Reflections on The Chronicles of Narnia

I know what wrongs I will do and what rights I will fail to do when given the opportunity.

On our way back through the wintery woods, my brother, our friend Joey, and I ran into 5 or 6 kids about our age (about 13 at the time, for Joey and I, 10 for by brother). They were from the next town over, always picking fights for fights' sake, and today was no exception.

I wussed out and stood frozen, not by the snow, but my own fear of injury and greater numbers. One of the 12 year olds had started punching my young brother. Fortunately, Jay surprised us all with a few good blows that pursuaded our foes to seek fisticuffs elsewhere. While I forgot their faces decades ago, this cowardice haunted me for years as one of the most disturbing choices I made in my young life. It didn't do much to bolster my self-image or sibling relations.

John Maxwell wrote a book called "Failing Forward" that reminds us that we will fail, but we need not be weighed down nor stay down. "While you're down there, pick something up", he writes. Tonight, we saw C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe", and I was reminded of these two truths again.

Growing up in what I thought to be a "traditional" Catholic environment, I learned that God was watching, waiting, and ready to punish me at every wrong turn. That pains many Catholics to hear, because some of the most devout of them know this was both poor delivery and application of their dogma. This theology, like that of the Evangelical community, is that left to ourselves, we will not only do wrong, but fail to do right, at many checkpoints in our lives. Like Edmund, the younger brother in the Narnia movie, I have felt hopeless to do right on my own and been wracked with guilt over my "sins of omission", as well. I have betrayed those closest to me, including my own self, and allowed my enemies to condemn me for this.

Are there parallels between Narnia and the Gospel? Many. The one that I find most liberating, most unfettering tonight, is that while I will often screw up, God will never beat me up, and He has promised to always lay Himself down. In Christianese, we would say He will not "forsake" (Aramaic: abandon) us. Aslan pardons Edmund and commands the three kids not to knock him for his betrayals. Jesus asks us to demonstrate our love for Him vis-a-vis our love and care for others. We need help to be saved from ourselves and the calamity that surrounds us as a result of the car crashes and IED's of everyone else's idiocy.

Now, that sounds cute and warm and fuzzy and thanks for beating your Bible for us, Mr. Ex-coward Who Can't Do Anything Right Even If He Wanted To. But, how is that relevant to me? Why does your 2000 year old book about shepherds and temples and deserts and morals matter to me today in 2005?

I'll take a stab at that: Lewis invites us to trust those who have failed us in the past, because as Lucy says in the movie "this isn't helping Edmond". He invites us to "become who we were meant to be". The God of the Bible invites us to practice His principles, which exclude beating one's self up over errors in the past. Rather, to grow stronger by learning from one's mistakes and seeking a truth larger than one's self, which leads to a transcendant understanding. In effect, not to be discouraged by what we see (our shrapnel-riddled choices) when we hold our lives up against a flawless hypothetical (God's perfect will for our lives), but to grow in spite of our misdeeds (or missed deeds).

So I ask my favorite question - "What if?" What if the Bible really is the inerrant word of God? What if there is knowledge therein that could help us to strip off the shackles of our own guilt and self ridicule? What if there are principles to be learned from a real, living God who has a plan to prosper us in spite of our own unwise choices? What if religion is a flagrantly abused institution based on a truly awesome relationship that went sour over time because of our own poor choices, which make us look back and say "how could I have been so foolish?" What if...

Was it a great movie? I don't know. I've never been smart enough to agree with the right critics until after the dust settles. I'm too ruled by my own emotions to give strong objective critique in well-argued statements.

If you've ever let yourself down, see The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
If you've ever been let down or betrayed by someone close to you, see The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
If you're tired of people who say all the right things but never do them, see The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
If you don't understand why Christians get all "ewy-gooey" at Christmas and Easter, see The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
If you're a Lord of the Rings, X-Men, Star Trek, Star Wars, special effects geek, see The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
If you don't fit into any of these categories, see The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

And, think on these things. I could be an ideologue. I could be a weak minded fool. I could be looking for God where He isn't. If that's what you think, nothing I can say will sway you. But, experience this movie and shine its light on your failures, your strengths, your growth, your "a-ha" moments, and see what it tells you about yourself. Narnia is so accessible that a small, naive child can experience its full glory just because they give it a shot and as John Ortberg writes "God Is Closer Than You Think".

I didn't spell check or really sit down and edit, but feel free to critique those aspects of today's post anyway.

Relevant, timely truth from ancient teachings:
God is Closer Than You Think
The Barbarian Way (Erwin Raphael McManus)
Mosaic podcast (Erwin Raphael McManus)
Relevant Magazine
Catalyst Conference: Applying Biblical truth to your business, life, and relationships.
Inside Narnia