108. The Carrington Event

On Sept 1-2, 1859, a solar coronal mass ejection hit Earth's magnetosphere and caused one of the largest geomagnetic storms on record. Just prior to this event, astronomer Richard C. Carrington (1826–1875) observed a cluster of enormous dark spots on the sun's surface from his observatory from which “two patches of intensely bright and white light” erupted. Five minutes later the fireballs vanished, but within 17 hours their impact were felt across the earth. Telegraph communications around the world began to fail. There were reports of sparks showering from telegraph machines, shocking operators and setting papers ablaze. All over the planet, colorful auroras illuminated the nighttime skies, glowing so brightly that birds began to chirp in the middle of the night and laborers started their daily work, believing the sun had begun rising. Newspapers from France to Australia featured descriptions of brilliant auroras that had turned night into day. One eyewitness account from a woman on Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina was recored in the Charleston Mercury: “The Eastern sky appeared of a blood red color. It seemed brightest exactly in the east, as though the full moon, or rather the sun, were about to rise. It extended almost to the zenith. The whole island was illuminated. The sea reflected the phenomenon, and no one could look at it without thinking of the passage in the Bible which says, ‘the sea was turned to blood.’ The shells on the beach, reflecting light, resembled coals of fire.”

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare on Oct. 2, 2014. The solar flare is the bright flash of light on the right limb of the sun. A burst of solar material erupting out into space can be seen just below it. 

Image Credit: 

NASA/SDO

As compared to the relatively crude technology of 160 years ago, today's technology is extremely sophisticated, delicate, and much more ubiquitous. Almost all aspects of modern life are now dependent on electronic-based technology and are highly vulnerable to such an event if it were to be repeated in our day. Such storms can release huge amounts of energy. The likely consequences of a similar solar storm hitting earth today would be much more damaging than a few paper fires and a disruption in coarse telegraph wires for a few hours. The chair of Harvard’s Astronomy Department, Professor Abraham Loeb, recently went on record to state that "A Carrington-type event would cost roughly $2-3 trillion in terms of infrastructure damage. This includes damage to global supply chains, communication satellites, electric power grids and so forth." (20x greater than hurricane Katrina).

In a paper published in July of this year, speaking of the effect of a large, sun-caused geomagnetic storm on earth, US Geological Survey scientist Jeffrey Love stated: "Today, it is recognized that numerous technological systems are potentially vulnerable to the impacts of intense magnetic storms. They are associated with damage to satellite electronics and increased orbital drag, disruption to over‐the‐horizon radio communication, degradation in the accuracy and reliability of global‐positioning and timing systems, interference with geophysical surveys, increased radiation exposure to astronauts and high‐altitude pilots, and the induction of currents in electric‐power grids that sometimes cause blackouts.”

Scientists from every major agency have stated that another solar storm comparable or greater to the Carrington event is inevitable in the future. Although the volatility of the maximum period within a given sun cycle is extremely difficult to predict, a major solar storm has occurred every 100-500 years. There was a near miss (by just 9 days) in 2012 in which a massive solar eruption was sent out into space instead of impacting earth (Reuters, NASA). What actually happened in 2012 was that multiple coronal mass ejections were launched into space within a relatively short period of time. This is what is thought to have also occurred during the Carrington Event of 1859. The Sun has an 11-12 year cycle, oscillating from solar minimum to solar maximum. In our current cycle, the solar maximum will be reached in 2025, in which there is typically the highest frequency of flares on the sun's surface.

Physicist Pete Riley of Predictive Science Inc. analyzed records of solar storms going back 50+ years and published a paper in Space Weather in 2012 in which he calculated the probability of a Carrington-class storm hitting the Earth in the next ten years at 12%. This may seem like a small probability, but that is more than a 1 in 10 chance.

