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April 02, 2005
lessons from a children's tale...
Here it is—one o’clock in the morning. This probably isn’t the best weekend in the world to be losing sleep (with the springing forward and all), but I’m not quite ready to go to bed yet.
I apologize to all of you who have faithfully been checking my blog, only to see there are no new postings. Believe you me, I have had plenty of things that I wanted to blog about…I just haven’t had an abundance of time.
Well anyway, here goes…
Many of you may know that I heart C.S. Lewis and am one of the many fans of the Chronicles of Narnia. Oh no, some of you may be thinking, here comes the classic debate of what order to read the books in…WRONG! Actually, I’m in the process of reading the books in no particular order at all…
Today I finished The Silver Chair. For those of you who don’t know, on Fridays I have a “mini-Sabbath.” I don’t have anything between 8 am and 2 pm, so I’ve been taking advantage of the chance to take myself to a coffee shop, bringing my Bible, journal, and an additional book for my own enjoyment (this is not to say that reading the Bible isn’t enjoyable).
So today I sat down in Taraccino’s with my white chocolate caramel mocha and began to read. The following are a few lessons I think I’ve been learning from this wonderful children’s book…
1. The importance of knowing and clinging to God’s word.
[The scene: Aslan is giving Jill instructions so that she might successfully carry out the mission of finding and freeing Prince Rillian]
Aslan: Stand still. In a moment I will blow. But, first, remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why is it so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs (The Silver Chair p. 26).
Wow, does that not blow you away? It’s so true. God often speaks something to us, when we’re on that mountain, when we’re alone with Him and experiencing spiritual clarity. But if we have not well equipped our heart with the truths he told us, if we have not firmly planted his messages there, the moment we come back into the world, we begin to doubt. Is that really what he meant? This just can’t be. This doesn’t look right. Okay, I’ll believe something else. Something that seems more suitable for the situation. Am I the only one who has had this happen?
2. Obedience and trust are crucial. Oh yeah, and it’s important to know and cling to God’s word.
[Jill (Pole), Eustace (Scrubb), and Puddleglum have found the prince, but because of a number of enchantments and deceptions, they are unsure what to do]
“Oh what are we to do,” said Jill.
It was a dreadful question. What had been the use of promising one another that they would not on any account set the Knight free, if they were now to do so the first time he happened to call upon a name they really cared about? On the other hand, what had been the use of learning the signs if they weren’t going to obey them? Yet could Aslan really have meant them to unbind anyone—even a lunatic—who asked it in his name? Could it be a mere accident? Or how if the Queen of the Underworld knew about all the signs and had made the Knight learn this name in order to entrap them? But, then, supposing this was the real sign?…They had muffed the first three already; daren’t muff the fourth.
“Oh if we only knew!” said Jill.
“I think we do know,” said Puddleglum.
“Do you mean you think everything will come out right if we do untie him?” said Scrubb.
“I don’t know about that,” said Puddleglum. “You see, Aslan didn’t tell Pole what would happen. He only told her what to do. That fellow will be the death of us once he’s up, I shouldn’t wonder. But that doesn’t let us off following the sign.” (The Silver Chair p. 174-175)
Once again, has anyone else had these things run through their minds? I can think of so many situations lately where I’m pretty resistant to simply obeying God if I don’t know how things are going to turn out. God is definitely using things like this book to speak to that. To speak to my need to trust—to believe that God is a) good enough b) powerful enough and c) wise enough—that even if I only have a sliver of the picture, I can still believe if I act in obedience to his commands and his word, things will turn out as they should.
Well, I hope this didn’t ruin the story for anyone. I also hope I didn’t confuse too many of you. I highly recommend The Chronicles of Narnia. Things just jump out at me when I’m reading a story. Well, storytelling seemed to work for Jesus a lot, so maybe there’s something to it…
[and…get EXCITED! The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe comes out December 2005…who’s coming with me?]
Posted by Autumn at April 2, 2005 01:28 AM