Chapter 14: The Beginning of the End of the World

When we are close to the end of a massive undertaking, there often comes a decision point. Do we call it quits, or carry on to the end? This is precisely the juncture the adventurers faced in this chapter. They had to make up their minds if they would continue to “the very end of the world,” or stop where they were – “the beginning of the end of the world.” Other than the initial choice to embark on the journey, I reckon that this decision – to forge ahead when one doesn’t yet have the end in sight – is the most difficult.

Indulge me with what might seem like a silly example to most. Particularly since a skiing ‘incident’ (let’s just say it required a snowmobile to get me down the mountain) in 2009, I have been less than friendly with the feeling of rapidly sliding downward from a high place. So, when I saw the colossal waterslide at Lakeland camp, I knew we would not get along. But my husband and our friends were having so much fun! With a mixture of daring myself and abject terror, I decided to try it. On the way up the steps I tried to take comfort in the fact that my five-year-old niece wasn’t afraid. I begged my husband and the waterslide operator to give me tips on how to go as slowly as possible. Even so, at the top I had to resolve again – much like Caspian and his gang – whether I really would go through with it. I could’ve backtracked sheepishly down the stairs, in the same way that one lone sailor remained behind on the Island of the Star. But in the crucial moment, I decided to go for it. As I tried to smash my mat down with all my might, I realized that I was leaning back and holding my breath. That helped me feel more in control, but it also felt more frightening. Then, in my mind, I ‘heard’ an instruction to “lean forward and breathe.” Though it felt like losing control, it also slowed me down. I made it all the way to the bottom – without flying over the edge or dying of fright. As a person who tends to tread lightly through life, these simple instructions – “lean forward and breathe” – remind me to embrace my day and be present.

So when in a moment of pain or danger, try to picture your future self. What choice would make you proud of yourself once you are out of the fear and darkness? It’s easy to be an ‘armchair’ adventurer, but much more difficult to seize the opportunity when it presents itself.

Chapter 12: The Dark Island

As we see our friends approaching the Dark Island, we’re reminded of the fear ~ the gripping, irrational, overwhelming fear ~ we can experience in our worst dreams. Unlike so much of Narnia, where the most amazing and delightful magical things are everyday reality, on the Dark Island we see how we can become paralyzed by our fear of the unknown.

As they sit on the ship, helpless, anxious and (aside from the fearless Reepicheep) thoroughly desperate to find a way to retreat from the dark abyss, Lucy whispers a prayer.

I love this moment. Lucy certainly doesn't treat Aslan with a “vending machine” attitude. She has treasured her relationship with Aslan, but she has never seemed to demand his presence or beg him for things. But she is quite aware, even in her fear & terrifying circumstance, exactly who to cry out for -- the only one who is able to save her.

“Aslan, Aslan, if you ever loved us at all, send us help now.”

I once asked a friend, quite directly, “I want to know. Does prayer actually bend the hand of God?” I was tired of wondering if my prayers were in vain. Or telling people, “Of course I'll pray for you!” only to wonder if it was even worth the time. My wise friend quickly answered, “Well, I don’t know if it changes God’s hand, but I do know it always changes the one who prays.”

And I see that truth here, in Lewis’ depiction of Lucy’s plea to Aslan. For though we do not see even one detail immediately change regarding their dire situation, Lewis’ writes that Lucy changed. She began to feel “a little better.” And soon, she sees a beam of light...and hears the voice whispering back to her, “Courage, dear heart.”

How beautiful is that? As she quiets her heart in the midst of the darkness and prays, Lucy is changed.

(Interesting note: C.S. Lewis illustrates this principle of prayer in the The Last Battle as well. As Tirian is left alone, tied to a tree, he calls out, "Aslan! Aslan! Aslan! Come and help us now!" There the brilliant Lewis writes, "There was no change in the night or the wood, but there began to be a kind of change in Tirian. Without knowing why, he began to feel a faint hope.")

I want to be like Lucy. She abides & trusts -- and she alone was able to hear the voice she was sure was Aslan’s ~ even on the Dark Island.

Chapter 11: The Dufflepuds Made Happy

Most of us are Dufflepuds. Some of us are Magicians. A very few of us are Stars.

C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Owen Barfield were all Oxford Professors and part of a small intellectual group called The Inklings. We need to understand these mens' mind. All were experts in Medieval philosophy and literature such as Ptolemy and Dante's Inferno. Like his friends, Lewis believed the ancient mind was better. They believed in "a noble savage." Don't think of the "pre-historic homonoids" like Cro-magnans or Neandrathals - cave men and the like. But rather think of Lewis' Narnia and Tolkien's Middle Earth, both populated with "proper thinking" beings, elves, dwarves, talking trees, mountains with feelings, and Kings and Queens endowed with wisdom, true beauty and nobility. These Originals did not split the world into science and philosophy, like biology and Existentialism. The world was all a single unified Oneness. God was present and walked amongst the creation. There was no need for magic because nothing was impossible.

In The Chronicles of Narnia Lewis is attempting to educate the reader in the way humans are originally designed to perceive the universe. Of course the only way to properly educate anyone, The Inklings would say, is with "myth" or story, poetry and song - a Tale - thus, Narnia. To simply give a lecture about the primordial world would be just plain Dufflepud. Lewis wants us to correlate the Dufflepuds to Modern humanity, so full of "rational thinking," black and white politics, scientific facts and even "Atheism," as though a person could actually belief their is no God because they reasoned it out with their rational mind.

The noble savage could speak with trees not because they were magicians but because trees talk. The elves in Tolkien's The Lord of Rings don't understand when the Hobbits ask them if they are using magic. Magic? What is that? No, they learned the trees' language and spoke to them and taught them how to talk. In Narnia the animals speak because they are "awake," or rather the humans are awake.

So Dufflepuds... not too smart, eh? They cannot think for themselves. They only do what their tribal Chief tells them. Figuratively speaking, they are blind. Lewis' message is clear: "Modern man/woman is a fool. They've rationalized away God and the real universe." In thinking they are smarter and better than the past races of man, they only end up stupid Dufflepuds.

I reflect upon the November elections and the mudslinging and banal attacks candidates made against each other. It isn't that the politicians are all fools. But the candidates' campaign directors knew that the common Dufflepudder could be swayed by cheap personal attack strategies. We live in a beer-commercial world folks. Sound-bites, sex and bathroom humor sells to Dufflepuds, because we don't know how to think.

Garrett Lahey preached last Sunday at Lakeland about John's Revelation and 'the mark of the beast.' He said we already have the mark on our forehead and hand IF we've bought in to our culture's storyline for 'successful living...' affluence, greatness, power, dominance, comfort, fear, competition and compulsion (those are my words, not Garrett's). What we must strive for is a G-d worldview - that is, to see things as the unknowable G-d might see them. Jesus comes to show how this is done. He is the Star. He asks his followers to be Magicians - Seers, Wisemen/women, Wizards who have an integrated worldview where G-d is present everywhere because G-d is actually everywhere.

What if Narnia wasn't a story? What if Narnia was real? What if there was a different visible reality all around us that we just needed the proper vision to see? This much is certainly true: if G-d is here, then so is his reality. Pray for vision!

¹⁴ In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
¹⁵ For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. - Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13

Chapter 10: The Magician's Book

It was difficult to choose one thing from this chapter, but I've settled on an exchange between Lucy and Aslan. Lucy has just finished reading the invisible to visible spell in the Magician's book when she discovers Aslan is with her.
"Oh, Aslan," said she, "it was kind of you to come."
"I have been here all the time," said he, "but you have just made me visible."
"Aslan!" said Lucy almost a little reproachfully. "Don't make fun of me. As if anything I could do would make you visible!"
"It did," said Aslan. "Do you think I wouldn't obey my own rules?"

I am so enamored with this realization --- Lucy has the ability to make Aslan appear. It is because Aslan is obeying his own rules, but Lucy's actions are key to his appearing.