Think about the implications of what might be impacted by such an event. The voltage produced by such a storm would likely be sufficient to overcome the insulation resistance in most wiring, including transformers, power plants, substations, and telephone wires, causing fuses to fail and frying the delicate circuitry (chips, transistors, etc) in most electronics if they are plugged into the electrical system. Even those not plugged in to the system could be effected given the permeation of the electromagnetic disruption. This could also result in fire. Means of transportation could be rendered useless for undetermined lengths of time until repairs could be made (cars, trains, airplanes, delivery trucks, boats). People might not be able to commute to work. Food might not be able to be transported from far away regions so we can have tomatoes all year long. Means of communication could be rendered inoperable (telephone wires, cell towers, cell phones). GPS systems could cease to function. Anything relying on electricity could be inoperable (household appliances, water systems including sewer [which relies on pumps to maintain pressure], gas stations, banks, credit card readers). Farm equipment could cease to function properly. And perhaps most significant in our day, the internet, our main source of information, commerce, communication, and employment, could go down (during a recent internet-outage at my place of work, which only lasted a few hours, work completely ceased). Such an event can happen at any time, even in the dead of winter. Such an event could create quite a change in our way of living.

107. Man or Rabbit?

One of CS Lewis' most inspiring essays is entitled "Man or Rabbit?" in which he addresses the question: "Can’t you lead a good life without believing in Christianity?' A video was made to illustrate the talk, which is worth a watch...

"Morality is indispensable: 

but the Divine Life, which gives itself to us and which calls us to be Gods, 

intends for us something in which morality will be swallowed up. 

We are to be re-made. 

All the rabbit in us is to disappear - the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the cowardly and sensual rabbit. 

We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls of fur come out; and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never yet imagined: 

a real Man, an ageless God, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy."

Here is a link to the full text.

106. "Be Sober"

The word 'sober' today is almost universally applied when referring to abstinence or temperance in the use of alcohol or liquor. A person who is not sober is considered drunk or in a state of drunkenness, which can be characterized by a variety of physiological and behavioral changes or symptoms such as accentuated emotion, lack of inhibition, reduced motor control, sensation of warmth or euphoria, confusion, sickness, sleepiness, loss of consciousness, etc. An average person who only consumes small amounts of alcohol can remain in a state of sobriety.

Soberness in the Scriptures

In the scriptures, the word sober is used to denote a desirable personal characteristic possessed by those who would call themselves disciples of Christ. In this sense, taken from the modern Webster dictionary, to be sober means to be marked by temperance, moderation, or seriousness, or someone who is of an earnestly thoughtful character or demeanor, unhurried, calm, and showing no excessive or extreme qualities of fancy, emotion, or prejudice. Webster's 1828 dictionary renders the word sober, in this same sense, to mean:

3. Not mad or insane; not wild, visionary, or heated with passion; having the regular exercise of cool dispassionate reason.
4. Regular; calm; not under the influence of passion.

Often, this sense of being sober in the scriptures is directly connected to the conduct of one's mind or thoughts, which precipitates action...as in being sober-minded. The Book of Mormon also uses the term firm-minded in a synonymous way with the concept of being sober-minded.

"Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children — not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." (1st Epistle of Peter 1:3)

"Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing incorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned — that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you." (The Epistle to Titus 1:3)

"O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads, and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love, for ye may, if your minds are firm for ever." (Jacob 2:11) 

"They are young and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually." (Alma 26:19) 

"For behold, they [angels] are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, shewing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness." (Moroni 7:6)

The scriptures also link the characteristic of soberness with being temperate and patient in all things:

"Be patient, be sober, be temperate; have patience, faith, hope, and charity." (Teachings & Commandments, Joseph Smith History 13:9)

"But speak the things which become sound doctrine — that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience; the aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becomes holiness: not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." (The Epistle to Titus 1:3)

...or soberness as the state of being vigilant and watchful for things that are either of or not of God:

"Gird up your loins, and be watchful, and be sober, looking forth for the coming of the Son of Man, for he comes in an hour you think not." (Teachings & Commandments, Section 48:9) 

"Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour — whom resist, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." (1st Epistle of Peter 1:20)

"We are not of the night, nor of darkness; therefore, let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober. ... But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation." (1st Epistle to the Thessalonians 1:13)

'Being Sober'

