Peter Pan & Christian Maturity | Part V | Our Beloved Authors: An Afterthought

I dare say introductions to the Authors are in order. 

Please meet a third James, our Beloved Author and Creator of Peter Pan: James  Matthew  Barry, or as he is more Commonly known, J.M. Barrie. (Authors and Artists tend to leave Fingerprints of themselves in their work, I've discovered). 

The name James originates from the Hebrew name Jacob, meaning Supplanter & Holder of the Heel. 

Supplanter. A Beautiful word. 

Supplant [sə-'plant] : verb - 

1. obsolete : UPROOT 
2. : to Eradicate [destroy completely] and supply a Substitute for
3. : to take the place of and serve as a Substitute for, especially by reason of superior excellence or power

If you caught the footnotes in the link above about the Hairy Feet, you'll have noticed the name Jacob also means...Deceiver? He lied and tricked his own brother out of his rightful Inheritance, taking advantage of his father's old age and blindness. And his mother was in on it! How heartless.  

But Yahweh later changes Jacob's Name to Israel (meaning he who wrestles with God & God perseveres). You've probably heard this Name before. It's been in the news a lot recently. You see, Israel doesn't have the best Reputation in some people's Stories, including Yahweh's - He calls them an Adulterous Nation.  

So, we know his Name, but who was James Matthew Barrie? What was his Story? Tuck in and Listen:

I was excited to discover that he was Scottish. Though I can't say for sure, I feel as though he could be my Ancestor. 

He was born into a large Calvinist* family who loved him very much, but mirroring the Story of Jacob and Esau, there was a Favorite in the family. When his elder brother, David, or Beloved, died in an ice skating accident (I know, how Tragic, right?), his mother was devastated. 

To try and make her happy, he started pretending that he was David. He began to wear his brother's old clothes and would walk the halls whistling David's songs. This often confused his mother in her distress, thinking perhaps she was talking to a ghost. I mean...do you blame her?

To comfort her, James started telling her Stories.

His mother eventually found Peace in his Stories, Believing that David would forever remain an Innocent Boy, never to Grow Up and Leave her. 

During his own Early Childhood, James loved playing Pirates with his friends in the Garden and reading the Penny Dreadfuls, a 19th century Weekly Post that included Stories like Sweeney Todd (a personal favorite of mine). 

James always knew he wanted to be a Writer, though his family had hoped he would follow a career in Ministry. A compromise was proposed: He would attend University, but study Literature. In 1882, he published his first novel: Auld Lichts Idylls, inspired by his grandfather's participation in the Scottish Presbyterian (man, that's a hard word to spell) denomination, Auld Licht.** 

Peter Pan was considered his Greatest Literary Work. Such an intriguing, relatable, and Complex Character, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up was Further Developed Over Time by his Author after he was first Introduced to the world in a 1902 in a Story called The Little White Bird. 

The Story was inspired by his friendship with the Llewelyn Davies Family. He met Arthur and Sylvia and their Darling baby boy Peter (accompanied by his Nana) in a Garden one day while walking Porthos, his Saint Bernard.

Peter took right away to James' Storytelling and they became pretty good friends (you see, he had already traded Best Friendship Bracelets with Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, when she boldly vowed at three years old for the both of them, "He is my Greatest Friend and I am his Greatest Friend"). 

While perhaps never Best Friends, James became quite close with with Sylvia, to Arthur's annoyance and jealous dismay. Sylvia told James over dinner once that Peter was named after Peter Ibbetson, the Main Character in one of her own father's romantic fantasy novels.

The Name Peter, it turns out, means Rock. Where have we heard about Rocks before? Didn't Jesus say something about Rocks and Bad Weather? 

"Uncle Jim" created the Character Peter Pan to entertain baby Peter's other Darling siblings: George, John, Michael, and Nicholas. Michael was a particular fan and liked to play dress up as the Boy Who Could Fly. 

