When I was a young boy my dad used to read to my brother and me. He
would sit in the hallway with his back against the wall while Trevor
and I would go through the evening purification ceremony. Maybe it was
just a parental ploy getting us to brush, bathe, and wash. But to us
it was a magical time of Lewis and Tolkien, two dead English authors
who had created magical worlds on paper that were very much real in
our imaginations. These were stories of kings and queens, talking
animals, dwarfs (both good and bad), elves, goblins (always bad),
dragons, epic battles, a majestic lion, and childhood dreams that came
true.
Our favorite stories
were the Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. Not only did
Lewis capture the hearts of children in his writings, but he used
Biblical imagery, painting some of the great Christian themes within
his stories. This wasn’t done as a covert way to evangelize
children, it wasn’t done as a Christian response to Harry Potter,
but these books were written out of Lewis’ love of children and the
natural expression of the Kingdom of God in his life.
We need stories
today. Many postmodern people are afraid of Scripture but they are
amazed at fantasy, magic, and lore. Maybe we should rethink the way we
relate the Bible to them. It is full of magic, promises, and destiny.
There are epic battles, talking donkeys, sneaky snakes, and even a
majestic lion. And when I imagine Jesus’ conversation with the
children he gathered around him, I don’t think he spoke to them as
their teachers did at the tabernacle. I think he told them stories,
exciting ones, full of imagery, and life, and lions.
Throughout the summer
months we are going to highlight each of the seven books out of the Chronicles
of Narnia. Not because there aren’t any good “real” articles
to write, but because every now and then we need to wake up our
imagination and get lost in a fairy tale.
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
The best-known book
of the chronicles, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, tells
the story of four brothers and sisters who find their way into the
magical land of Narnia. This mystical country is being controlled by a
wicked witch who turns her enemies to stone and keeps the land in
continual winter (but never Christmas). But Aslan, the son of the
Emperor-beyond-the-Sea, is on the move. When he comes, the Deep Magic,
which goes back to before Time dawned, will set the captives free.
C.S. Lewis
dedicated The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to his goddaughter,
Lucy Barfield:
My
Dear Lucy,
I
wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that
girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for
fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older
still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy
tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it,
and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to
hear, and too old to understand, a word you say, but I shall still be
your
affection Godfather,
C.
S. Lewis
Here
are two excerpts from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that
capture Lewis gift of storytelling and his heart for the Kingdom of
God.
…the
Beaver’s voice sank into silence and it gave one or two very
mysterious nods. Then signaling to the children to stand as close
around it as they possibly could, so that their faces were actually
ticked by its whiskers, it added in a low whisper –
“They say
Aslan is on the move – perhaps has already landed.”
And now a
very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was
any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these
words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes
happened to you in a dream that someone says something which you
don’t understand but in the dream it feels as if it had some
enormous meaning – either a terrifying one which turns the whole
dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put
into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it
all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream
again. It was like that now. At the name of Aslan each one of the
children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation
of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous.
Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of
music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have
when you wake up in morning and realize that it is the beginning of
the holidays or the beginning of the summer.
***********************************************************
“Who is
Aslan?” asked Susan.
“Aslan?”
said Mr. Beaver. “Why, don’t you know? He’s the King. He’s
the Lord of the whole wood, but not often here, you understand.
Never in my time or my father’s time. But the word has reached us
that he has come back. He is in Narnia at this moment. He’ll
settle the White Queen all right. It is he, not you, that will save
Mr. Tumnus.”
“She
wont’ turn him into stone too?” said Edmund.
“Lord
love you, Son of Adam, what a simple thing to say!” answered Mr.
Beaver with a great laugh. “Turn him into stone? If she can
stand on her two feet and look him in the face it’ll be the most
she can do and more than I expect of her. No, No. He’ll put all to
rights as it says in an old rhyme I these parts:
Wrong
will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.
“You’ll
understand when you see him.”
“But
shall we see him?” asked Susan.
“Why,
Daughter of Eve, that’s what I brought you here for. I’m to lead
you where you shall meet him,” said Mr. Beaver.
“Is –
is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan
a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he
is the King of the wood and the son of the great
Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts?
Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh!”
said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I
shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you
will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s
anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking,
they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he
isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?”
said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who
said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s
good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
For more information on "The Lion, The
witch and the Wardrobe" and the entire Chronicles of Narnia,
visit the official Web site at www.naria.com.