As Alma concluded his instructions to his son Shiblon, he encouraged him to continue on the path of righteousness and gave him the injunction to "be sober". So, how does one "be sober"? Joseph Smith had this to say of the condition and soberness of one's mind in seeking out the things of God: 

"A fanciful and flowery and heated imagination beware of; because the things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 137; 25 March 1839)

Joseph drew a distinction in the operation of one's mind in approaching the things of God. On one hand, he warned us to beware of having a fanciful (Webster's 1828: Guided by imagination, rather than by reason and experience; subject to the influence of fancy; whimsical. A fanciful man forms visionary projects. Chimerical; A fanciful scheme; a fanciful theory) or a flowery (Webster's 1828: Richly embellished with figurative language) or a heated (Webster's 1828: meaning inflamed or exasperated [i.e., highly angered or irritated; provoked; enraged; embittered; increased in violence]) imagination. Such a mind is easily intoxicated by the various distractions, imposters, and unimportant goose-chases of this world, and, as a result, that person is led or persuaded away from salvation and deceived. Such a mind is not sober, but is instead in a state of drunkenness. On the other hand, Joseph instructs us that the mind of man is capable of leading one's "soul unto salvation"...through careful, ponderous thoughts...stretching and searching the broad spectrum of light and dark, mortality and eternity...in a sober-minded, sincere, and dedicated fashion.

In a spiritual sense, can one "be sober" by simply refraining from partaking of what might make one drunk? In other words, can we be or become sober and sober-minded merely by refraining from being "tossed to and fro" and "carried about" by "every wind of doctrine", "the sleight of men", or the "cunning craftiness" whereby men "lie in wait to deceive"? (Eph 1:13). Is soberness simply ours to lose when we fritter away our time, resources, and efforts in chasing down the latest get-rich-quick scheme, obsessing over the newest alternative health care craze or snake oil remedy, falling apart over the latest bit of gossip, getting sucked into the next easy 1-2-3 step program to receive exaltation or calling and election without even being righteous, hearkening to someone preaching "another Jesus", or receiving "another spirit" or even "another gospel" that differs, even subtly, from that which we received at a prior time when it was manifested to us by the Spirit of Truth (Corinthians 1:35)? Do we become spiritually intoxicated and disoriented when our spiritual system is overloaded by impassioned and wild gospel speculations, and heated arguments about conspiracy theories and fear-based doomsday scenarios? Do we seek for signs to confirm our suppositions and positions, our wills and desires, and take them to be manifestations from God? Do we ingest such things because of the euphoric effect that they might have upon us, but are they in reality only counterfeits and distractions to the fruits we might reap in our searching out the mysteries of Godliness through careful and diligent study of the scriptures and the words of God's servants? Do we spiritually pass out and lose consciousness when these sorts of non-firm-minded topics and fixations become our walk and talk, fire-hosing others with all the evangelism of the reformed sinner, instead of focusing on the plain and precious truths of the gospel and doing the things we have covenanted to do?

As an illustration, consider the following dialogue between the Adam (called Ransom) and the serpent (called Weston) archetypes portrayed in CS Lewis' early work Perelandra (1943):

“God is a spirit. Ransom. Get hold of that. You’re familiar with that already. Stick to it. God is a spirit.” [said Weston]

“Well, of course. But what then?” [said Ransom]

“What then? Why, spirit-mind-freedom-spontaneity — that’s what I’m talking about. That is the goal towards which the whole cosmic process is moving. The final disengagement of that freedom, that spirituality, is the work — to which I dedicate my own life and the life of humanity. The goal. Ransom, the goal: think of it! Pure spirit: the final vortex of self-thinking, self-originating activity.”...

“By the way,” said Ransom, “is it in any sense at all personal — is it alive?”...

