Lessons from Narnia

I have always heard that C.S. Lewis was a great author, but I can't say I've read his works until recently... and although I loved the first "Narnia" movie, and I never got around to reading any of the fiction books either. Until this year. I always meant to, wanted to. It was on that "to do" list of bucket list type things that you thought should be important, but most likely you'd never actually make time for. You just felt good thinking that you wanted to do said things. On my spiritual bucket list was just that-Read C.S. Lewis.



Never did I think I would be as greatly impacted as I have been, and from fiction books, no less. See, I used to love reading, and somewhere along the way of being force fed all the books on the high school honors English required reading list, I lost that love. As a homeschool mom, I'm doing the best I can to foster that same love in my children, and I'm finding it again for myself. We've read many classics as well as newer, shorter children's books. Sometimes it's hard to believe that we are knee deep in our 4th year of homeschooling. I don't claim to have all the answers, nor do I claim to be the perfect teacher, but thank His Goodness He gives us grace! But that's not what this is about-homeschooling.

Instead I want to talk to you about some of the lessons I have learned from the Narnia books. We are on book 4, Prince Caspian, right now.  I won't go into the other books right now, just know the same author who moved me to tears with this book already, also wrote several others-both before, and after this one- and they all carry the same weight. It's nothing short of God ordained brilliance the way he illustrates a spiritual lesson so beautiful. I have read a few articles on both sides of the issue though. Some suggest that Lewis' illustrations of Christ's teaching are so head on, that he wove them in to the children's stories intentionally.  Other's, including quotes from Lewis himself seem to suggest that it wasn't some type of intentional spiritual indoctrination, but rather that his intention was to write a great story and Christ's love just seeped in. I have often wanted to have that close a relationship with the Father; where my cup is so full from him that it just spills out everywhere else. I picture in my head, the stopper plugged in on both sink drains, faucets turned on full blast. After the sinks fill up, it spills onto the counters and then drapes to the floor, like some kind of kitchen waterfall. There is so much there, that you cannot contain it all. It touches every aspect of anything in sight. Now, I don't mean to put Lewis on a pedestal. There are numerous other authors who are worthy of study, as well as the highest authority-God's word. What I mean to say is that when you find something,  some little nugget of great wisdom, the only truly wise thing to do is to apply it to your own life and then share the effects with others. Who would have thought a children's book (or 4) would have such an impact on my life--not me!!

Now, despite my dislike of the idea of spoiling this for you all, I do think some background is necessary, as the lesson here comes halfway through the 4th book. Aslan, the Lion, is the Christ figure woven through the stories, if you will. The Pevensie children are not in every book, but so far, they are a common thread as well. Lucy is the youngest. She represents, to me, the childlike faith that brand new believers have. She was the first to discover Narnia, the one who gets criticized often for not being realistic and logical enough but thinking with her heart instead. Edmund is her slightly older brother, who can be selfish and arrogant at times, but he also experienced the grace and mercy that comes with  unearned forgiveness of a betrayal. That changed him, and though he struggles within himself to keep his ego in check, he hasn't forgotten whose side he's on. Then there are the older siblings (High King) Peter, the oldest, and Susan, the older sister to the other two children. When they get brought back to Narnia by some unexpected supernatural force, despite only one year having passed since they last left according to time in our world, hundreds, perhaps a thousand years have passed. What was once their kingdom now lies in ruins, and they are all puzzled as to just why they were brought there. When they meet a stranger from Prince Caspian's camp, they learn that the Narnia they know and love is no more, but that Caspian is fighting to return it to the old ways. So they are trekking through the woods, looking for a river, and frequently getting lost. Lucy sees Aslan, and he directs her/them to follow him, but no one else sees him or believes her. When they get lost again having gone the other way, she finds herself unable to sleep that night and drawn to Aslan yet again. He directs her to wake the others, and then follow him, regardless of whether the others do or not.

