moment\, we have a chance to see what ha
 s always been before us.\nThis Lent we will be spending four weeks reading
  the shorter stories of George MacDonald and reflecting on the truths of t
 he gospel found therein. Three of our favorite speakers from last year wil
 l be joining us again\, along with several new voices. During our fifth se
 ssion\, we will hear from a pair of modern authors who are crafting new fa
 iry tales for the sake of church\, and hear their take on the role of fant
 asy in the formation of Christian faith. This will be an exceptional Lente
 n series\, and we hope you will join us for it.
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240229T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240229T130000
LOCATION:252 S. Dargan St.\, Florence\, SC 29506 US
SUMMARY:Lenten Series: The Short Stories of George McDonald
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