Books & Movies

Perhaps, we are past those times when we need to hold on to a Bible day in and day out as our moral compass. Perhaps, now with the dawn of the internet era, books have indeed become somewhat redundant and holy ones are not an exception. I am firmly convinced that we cannot spend a day without coming across inspirational quotes, written all over some beautiful pictures, while scrolling down our Facebook homepages. However, are we to forget the origin of most of these quotes? Are we to forget the essential wisdom and its original package? Are we to deprive ourselves from being able to underline our favorite lines from the apostles whose lives most closely resonate with ours? I think not.

What’s more, it’s not like the old wisdom lacks a dash of innovation altogether… If you care to do a quick search online, you’d find, for instance, The Holy Bible New International Version and many more alike, where the language is simplified, but the wisdom is even fortified as to suit these modern times. I believe that the Bible is much more than a symbol, it’s a portal to a grand world of stories that should be treasured deep within our hearts and minds and passed on to future generations. We cannot simply like, pin or tag wisdom away – there’s something intimate, even magical about holding a book with so many answers, being able to take it with you even on a spiritual journey far away from all human and Wi-Fi connection, up there on some glorious mountain.

A book such as the Holy Bible new international version or maybe traditional can also make for a lovely evening spent with close family and friends. Me and my lovely daughter Georgia like to play a game of open and relate, usually after a tiresome evening of piano practice, when she feels as if she’s carrying the whole world on her shoulders and even Georgia on My Mind can’t seem to make things right. The game’s all about opening a random page from the Bible, with her eyes closed, while calling on her guardian angel to help her regain her strength within the lines chosen by fortune. Yes, we do like to add our own twist to spirituality and the most important part is – it makes us feel closer both to each other and to the brave people of the past whose lives are wonderfully depicted within the lines of the Holy Bible.

Although I am quite sure that C. S. Lewis really doesn’t need an introduction, you may be hearing about The Screwtape Letters for the first time. As an avid book reader myself and a Lewis fan, I was pleasantly surprised as to how the book really took aim at Christianity and the beliefs within. Before you get mad, it also took aim at non believers and did so in an interesting way. The book itself is all about how Christians view demons and how they affect the lives of so many people. The book itself is a series of letters between Wormwood who is a junior devil or demon and his uncle Screwtape. In the letters, Wormwood goes on to explain how he can cause the human he has been assigned to, to commit sins and to eventually damn himself to hell. You don’t actually see Wormwood’s letters but you can clearly understand what was in them from Screwtape’s replies. The most interesting fact is that The Screwtape Letters is purely written from the perspective of a demon which clearly highlights many important truths for the believers of the Christian faith.

As the book delves deeper, you start to see the Lewis himself believes that demons, spirits, and the devil really do exist. On top of that, he also believed that their whole purpose was to assault human beings through their minds and in other ways. There is a very interesting bit of writing in the preface that I’m going to quote, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel andexcessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.” Now depending on what you believe, you can interpret this in many ways. It is a Christian based book and the author has clearly also included his own personal views and perspectives. Also check download root explorer.

Now, let’s talk about the human in the book for a minute, his life in this book seems to be fairly irrelevant except for his fate which we find out at the end. The story of the human or the patient as he is referred to is that he is a British man that is living in the World War II period. He is a casual churchgoer who starts getting more involved with a group or evangelists. He ends up falling in love with a female member of the groups congregation in which he is eventually killed by a bombing raid in his hometown which is performed by the Germans. His plot line is actually quite useless in the book, except for what Wormwood is inevitably doing to him. At the end of the book (if you don’t want to know what happens then stop reading here) the human ends up escaping Wormwood’s evil ways because he dies and ends up going to heaven. Ironically enough, Wormwood is doomed to the fate that he had created for his patient. His fate, as it should be, is that he will become a meal for his uncle Screwtape as you find out in the final letter.

There are plenty of points that are made and stories that are told throughout the book. Each of these is clearly directed at someone in an attempt to provoke the reader and make them really think about their own fates. As well as that, maybe provoke you to think about our own demons that live inside us. Some points are directed at atheists, others toward his fellow Christians. Either way, this book does make for a very interesting and intriguing read. If you are looking for something to read then you really can’t go past The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis.

Being a parent for the first time may look easy, fun and interesting, but behind all that immense joy and happiness from seeing your little one’s smile on his face are hours of work, impatience, sleepless nights and a lot of changed diapers. While a lot of newbie parents tend to believe that raising a child is the kind of thing that simply comes to you naturally, practice shows something else: there are rules to be followed and things to be considered when dealing with children whose mind and character is still shaping, and teenagers whose hormones, thoughts, beliefs and personalities are influenced by the wider outer environment.

And when looking for a helping hand in raising a kid, taking advantage of a parenting course would definitely do a difference. Among the popular ones is the Nicky and Sila Lee’s DVD with valuable guidelines, experiences and inspirations. I’ve used their parenting course for teenagers to have sort of a control over the growth and development process of my 13 year old boy. Don’t get me wrong, it has nothing to do with me being a control-freak, just a mother taking good care of her son. Like all mothers out there as a matter of fact.

Nicky and Sila Lee have been in a happy marriage for more than 30 years and have 4 children and 3 grandchildren, which is a pretty solid background for someone who is supposed to give you advice on parenting. They’re running the parenting course in their church and through that approach they offer support to reach a larger number of parents. What I have noticed (and it’s actually clearly accentuated) is that the course is openly Christian, but parents from all religious profiles will find it very easy to accept and integrate in. It doesn’t really touch any sensitive religious points, but it simply has the Christian serenity and peaceful nature incorporated in the talks and guidelines.

The course consists of two DVDs that last about 30 minutes each and can be watched either in a group with other parents or with your partner. The material covered is very interesting and inevitably provokes questions for discussions, so if you’re watching it in a group, you don’t really need to worry whether there will be any interaction afterwards. There are also exercises and other activities participants can take after watching the DVD so they really understand the essence of the course.

There’s also a special guide for group leaders – if you’re in charge of working with a group in a church or similar you may find this pretty helpful. And if you want to make the course a personalized event, you can download posters and invitations and customize them according to your vision and needs.

All in all, I loved the course and I am very satisfied by the outcome; the calmness with which the couple speaks about the various approaches to parenting, how to communicate and actually understand what your kid wants to say is very enlightening. And it kind of triggers a wonderful feeling about Christianity and its main objective: love is above all. As Nicky and Sila would explain in their talks, the course is often the first step for people who have been through it to become Christians.

I recommend you give it a try if you’re about to become a parent, your child is still young and at early stage of development, or if you’re dealing with teenagers; having someone guiding you through such a sensitive matter is a real blessing.