“Yes,” said Weston, “I couldn’t have believed myself till recently. Not a person, of course. Anthropomorphism is one of the childish diseases of popular religion, but the opposite extreme of excessive abstraction has perhaps in the aggregate proved more disastrous. Call it a Force. A great, inscrutable Force, pouring up into us from the dark bases of being. A Force that can choose its instruments. It is only lately, Ransom, that I’ve learned from actual experience something which you have believed all your life as part of your religion.” Here he suddenly subsided again into a whisper—a croaking whisper unlike his usual voice. “Guided,” he said. “Chosen. Guided. I’ve become conscious that I’m a man set apart. Why did I do physics? Why did I discover the Weston rays? Why did I go to Malacandra? It-the Force-has pushed me on all the time. I’m being guided. I know now that I am the greatest scientist the world has yet produced. I’ve been made so for a purpose. It is through me that Spirit itself is at this moment pushing on to its goal.”

“Look here,” said Ransom, “one wants to be careful about this sort of thing. There are spirits and spirits, you know.”

“Eh?” said Weston. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean a thing might be a spirit and not good for you,” said Ransom.

“But I thought you agreed that Spirit was the good — the end of the whole process? I thought you religious people were all out for spirituality? What is the point of asceticism — fasts and celibacy and all that? Didn’t we agree that God is a spirit? Don’t you worship Him because He is pure spirit?” said Weston.

“Good heavens, no! We worship Him because He is wise and good. There’s nothing specially fine about simply being a spirit. The Devil is a spirit.”...“What proof,” said Ransom, “what proof have you that you are being guided or supported by anything except your own individual mind and other people’s books?”

“You didn’t notice, dear Ransom,” said Weston, “that I’d improved a bit since we last met in my knowledge of extraterrestrial language. You are a philologist, they tell me.” 

Ransom started, “How did you do it?”

“Guidance, you know, guidance,” croaked Weston. He was squatting at the roots of his tree with his knees drawn up, and his face, now the colour of putty, wore a fixed and even slightly twisted grin. “Guidance. Guidance,” he went on. “Things coming into my head. I’m being prepared all the time. Being made a fit receptacle for it.”

“That ought to be fairly easy,” said Ransom impatiently. “If this Life Force is something so ambiguous that God and the Devil are equally good portraits of it, I suppose any receptacle is equally fit, and anything you can do is equally an expression of it.”

“There’s such a thing as the main current,” said Weston. “It’s a question of surrendering yourself to that — making yourself the conductor of the live, fiery, central purpose — becoming the very finger with which it reaches forward,” said Weston...

“How far does it go? Would you still obey the Life-Force if you found it prompting you to murder me?” asked Ransom.

“Yes.”

“Or to sell England to the Germans?”

“Yes.”

“Or to print lies as serious research in a scientific periodical?”

“Yes.”

“God help you.” said Ransom.

There is certainly insight and revelation that can come from the wrong source(s), leading us astray. It is not always easy to discern. It is not always easy to obtain the mind of God on issues of importance to us. We are often so very eager to receive an answer that we may accept the wrong answer just to have "an answer". Denver Snuffer wrote "What does 'whatsoever ye shall ask' include? If you think Christ is inviting you to turn the Father into a short-order cook, jumping to your will, you do not understand this process" (3 Nephi 18:19-20 blogpost, 11/13/2010). He has similarly stated "God’s most important inspiration for the most challenging subjects is often not hasty, quick and without effort at our end. Consider the advice to Oliver Cowdery that he must 'study it out in his own mind first' before asking God to tell him the answer. Many people want a quick, perfunctory response from God with no forethought. What they receive in turn is a quick, perfunctory answer. God is almost always, for the most difficult challenges, not a 'short order cook' although there are certainly false spirits who are willing to be just that" (Discernment part 2 podcast, 1/13/2019). Even when inspiration is received from the right source, none of us are completely pure vessels capable of always following that inspiration with 100% integrity or accuracy. I do think in general people are doing their best to follow the light they receive in the best way they can. It is important, however, to be sober-minded and careful with the light that is received or the light that one thinks they have received, and study it out and carefully ponder how to go about acting upon it.

