Books Books Books... and Aliens?

I think that many of you will find that we have much in common when I tell you that I LOVE to read!

Since I was a young girl in Kindergarten, books have been the source of countless hours of fantastic adventure, romance, and pondering. I remember one of the first books I read. It was a short picture book entitled "NO GIRLS ALLOWED" and it was about a small band of boys who took over a clubhouse... as you can imagine, no girls were allowed to join the club. My small spirit cheered on the young girls as they plotted and planned ways to break down this unfair system and take back the right to the clubhouse.

As I grew up, my taste in books has both stayed the same, and grown, as can be expected. I have four nieces and nephews, and I still love to sit down and read those children's stories with them, and I must confess that for the short time I worked in a bookstore, I would love to spend my short breaks reading the newest children's book. They are the perfect size to finish in a 15-30 minute period and they often have wonderful artwork and valuable lessons that even we adults can still learn from.

I am about to reveal a bit of the nerd side of my personality when I tell you that I got hooked on fantasy and science fiction books at quite an early age. I remember reading J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit in grade five and marveling at the new world that had been opened to me. Dragons, unicorns, winged horses, elves, giants... anything mystical became my new best friend. My play time often took place in worlds that defied the imaginations of many of my peers. I was the Queen of a distant band of elvish mages who controlled magical dragons with their minds. I was the daughter of a Unicorn who dared to defy her kind and interact with the dangerous humans. And I was... as every good child of the 80's/90's was... a friend of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Come on!! What could possibly be cooler than life-size turtles kicking butt with their ninja powers of awesomeness!?

I didn't stop at Fantasy and martial arts though... I loved Science Fiction. Star Trek and Star Wars novels graced my bookshelves, and still do now that I'm finally in a relationship with a man who understands how utterly cool and awesome science fiction is ;)

I know I may be labeling myself a complete nerd here, but the world of science fiction has, in many ways, really broadened my perspective of the world I now live in, and even my faith in God. The God I believe in is a God of creation. I believe that he created this entire universe with purpose and with the intent that we, and all other creatures, would multiply and fill this earth. Now tell me... if Adam and Eve had never eaten that accursed fruit ... if humanity had never thrown creation into utter chaos and sin... if death had never entered the world... this earth that we now live on would not have been sufficient to sustain life. Eventually, we would have needed somewhere else to go. That is why I believe that there are other planets out there capable of sustaining life. The universe is so big, so beyond comprehension, that I do believe that there are other habitable planets out there.

Does this mean that I believe in aliens? No... not really. I believe humanity is unique in its bearing of the Image of God. I believe we are unique in our sentience. However, I do believe it is possible that there is life, in some form, on other planets. However, it is very possible that after the fall of creation in the Garden of Eden, we locked ourselves off from the possibility of ever witnessing and experiencing these other "worlds."

Crazy? Perhaps. Geeky? Absolutely. What does this have to do with books? Nothing, I suppose.

Just the wandering ponderings of a random mind on a winter afternoon.

Blessings!