Keep in mind that all four children (the two older children are older teenagers actually) have all encountered Aslan before. They know his goodness and faithfulness. They have seen and experienced it all firsthand. It's not that they've had to go by Lucy's word alone to know who he is and what he can do. They know he does things in ways they cannot comprehend to achieve an end result that makes them better for it. They watched him sacrifice his own life to fulfill a prophecy and save one of their own, and then come back to life renewed! The point is, the KNEW him. They had, at one time, a deep and personal relationship with him-each one of them did!  But somehow, time made them jaded. They now doubted, and questioned just like we all do at times. After much grumbling and a mild tantrum on Susan's part, they embarked, all four of them, plus a dwarf they had met who was trying in vain to lead them to Prince Caspian. Here's an excerpt:

_______________________________________________________________

And so at last they got on the move. Lucy went first, biting her lip and trying not to say all the things she thought of saying to Susan. But she forgot them when she fixed her eyes on Aslan. He turned and walked at a slow pace about thirty yards ahead of them. The others had only Lucy's directions to guide them, for Aslan was not only invisible to them but silent as well. His big cat-like paws made no noise on the grass.

He led them to the right of the dancing trees - whether they were still dancing nobody knew, for Lucy had her eyes on the Lion and the rest had their eyes on Lucy - and nearer the edge of the gorge. "Cobbles and kettledrums!" thought Trumpkin. "I hope this madness isn't going to end in a moonlight climb and broken necks."

For a long way Aslan went along the top of the precipices. Then they came to a place where some little trees grew right on the edge. He turned and disappeared among them. Lucy held her breath, for it looked as if he had plunged over the cliff; but she was too busy keeping him in sight to stop and think about this. She quickened her pace and was soon among the trees herself. Looking down, she could see a steep and narrow path going slantwise down into the gorge between rocks, and Aslan descending it. He turned and looked at her with his happy eyes. Lucy clapped her hands and began to scramble down after him. From behind her she heard the voices of the others shouting, "Hi! Lucy! Look out, for goodness' sake. You're right on the edge of the gorge. Come back - "and then, a moment later, Edmund's voice saying, "No, she's right. There is a way down."

Half-way down the path Edmund caught up with her.

"Look!" he said in great excitement. "Look! What's that shadow crawling down in front of us?"

"It's his shadow," said Lucy.

"I do believe you're right, Lu," said Edmund. "I can't think how I didn't see it before. But where is he?"

"With his shadow, of course. Can't you see him?"

"Well, I almost thought I did - for a moment. It's such a rum light."

"Get on, King Edmund, get on," came Trumpkin's voice from behind and above: and then, farther behind and still nearly at the top, Peter's voice saying, "Oh, buck up, Susan. Give me your hand. Why, a baby could get down here. And do stop grousing."

In a few minutes they were at the bottom and the roaring of water filled their ears. Treading delicately, like a cat, Aslan stepped from stone to stone across the stream. In the middle he stopped, bent down to drink, and as he raised his shaggy head, dripping from the water, he turned to face them again. This time Edmund saw him. "Oh, Aslan!" he cried, darting forward. But the Lion whisked round and began padding up the slope on the far side of the Rush.

"Peter, Peter," cried Edmund. "Did you see?"

"I saw something," said Peter. "But it's so tricky in this moonlight. On we go, though, and three cheers for Lucy. I don't feel half so tired now, either."

Aslan without hesitation led them to their left, farther up the gorge. The whole journey was odd and dream-like the roaring stream, the wet grey grass, the glimmering cliffs which they were approaching, and always the glorious, silently pacing Beast ahead. Everyone except Susan and the Dwarf could see him now.

Presently they came to another steep path, up the face of the farther precipices. These were far higher than the ones they had just descended, and the journey up them was a long and tedious zig-zag. Fortunately the Moon shone right above the gorge so that neither side was in shadow.

