This evening's thoughts, part 2

This is just a quick note about fantasy literature.  I've been a sci-fi/fantasy fan for years and years.  Not so much lately because I've focused so much of my reading on either spirituality, social issues, or school-related materials.  However, I haven't lost my love of the literature or forgotten what it meant to me when I was much younger.
 
When I was in 4th grade, my teacher (I can't remember her name) gave me a copy of Madeline L'Engle's "A Swiftly Tilting Planet."  I still have my copy of that book.  It opened up an entire world to me - a world of magic, beauty, and endless possibilities.  I began reading comic books when I was a teenager, mainly the X-Men and some other Marvel comics, but a few other titles.  I was enchanted with the female superheroines and I always knew I could be one.
 
Because I never talked to my parents or friends about what I read, no one ever told me it was make believe.  On some basic, unconscious level, I believed.  I knew that I could do those things if someone would teach me or if I could somehow unlock my latent ability.  I still believe that - to this day.  I still have the basic belief that everyone has a super power, it's just a matter of tapping into it.
 
By the way, my favorite fantasy authors are as follows:

• Madeline L'Engle
  
• C.S. Lewis
  
• Charles de Lint
  
• Melanie Rawn
  
• Tolkein
  
• Robert Jordan
  
• Orson Scott Card
  
• Walter Wangerin