The primary Buddhist scripture, the Dhammapada, makes frequent reference to the general concept of being sober-minded as a critical step in obtaining enlightenment or connection with one's "higher-self". For example, consider the following selections and think of the contrast between one who is drunk and one who is sober:

• As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, even so the wise remain unshaken amidst blame and praise.
• As a deep lake is limpid and calm, so do wise men become calm on hearing the Dhamma, the teaching.
• Few among men are they who cross to the further shore. The other folk only run up and down the bank on this side.
• For him, whose journey is over, who is sorrowless, fully free from everything, and has put an end to all bonds, there is no burning (of the passions).
• He whose senses are controlled like horses well under the control of the charioteer, he who is cleansed of pride, and rid of passions, such a steadfast one even the gods envy.
• His mind is calm, calm is his word and deed who is liberated through perfect knowledge, who is pacified and steadfast.
• Delightful are the forests where worldlings find no pleasure. There the passionless rejoice; for they are no seekers of sense pleasures.
• Better than a thousand utterances, better than a mere jumble of meaningless words, is one sensible phrase on hearing which one is pacified.
• Though one conquers in battle thousand times thousand men, yet he is the greatest conqueror who conquers himself.
• Better is it to conquer oneself than to conquer others. Neither a god, nor a Gandhabba (demigod) nor Māra (devil) nor Brahma (priest) can undo the victory of a person who is self-mastered and ever conducts himself with restraint.
• A single day’s life of a person who is virtuous and meditative is better than a life of one hundred years of a person who is immoral and uncontrolled.
• A single day’s life of a person who strives with firm endeavour is better than a life of one hundred years of a person who is lazy and indolent.

In closing, consider the wise council of a true reformed sinner, as Alma the senior encourages his son Shiblon in the ways of righteousness: 

"I would that ye would be diligent and temperate in all things.
See that ye are not lifted up unto pride.
Yea, see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom nor of your much strength.
Use boldness, but not overbearance;
and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.
See that ye refrain from idleness.
Do not pray as the Zoramites do, for ye have seen that they pray to be heard of men and to be praised for their wisdom.
Do not say, O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren,
but rather say, O Lord, forgive my unworthiness and remember my brethren in mercy;
yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times.
And may the Lord bless your soul and receive you at the last day into his kingdom to sit down in peace.
Now go, my son, and teach the word unto this people. Be sober. My son, farewell." (Alma 18:4)

There is such a thing as boldness, but it must be exercised in soberness and meekness. Again, the promise from the Book of Mormon to those whose minds are firm in every form of Godliness is that angels can appear and minister to them (Moroni 7:6). Be sober.

105. What is soft is strong...

“Those who know, speak not.
Those who speak, know not.”

“The truth is not always beautiful,
nor beautiful words the truth.”

“When I let go of what I am,
I become what I might be.”

“Care about what other people think
and you will always be their prisoner.”

“Be content with what you have;

rejoice in the way things are.

When you realize there is nothing lacking,

the whole world belongs to you.”

“Silence is a source of Great Strength.”

“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. 

But water will wear away rock, 

which is rigid and cannot yield. 

As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding

will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. 

This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.”

“To lead people, walk beside them ...
As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence.
The next best, the people honor and praise.
The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate ...
When the best leader's work is done the people say,
We did it ourselves!”

― Lao Tsu, founder of Taoism

104. The Mother Hawk: A Symbol of Charity

This Spring, a mother hawk constructed a nest on top of one of the Blue Spruce trees in our neighborhood, by far the tallest vantage point in the vicinity. The entire time she occupied her nest, this mother hawk was relentlessly dive-bombed and assailed by a group of resident crows. The crows would accompany the mother hawk on her every outing as she scouted for food, mercilessly assaulting her, chasing her, squawking at her. What’s more, other crows would squawk and dive-bomb the nest that held the defenseless hawkling as the mother was off on her errands. You could hear the hawkling cry out to its mother, probably both because of hunger, but also from fear as it was being attacked. It seemed like a very precarious and delicate situation.