Lucy was nearly blown when the tail and hind legs of Aslan disappeared over the top: but with one last effort she scrambled after him and came out, rather shaky-legged and breathless, on the hill they had been trying to reach ever since they left Glasswater. The long gentle slope (heather and grass and a few very big rocks that shone white in the moonlight) stretched up to where it vanished in a glimmer of trees about half a mile away. She knew it. It was the hill of the Stone Table:

With a jingling of mail the others climbed up behind her. Aslan glided on before them and they walked after him.

"Lucy," said Susan in a very small voice.

"Yes?" said Lucy.

"I see him now. I'm sorry."

"That's all right."

"But I've been far worse than you know. I really believed it was him - he, I mean - yesterday. When he warned us not to go down to the fir wood. And I really believed it was him tonight, when you woke us up. I mean, deep down inside. Or I could have, if I'd let myself. But I just wanted to get out of the woods and - and - oh, I don't know. And what ever am I to say to him?"

"Perhaps you won't need to say much," suggested Lucy.


__________________________________________________________________________

Isn't that just like how we are in our own spiritual lives? We are all in different places, but God remains the same. He's there whether you acknowledge him or not. When you doubt, you aren't always able to see him in the circumstances surrounding you. Sometimes it seems as if when you are already walking along the cliffs of life, trying your best not to trip, he disappears into some trees and then you feel abandoned. What seems logical, is what we tend to seek. But God seldom operates (almost never, dare I say) according to human logic. So even though he most definitely had a reason for crossing through the trees and seeming the leave them, the point was could they trust him? Lucy had the right idea. She trusted and kept her eyes focused on him, no matter what the others said or did. When we take our eyes off him, even for one second, we start to listen to the reasoning, fear, and doubts of others that make us begin to question our own path God has laid down for us. The way is not easy, and it's narrow, but if we fix our eyes on him, we'll make it alright.

Sometimes others who don't understand might make us feel judged because they can't see God's calling in our lives, or God's requirements of us. Because our faith must first be a deeply personal relationship before anyone else can begin to feel the effects of it around you, those who don't have one sometimes won't get why we do what we do. And here's the kicker. Sometimes, even other Christians can unintentionally end up as tools for the enemy to tear us down with. Doubt is the biggest thing, for me. My own insecurities and flaws, judgement by others, and a lack of trust in God honestly, are what have been my biggest stumbling blocks. We right off our disobedience because either everyone else does the same thing, or we are afraid of being judged for our obedience. Is that hard to hear for you like it was for me? When we push past our fears and doubts, and obey God anyways, the rewards are overwhelming. I have been struggling with whether or not others would understand my reasoning recently. We have our flaws, and are being disciplined for them, but God called my husband and I do go on a mission trip to Haiti. I have doubted God called us, not because I actually doubted, but because I was insecure about what others would say. Perhaps it's not the most logical and 'wise' thing when I have debts I could pay off. In fact, we have ZERO funding for this trip, and after we agreed to obey God and do this, our resources have been slashed. But God has called me and us. I am trusting that he has a plan, and that he will provide. Logically, the human part of me says it isn't possible. The human part of me is afraid of being criticized for doing things others don't understand. But the truth is that God has told Jacob and I, more than once, actually...no...several times, in the past week, to obey him in this and trust him. I know it's a test of trusting him. Still, I have had to learn like Gideon (Jacob and I are going through a Bible study on Gideon together) whether the approval of man or the approval of my God who called me. If God called us, I can know without a doubt that he will equip us.  Still, Satan uses doubt as a tool to render us ineffective as Christians. He can't drag us to Hell with him. Our souls are secure if we have accepted Christ. But if he can keep us, out of fear, laziness, or some other emotion, from acting on what God commands us to do, then that's the best result he could hope for. I'm not saying I don't deal with doubt anymore. I'm just saying it's a blessing to have a God, The God, who is so patient with us that all he requires is the faith of a mustard seed. Fix your eyes on him, and he will be well pleased with you.