Fairy Tales

I'll admit that sometimes I long to be part of a fairy tale story. I want to be rescued, swept up out of the mire of my ordinary life, loved passionately, made into a princess. I have always been fascinated with fairy tales, but am well aware that they have been criticized by some in our society who believe that they undermine girls' belief in their self-sufficiency and their instinct for self-determination. They reinforce an unrealistic idealism, promote a passive approach to life, prevent us from fashioning our own stories. We ought to rescue ourselves - if, indeed, we need to be rescued at all.

Still, fairy tales endure in all their grim beauty.

I think that's because there is something in us that responds to these archetypal patterns of distress, rescue, transformation.

And it occurs to me that I am taking part in a fairy tale story. But it is not some handsome stranger who has come to me, it is the Prince of Peace himself.