In a world filled with distractions, cynicism, and skepticism, it’s easy to forget the simple wisdom we learned as children. G.K. Chesterton reminds us of the truth we learned from fairy tales.
The things I believed most then, the things I believe most now, are the things called fairy tales. They seem to me to be the entirely reasonable things. They are not fantasies: compared with them other things are fantastic. . . . Fairyland is nothing but the sunny country of common sense. It is not earth that judges heaven, but heaven that judges earth; so for me at least it was not earth that criticized elfland, but elfland that criticized the earth.
The traditional stories we learned as children give us access to a rich tradition of shared wisdom and understanding replete with the truth about God. When we revisit and appreciate these stories, we strengthen our connections with one another and preserve the wisdom that transcends our particular time and culture.
In subsequent posts, I will explore the covenantal truths of God, man, law, sanctions, and time explored in these simple stories.
Experiments in Criticism 