the Witch and the Wardrobe – Marilyn R. Gardner

“They say Aslan is on the move—perhaps he has already landed,” [said Beaver].

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…. 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 the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer. C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

In the beloved children’s book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, children from our world happen upon another world: The world of Narnia. And Narnians are tired. The land has been under the spell of an evil witch, where it is always winter and never Christmas. A place where there is fear and sadness, and little hope that anything will ever change. A world where what you say can be held against you, where betrayal is rampant, where faithful friends and family seem few.

If you’re like me, you probably have days like Narnia under the spell of the White Witch. Days when you are tired and where it seems like nothing will ever change. Days where you feel like faithful friends and family are far away or non-existent. It’s on these days when I take comfort from the words of a fictional character in a fictional land; specifically a talking beaver.

Because today I need to know that “Aslan is on the Move!”

“Have confidence in the compassion of our Creator. Reflect well on what you are now doing, and keep before you the things you have done. Lift up your eyes to the overflowing compassion of heaven, and while He waits for you, draw near in tears to our merciful Judge. Having before your mind that He is a Just Judge, do not take your sins lightly; and having also in mind that He is compassionate, do not despair. The God-Man gives man confidence before God.” from St. Gregory the Great

Photo Credit: http://pixabay.com/en/flowers-spring-white-yellow-plums-291902/ Word Art by Marilyn R. Gardner

“If you’ve been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you – you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. You feel as if nothing was ever going to happen again.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

It’s a hard week. I am feeling the weight of a world marred by sin, a world that is not as it should be. I am feeling frustrated with a world that quickly loses interest in the latest catastrophe, moving on to something easier, more controversial, perhaps more fun.

I get it. We have only so much capacity to feel before we go numb, before we succumb to compassion fatigue. And we all have our own stuff. Perhaps it’s not tragic but it can be difficult never the less. The car breaks down, the kids have tantrums, we feel we can’t cope, our work load is too overwhelming. Not tragedies but things that can distract us and lead to frustration and misunderstandings.

It’s times like this that I curl up with something that brings hope and joy. With stories that are redemptive.

One set of stories that fit in that category are the beloved children’s books by CS Lewis – the Narnia series. Set in the imaginary land of Narnia each book takes the reader into a journey of good and evil, of hope and sorrow, of human mistakes and sins that are redeemed and repaired There is always hope, always redemption. Good triumphs. Good cannot die. Good wins — it always wins.

I need to know this. I need to know this deep in my bones. I need to know that the broken world I witness daily is not all there is. I need to know that Good wins. I need to know that one day I will be able to come further up and further in.

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now…Come further up, come further in!”― C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle