A Wrinkle In Time

So we've decided for Christmas we are going to get books for all the neices and newphews each year. They get sooo many toys, I wanted to do something different. And reading has always been a passion of mine! I'm thrilled that they all seem to love it too! I found this awesome used book store where I could buy paperback books in fairly great condition for $1.50. So instead of buying one - maybe two books new - I bought a stack of used books! Very fun! Quite a few were favorites from my childhood - and I hope they love them as much as I did. 

One of the books I bought was A Wrinkle In Time. To be honest, I remembered that I loved the book - but couldn't really remember the story. I was worried it would be over their heads (this was for an 11 year old and a 7 year old) so I kept that one. I figured I would read it - and probably give it to them next year. Oddly enough, I'm so glad I did! 

I finished it last night and it really is a fun book. But even more interesting was the parallel to the Gospel that I probably did not pickup on as a child. For those that have never read it - or like me it's been years - here is the recap: 

You have Meg, a homely school aged girl (I imagine probably 14 or 15 or so), her younger brother Charles Wallace, and a friend they meet - Calvin a 17 year boy. They go on a fantastic journey to other worlds to save Meg's father who disappeared. On their journey they meet IT, and evil force that is trying to take over the universe and has captured her father. In Cazamotz where they find him, everyone is the same. Everyone does the same thing, thinks the same thing, and lives the same. There are no consequences, because there are no decision. There is no sadness - but there is also no joy. IT is a large brain that basically sucks a person into it's self so that IT thinks for you. And of course, in the end the thing that conquers is Love. That is my very brief summary. For one more in depth, click here.

The thing that struck me - was how alike the IT was to Satan. How he wants to take away all of our power of decision. He wants to take away all consequences. He wants to take away all of our differences. As I read this, I realized that in a lot of ways, I've bought into this plan. I thought about all those years I have been trying to be like everyone else. All the times I've looked at other people's life, family, money, body - and thought why can't I be like that? And many times, tried to look like I am that - when really I am something completely different - all in the name of fitting in. Why have I tried to hide who I am, to please others? Because if you think about it - that's falling right in to the plan of IT. Truth be told, I like the power of decision that a loving God gave me. I like the things that make me different from others.

I may not appreciate all the things about myself that I could yet. But I'm definitely on the path to getting there. And for today at least I can appreciate the fact that I am different then others - and that it's okay! I don't have to be like anyone else - I get to just be me.