Inklings Walk

After religion, I got to talk to Dr. Hanks a bit at tea. We talked about inert ideas of faith as children and how those ideas fall down at the first sign of trouble. I told him I thought my faith was a bit wishy-washy, and he reassured me that thinking about intellectually was what Jesus asked since he added "and with all your mind" to the whole "love the Lord" verse. That was very reassuring. Sometimes I need to hear someone encourage me where I'm at rather than telling me at the end of a discussion that I'll eventually come to the "right" conclusion.
After tea, I started on my Inklings journey. All of the pictures are on facebook, and I posted most of what I did on the pictures, so you can check those out if you want nitty gritty details.
Here is an excerpt from my Oxford Christians Journal. I'm turning this next bit in for a grade, so if you see any errors or you would like to pick at a point, feel free to comment and destroy it.

I am currently sitting in the White Horse, eating fish and chips and reading The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. It is easy to imagine the Inklings meeting here. It must have been quite crowded. Perhaps they would have sat up on the second level in the corner. There are two older men with beer sitting there right now, discussing something in low heavy voices not in English. I feel as if it must be something very important. I am almost glad that I cannot understand what they are saying, or else it would destroy my imagination of what serious and heavy topics they discuss. The Pevensies were sent out to the countryside because of the war. The Inklings were sent out of the Eagle and Child because of the war. So, the war very much affected every aspect of Lewis’s life. They must have felt a bit more cramped here than in their normal haunt. Still, the atmosphere is set for inspiration and discussion of very important things, and I am sure they still enjoyed every moment of conversation and last drop of beer. I talked with a man at the bar, and he said the last time he had been there was forty years ago. I asked him if anything had changed. He said nothing, except the prices were higher and the food was better. It was apparently just “pub grub” before. Poor Inklings having nothing good to eat there and a beer shortage to limit the loosening of the tongue.

I have relocated to King Arm’s pub. The bartender laughed at me when I asked him if I could buy any beer glasses. I just got some tea, and now I am people watching. It is much more spacious and well-lit here. This probably didn’t cramp their style quite as much, but probably didn’t inspire as deep of conversation here. It reminds me much more of the frivolity of hobbits, singing and dancing and enjoying their drink. Tolkien had to imagine such happy beings in a place like this.

I am now sitting on a little park on a bench in University College. I can see how Lewis could imagine the four Pevensies running away from the busy Mcready and finding themselves suddenly in a world of peace and nature like Narnia. The High is full of cars that threaten to knock over pedestrians and give certain death to animals. But as soon as you pass through the magical gates of University College along Logic Lane, silence pervades the atmosphere, and a little bench pops up, inviting you to sit underneath the bulbous tree with fungi and knots everywhere. I feel like I must be breaking some rule sitting here, but no one has caught me yet. Lewis loved University College, and it’s obvious why. It’s a perfect oasis in the midst of chaos.

End of journal.
After the Great Hall dinner, I got to play in the stairwell where Harry Potter was filmed. I played the allemande and its double of Bach's first partita. It was super fun. The acoustics sounded great, rebounding everywhere and making me feel less scared. Our whole Baylor group and some of the Oxford Experience people stopped on the stairs stopped and watched and applauded. One of the Oxford Experience group people asked if I had been hired to play for them. I forgot about the whole getting paid thing.
I then did laundry, and definitely forgot about it entirely until an hour ago. But that means I got to put on hot pajamas out of the dryer. Best feeling ever, hands down. It's being hugged all over by something warm.
My foot's asleep. Perhaps it's trying to tell me I should go to sleep.