However, I noticed the mother hawk was quite unphased at the attempts the crows made to drive her away. In fact, she seemed to resolutely pursue her course in her flight and other activities, almost as if the crows and their behavior were not even part of the mother hawk’s reality. It appeared that the crows could do no more than threaten, intimidate, instill fear, make a lot of noise, and bully. From what I could tell, the crows never actually touched the hawk nor its offspring. I was amazed at what I would call her patience or her endurance or her restraint, because it seemed to me that this mother hawk, with a gorgeously white underbelly, could easily latch on to the neck or wing of any or all of her assailants and tear them to pieces. For the mother hawk actually possessed the power to do exactly what her attackers were trying to do but could not do: she could have easily rampaged through all the trees in the area and killed every single crow and their offspring. Instead, she ignored them and lived her life and focused on her duty, which was to bring forth life, teach her young hawkling, and move forward in her cycle of creation. And so, if the crows made life exceedingly unpleasant for this hawk family, you would never know by how the hawks themselves behaved and responded. 

In a fellowship meeting today the topic of charity was studied and a friend later helped me draw the connection to this episode with the mother hawk. The following was read from the glossary of the scriptures: “ …it doesn’t appear, from the example of Christ, that His willingness to die on behalf of others meant that He had to feel emotionally connected with them in order to do so. He forgave the Romans that were nailing Him to the cross — this was not the traditional definition of love. Instead, it was a commitment — a determination — to do good despite the opposition or hindrance of anyone else. The very people He went into the temple and provoked with His Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 10) discourse (deliberately controlling the timing of their outrage so that He would be sacrificed at the appropriate time during the Passover), were the same people on whose behalf He also died. He was committed to giving His life to others as an act of charity, as an act of service, and as an act of kindness in a way that demonstrates what charity really is. Charity is a fixed determination to do something on the behalf of others. Whether they appreciate it, whether they love you in return or not, charity is simply doing what needs to be done. …  Living the kind of life that has charity, the pure love of Christ — in it is a determination; a vigor; a resolution; a firm, fixed determination to abide a certain standard, being committed to the wellbeing of one’s fellow man— even if one’s fellow man is not committed at all in a reciprocal way.”

This mother hawk pursued her course despite what the opposition consisted of. She was self-sacrificing. At some point the crows gave up and the squawking and dive-bombing ceased. The crows had failed in their efforts to drive off and thwart the mother hawk. The hawkling was now big enough to flap its wings, stand up in the nest, and use its beak to defend itself. One day, I could hear the call of the mother hawk not too far away in some trees behind our property. And then the return call from the young hawkling who was perched in the large tree in our yard. After some calling back and forth, the mother hawk swooped in and landed briefly on the branch above the hawkling, and then, to my surprise, she jumped from her branch directly on to the young hawkling, bumping it off its branch and forcing it into flight. The hawkling flew into another set of trees, called out to its mother, and she pursued. I observed the mother and her hawkling engaged in this type of behavior for several days as the mother seemed to be now chasing her hawkling from tree to tree. One might observe such isolated behavior and conclude that this was just a big hawk attacking a smaller hawk, but if the whole scenario had been observed it would be concluded that the mother hawk had a fixed determination to teach her offspring how to fly, land, and take flight again in order to grow and survive. The mother hawk was focused on her objective and did not show any interest in stopping until the hawkling had reached some level of ability.

Sometimes in our lives, just after we have landed on a new branch or vista, and are taking in the view, satisfied with our accomplishment, we get pushed off, plunged into the air, and have to find another place to land. And then again it happens, and again. This experience with the hawk reminded me of the subtle presence of the Lion Aslan, or a lion figure, in many of CS Lewis’ fantasy books, who is sometimes heard purring in the background at moments when the lead protagonists are in need of comfort, sometimes appearing to teach certain characters, and at other times is seen only as a fierce silhouette, roaring, clawing, and chasing after other characters in an effort to drive them forward from dangers from which they were unaware or to teach them something about themselves, when to them it seems as if the Lion is intent on killing them. As the Lion spoke in “The Horse & His Boy”: 

The Voice continued. “I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you as you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.”

“Then it was you who wounded Aravis?”

“It was I.”

“But what for?”

“Child,” said the Voice, “I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”

“Who are you?” asked Shasta.

“Myself,” said the Voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook: and again “Myself,” loud and clear and gay: and then the third time “Myself,” whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all around you as if the leaves rustled with it.

This whole time I did not see the father Hawk. I had seen him in the Fall, together with his companion during their time of preparation.