On this day in history, Charles Dodgson, wrote in his diary, “Began writing the fairy-tale of Alice–I hope to finish it by Christmas.”  This was on November 13, 1862 and Charles later became known as Lewis Carroll.  The story fell into the hands of novelist, Henry Kingsley, who encouraged Carroll to publish the book.  It was released in 1865 and has become one of the most famous of all children’s literature. Today also happens to be Friday, the 13th. Many have a fear of this day. I don’t happen to be one of them, so I’ll talk about the author instead.

This young man of 30, stood about six feet tall. He had curly hair and blue/grey eyes. He was slender and fairly handsome, but slightly awkward. He suffered from various health issues. He stuttered when he lectured in the field of mathematics, but felt completely comfortable and spoke fluently when talking to children. He was home-schooled and became an avid reader of books by the age of seven. It’s hard to say what his intentions were in writing, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” and later, “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” He was in his early 30s at the time. Queen Victoria is said to have loved reading his first tale of Alice and begged the author to dedicate his next book to her.

Over the years. the story of Alice has reoccurred in various venues. Movies, cartoons, writings, opinions and spin-offs of the original story. There are many speculations as to what the story meant. I think it’s kind of funny that we try to interpret what an author or artist intended when first creating a piece of art. We can’t look into the mind of the artist, but many think Lewis Carroll was off his rocker when he wrote his stories. I felt the story to be more of an awakening of a young girl becoming a young woman.  All the emotional shifts that happen when a child becomes a teen, all the anxiety and sometimes even physical pain that accompanies puberty, were part of this adventure. I tried to incorporate these thoughts when I adapted my own version of the story into a play several years ago.  I could go deeper with this, but I’m not a psychologist.  Besides I love a good fairy tale too.

Today our world seems to be like Alice’s wonderland, in that it’s a swirling mixture of chaos and far fetched scenarios.  We try to make sense of it, but it simply doesn’t make sense.  The obstacles become distractions to our getting on with life as we should.  We jump from one tragedy to another within days.  We’re exposed to warped and broken minds, with no respect for human life.  We see division within our own nation and the world.  It seems we can’t squeeze through the doors of time without another attack to our psyches.

Wordsmiths down through the ages have given us a treasury of the written word. Sometimes there is a meaning behind the words. In this case, I believe it was simply meant to entertain – which Charles Dodgson/Lewis Carroll was very good at.

Another book, filled with amazing stories with instructions on how to live, is found in the Holy Bible. Inspiration can always be found in God’s Word

“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” Ephesians 4:14-16 KJV