Annesley Writers Forum "Mermaid Potions and Defeating Dragons" by Laura Hurd for Thursday, 12 June 2014

Annesley Writers Forum "Mermaid Potions and Defeating
Dragons" by Laura Hurd for Thursday, 12 June 2014
My seven-year-old daughter recently brought me an artistic work of hers – one that will probably end up somewhere in the mountain of papers filled with her drawings of princesses and original stories like “The Jolly Mess” (in which a bunch of naughty pigs ransack a house). Her current invention features an old-fashioned chemistry bottle surrounded by swirling tubes of glass. Inside the bottle is a pinkish-red liquid, described as being strawberry-flavored. Apparently, my daughter has discovered a magical potion for turning humans into mermaids. The ingredients are listed on the back of the paper:

Water

Pink flowers

Pink sugar

More pink flowers

I am ashamed to admit that my initial thought after she showed me her paper was concern for my reputation. I am a Christian minister. My husband is a minister. Is it okay for a preacher’s daughter to be inventing magical potions? If she shows others her drawing, will they think I am encouraging her to dabble in witchcraft? Or at best, that I am not adequately teaching her the difference between reality and fantasy?
Some people may think this isn’t a big deal, but throughout twenty years of full-time ministry, my family has been criticized for less. I’ve been tempted to hide the Disney movies, just to avoid lectures concerning the dangerous “hidden messages” in them that can lead children astray. There was even a time when all good Christians were supposed to boycott Disney World (being bad Christians, we snuck in anyway). Halloween and Christmas are other times when I wrestle with the tension between “worldly” activities and what is expected of an upstanding pastoral family. If it was not for my husband defending our children’s right to be children, I may have given into the pressure of keeping my little butterflies and ninja warriors at home to stare at the wall while their friends were out gathering treasure chests full of candy booty. My husband, however, has no qualms escorting his fairy princess up to the door of even the most disapproving “churchy” person. After all, he would be the first to adorn a Jedi robe and a goofy grin, searching hungrily for generous houses that offer regular-sized candy bars and no popcorn balls.
As I contemplate my daughter’s “mermaid potion,” I wonder if there may be greater dangers inherent in our condemnation of fantasy and legend. When the Christian message is used to stifle creativity, rob children of imagination, and limit inspiration, perhaps we are getting it wrong. In fact, the Scriptures seem to be full of creativity, imagination, and inspiration – they take us far beyond the scientific, the ordinary, and the stale, showing us that the impossible is possible and that the unseen is actually more real than what is seen. G. K. Chesterton wrote in Orthodoxy (1908), “I am concerned with a certain way of looking at life, which was created in me by the fairy tales, but has since been meekly ratified by the mere facts…I left the fairy tales lying on the floor of the nursery, and I have not found any books so sensible since.Dragon
Every great fictional story has a foundation in biblical truth, and the truthful stories of the Bible contain many wonderful elements of literary fantasy. Genesis tells us not simply of a devil who successfully tempted a man and woman to sin; instead, it tells of a beautiful garden, of the innocence of true love, of a talking serpent with silky words, of a devastating curse, and of a prophecy enshrouded in mystery that offers a glimmer of hope for future rescue. The book of Revelation writes of dragons and sea monsters, of tree leaves containing healing powers, of crystal waters – and of a beautiful princess bride who displays incredible tenacity against dark forces, eventually reuniting with her faithful Love who comes, riding majestically on His white horse, to save her. And they live happily ever after.
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” (Chesterton, paraphrased by Gaiman, 2004)
So today, my daughter and I are going to mix a little water, some pink sugar, and several rose petals together and turn ourselves into mermaids. Then we are going to dive into the watery depths and defeat the great sea witch, proving that even monsters have limitations, and that good – in the end – always triumphs over evil.
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