Death by Living: Life Is Meant to Be Spent

by N.D. Wilson

I write for children because I have read more than my fair share of adult ideas set out and explained by adult thinkers and theologians, philosophers and pundits, and I may as well admit that I have been more influenced (as a person) by my childhood readings of Tolkien and Lewis, and by those moments listening to tales of Tiny Tim, and by that stack of pages my father handed me about an imaginary goblin war, than by any idea books that I read in college and grad school. The events and characters in Narnia and Middle Earth shaped my ideals, my dreams, my loyalties, and my goals. Kant just annoyed me.

Why are we old? Because we were young. Why do we die? Because we lived. Why am I here? Because I was there. You cannot stop yourself from aging, which is to say that you cannot sub out of this extremely rough, full-contact (no pads) game. You cannot throw a diva fit backstage in this production and force the understudy to take your place. You are in every scene. You are on the field for every play. And you go into the next one and the next one and the next one carrying the baggage and the wounds and the weariness of the last one and the last one and the last one.

Glory is sacrifice, glory is exhaustion, glory is having nothing left to give. Almost. It is death by living.

Another great quote from ND Wilson...