Peter Pan flew in and out of many of James' later plays and novels. It was a Priceless Treasure, and he Knew it. After wild success of his fifth Peter Pan work, he hired a Literary Agent and a Social Media Marketing team and lived the rest of his life traveling the world paid for by the Generous Royalties his Story and its Characters raked in.

Wait. Something inside you might be telling you that Doesn't Sound Right. You should Listen to it.

Here's what really happened: He did what his Mother hoped:

The Kingdom of Heaven is like Treasure Hidden in a field. When a man found it, he Hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. (Matthew 13:44, NIV)

In other words, he Invested his all his time and talents creating Beloved Characters and then donated all of the rights to the Peter Pan works to Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, which continues to benefit them to this day. 

A life with everything he could ever want was at his fingertips; but he decided instead to die like an English Gentleman. It was pneumonia that eventually took him. His Ancestors received their Inheritance with Gratitude.

You may Remember that Jas. Hook's last words before the Crocodile took him in Jas. Barrie's novel were, "Bad Form." In another Recorded Version of the Story by the Same Author (the stage play), his Last Words were Recorded as, "Floreat Etona," his University's Motto meaning, May Eton Flourish! He never could quite Let Go of Tradition. 

Interestingly enough, it is said that Jas. Barrie's Last Words were the same - "Floreat Etona", though he never did attended Eton College. Something inside you may be telling you that Doesn't Add Up. But the Facts are there. What to do with this? 

Let's Lean In Close and perhaps he will tell you his Secret...

But it's not a Secret at all. It's a Question: Beloved, where am I Pointing?

He was Pointing to the other James, James Hook, our Classic Villain. 

Villain?! But I thought that Uncle Jim died an English Gentleman with Good Form!

Beloved, did you not Know that our God also Uses Villains for His Glory? James was Pointing those he Loved to his own Personal Motto, inscribed on his Scottish Coat of Arms: Amour De La Bonte, Love of Goodness.  

In case you've Forgotten, there is only one Character who is All Good All the Time. He is the Embodiment of Goodness itself.  

Do you Believe that you have a Mother? Do you Believe that She is Good? Do you Believe that your Mother Loves you and sent Her Son to Neverland to Remind you that She's at the Window waiting for you? You might Doubt it sometimes. That's okay. We can all be silly asses from time to time.

Beloved, the Window is still open. If you Believe, what would you do to Honor that kind of Love? 

Though there are much better ways to Fly - Soar, even - such as on Wings like Eagles, (though I much prefer Hawks), don't Forget that it was Fairy Dust our Author Used that brought our Darling Children Home.

Post Script: 

In case you were wondering what happened to the Llewelyn Davies Family, as I was - they all seemed so  lovely - they all died English Gentlemen...all except one. 

Arthur died of cancer. Following his death, James took care of Sylvia and the boys and were eventually engaged to be married. (Saw that one coming, didn't ya?) They never did marry, but Sylvia's Last Words to her boys were, (in a nutshell), "Listen to your Uncle Jim." 

And so they did. George died in battle in the First World War. Michael drowned at boarding school. Lung disease took John. Nicholas, an Eton College alum, died peacefully in his home.  

Peter, however... Peter did not Listen to his Uncle Jim. Alas, as he was the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, he could never quite deal with the Grief that followed James' death. Some years later, he threw himself in front of a train at Sloan Square Station.  

Pretty Bad Form, IMO. 

Peter Llewelyn Davies, thou not wholly unheroic figure, farewell. You are Loved. 

*A conservative framework of Christian Theology, Calvinism was developed by French Theologian John Calvin. John was a Supporting Character in the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century, in which Martin Luther was the Main Character.

**In the Church of Scotland (founded by John Knox, friend of John Calvin), two branches of Presbyterianism emerged - the 'Auld Lichts' (Old Light) who represented a more severe and unforgiving form of Presbyterianism and criticized the Libertines (religious free-thinkers), and the 'New Lichts', which considered the Human Experience of religion, rather than Blind faith alone.