Lauren Kewley's Blog
The Wood between the Worlds / 07.19.10, 05:09 PM
Have you read Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew? Do you remember the place where Uncle Andrew’s yellow rings sent Polly and Digory? The Wood between the Worlds…
“He was standing by the edge of a small pool – not more than ten feet from side to side in a wood. The trees grew close together and were so leafy that he could get no glimpse of the sky. All the light was green light that came through the leaves; but there must have been a very strong sun overhead, for this green daylight was bright and warm. It was the quietest wood you could possibly imagine. There were no birds, no insects, no animals, and no wind. You could almost feel the trees growing. The pool he had just got out of was not the only pool. There were dozens of others – a pool every few yards as far as his eyes could reach. You could almost feel the trees drinking the water up with their roots. This wood was very much alive. When he tried to describe it afterwards Digory always said, “It was a rich place; as rich as plumcake.”
I’ve found myself in this strange place, a sort of in-between place. I feel not houseless, but homeless. I am here in Oregon, yet working instead of going to school. It doesn’t feel like home; it doesn’t feel permanent. I love San Diego, but my home is no longer in that place either. For a couple months, I tried to wrap my head around the idea of moving to Camden, New Jersey. I no longer am going there, but a sliver of my heart still lies there and aches for the people who live in that place. And now I am moving to Atlanta, Georgia, a place which I only vaguely remember visiting and hardly know anything about. I’m in this wood, feeling homeless, my heart stretched between all these places, yet centered nowhere in particular.
I feel as if I am in Lewis’s Wood between the Worlds, which is strange because I’ve found myself in the woods a lot lately, whether hiking, camping, picnicking, reading, or what have you, and it has come to be a place where I see God most clearly. In the woods, I see Him as creator, life giver, sustainer. This time of feeling homeless, nomadic, in-between is difficult and, at times straining, but I welcome it with gladness, for it is where I see God and know that He has filled my life with so many unimaginable possibilities. For this wood, while quiet and still, is freckled with tiny pools – pools that hold the potential of a thousand different worlds, if only I have the courage to just jump in!
“I think we can get out of this place into jolly well anywhere!
We don’t need to jump back into the same pool we came up by.
Or not just yet.”
“The Wood between the Worlds,” said Polly dreamily. “It sounds rather nice.”
“Come on,” said Digory. “Which pool shall we try?”
So I will jump. In less than three weeks, I will pack up my apartment in Oregon and drive back down to San Diego to spend a few weeks with family and friends. I will then eagerly venture across the United States to make my new home in Atlanta!
“Now for the adventure.
Any pool will do.
Come on.
Let’s try that one.”
1 Comments
Leave a Comment...
Read more of Lauren Kewley's Blogs.
I can totally relate to the homeless part Lauren. I was also houseless though to for a bit after graduation. God is good though and provides! I know he has big plans for you in the ATL. If you are driving to ATL and come through texas let me know.
By Noel / Jul 20, 08:03 AM / #