I went out with some friends this evening.  We met up first at Panera and got something to eat.  I had the Mozzarella & Tomato sandwich – which was ok, but I didn’t especially like the pesto(?) sauce they added to it.  I would have liked it better if it was just the tomatoes and cheese.  After that we went to see the new Alice in Wonderland movie.

(Warning – Spoilers ahead ^^ )

I like what they decided to do – how, instead of retelling the same story over again, they moved it forward and instead made this a second visit to ‘Underland’ for Alice.  I like how they worked in both the reclamation of memory and self into one device – which true, is nothing new, but still well done.  Over all, I would certainly recommend it to others who are considering going to see it.

That idea of reclamation – of restoring something that is lost – is something I’ve thought about before and which this movie brought to the forefront of my mind again.  One of the books I read growing up that shaped who I am was ‘The Neverending Story’.  If all you’ve seen is the movies, I *definitely* recommend you hunt up the book.  The first movie is almost the first half of the book – with some changes.  The rest of the book I don’t feel they every really did justice to.

There is a section, right at the end of the book, that came to mind – have a read:

‘Mr Coreander,’ Bastian asked, ‘ how do you know all that? I mean – have you ever been in Fantastica?’

‘Of course I have,’ said Mr Coreander.

‘But then,’ said Bastian, ‘ you must know Moon Child.’

‘Yes, I know the Childlike Empress,’ said Mr Coreander, ‘ though not by that name.  I called her something different.  But that doesn’t matter.’

‘Then you must know the book!’ Bastian cried.  ‘Then you have read the Neverending Story.’

Mr Coreander shook his head.

‘Every real story is a Neverending Story.’  He passed his eye over the many books that covered the walls of his shop from floor to ceiling, pointed the stem of his pipe at them, and went on:

‘There are many doors to Fantastica, my boy.  There are other such magic books.  A lot of people read them without noticing.  It all depends on who gets  his hands on such books.’

‘Then the Neverending Story is different for different people?’

‘That’s right,’ said Mr Coreander.  ‘And besides, it’s not just books.  There are other ways of getting to Fantastica and back.  You’ll find out.’

‘Do you think so?’ Bastian asked hopefully.  ‘But then I’d have to meet Moon Child again, and no one can meet her more than once.’

Mr Coreander leaned forward and lowered his voice.

‘Let an old Fantastica hand tell you something, my boy.  This is a secret that no one in Fantastica can know.  When you think it over, you’ll see why.  You can’t visit Moon Child a second time, that’s true.  But if you can give her a new name, you’ll see her again.  And however often you manage to do that, it will be the first and only time.’

The wonder of Fantastica is the ability to go there and then return, having enriched both by the exchange.  As Mr Coreander said, books are not the only ways that we have learned to visit – there are songs, movies, games, art – the list grows longer the longer we follow it.  But what is it about that exchange that makes it valuable?

I titled this post ‘Lectern of the Lost’.  There are a couple different ways you could take that.  It could be the Lectern from which the Lost are instructed – the point of origin of all that keeps them where they are and all that seeks to maintain things in just that manner.  I’m certain if you think about it you can find some of those points in the world around you – if not in the worlds laid out within you.  In truth, I don’t know that you could name or define each of those lecterns – as there are at least as many of them as there are individuals – though rest assured, there are shared lecterns.

The other option is that it could be the Lectern from which the Lost seek instruction so that there may be finding – of whatever may be needed and necessary – that has been Lost.  If that is the case, I truly believe that for every item that may ever arise there is an entry – and an entry – for Fantastica that will allow them the opportunity to find what they seek.  I believe we return again and again because there is more that we long to know and understand – and there is always more to be given if we ask for it.

I truly hope I never find a point at which I believe I have no need of such instruction.