You and I have this same ability. Our actions have the ability to cause people to see the Father. You and me. Our actions can reveal him.

This is mind-boggling. You and I have power to reveal the Maker of the universe?! On one hand, I know it is true because I've seen it happen. People have been loving or forgiving or encouraging to me or someone else and when I see it, I can easily say - that is nothing less than the living God moving and acting. I've seen someone say words to a friend, words that were not yet true, words containing great hope of who my friend might become. And then my friend lived into making those words true and real. I've seen a friend forgive someone who broke a deep trust, who took a part of his heart and truly was intentional on hurting him. The forgiving revealed the Father to me as surely as if he was standing next to me.

Can you relate?

On the other hand, I think I minimize my ability to cause the High King of Heaven to be revealed to anyone. I, like Lucy, doubt if anything I could do would make him visible. What good will this small tithe do? What difference will this small kindness make? How will saying these words change anything?

Can you relate?

Have you seen God revealed by someone else? I'd love to hear about it.

When have you revealed God to someone else? Maybe in the re-telling, it might reveal Aslan all over again.

Chapter 9: The Island of the Voices

Wow, what just happened? The blabbering of the voices throughout this chapter can be at once overwhelming and comical! What are these things? And why do they like their Chief Voice so much?

There are two illustrations that come to mind as I am inundated by the chorus of agreement that follows the Chief Voice:

1. the stuff we want/"need"
2. the lies we believe

#1: Does anyone else feel overwhelmed by the choruses of agreement that follow the Chief Voice of "buy, buy buy"? Bigger, better, more. We thought the wii was fun, but it’s nothing compared to the Kinect! Remember when power locks were cool? Now we have automatic doors, heated seats, split-screen DVD players, and remote start. For Pete’s sake, you can now get your sunglasses polarized, HD, built from bomb-proof Grilamid 8, with Prismatic Polycarbonate lenses. I’m not even kidding.

And then what happens when you don't have what is expected? Don't get me started on the pity I receive for the fact that my three children share a room - what unnameable torture!!

Does it ever feel like you are being followed by the Other Voices saying, "Keep it up, keep it up! You couldn’t have a better plan than that, Chief!" or "Hear him, hear him. That’s our Chief. You can depend on what he says. He’s telling you the truth, he is."

Which leads to #2: Is that Chief Voice telling us the truth? Hmmm, that’s a good question, if I do say so myself. I’ve picked on "stuff" as my first example – but we believe lies about so many things – especially ourselves. And once again, as soon as the Chief Voice sells us a lie, there are 50 other lies right behind it in the chorus. Lies encourage each other and multiply like rabbits.

• My friend doesn’t care about me. "No, she doesn’t! Did you see that look on her face? Did you notice how she didn’t even TRY to help you out? Can you believe how long it’s been since SHE called ME? I’m always the one who has to make the first move. And after all those times I’ve overlooked what she does to me! That’s right, that’s right – you’ve got it! She doesn’t care at all! Couldn’t have said it better or truer myself!"
  
• I’m just not good enough. "Nope, no way, not a chance! I can’t believe you said that, and don’t even get me started on your nose, your hair, your butt. You should eat less, exercise more, talk less, talk more, read more, pray more, volunteer more, be more patient with your kids, be less competitive, be more competitive, work less, work more, try harder, don’t try so hard… And definitely, don’t tell anyone about THAT! They would NEVER give you chance if they knew…"

If you think the chorus of lies does make sense, let me point out an example from the end of the chapter which shows the fever pitch of insanity that can be reached: the Chief Voice realizes, "Why, bless me, if I haven’t gone and left out the whole point." And good grief if the voices don’t just encourage that too: "That you have, that you have," roared the Other Voices with great enthusiasm. "No one couldn’t have left it out cleaner and better. Keep it up, Chief, keep it up."

Beware the voices!

What is the Chief Voice saying to you? What never-ending chorus do you fight for the truth?

Chapter 8: Two Narrow Escapes

I’m beginning to feel a little sorry for Eustace, but he just makes for such good illustrations. For Eustace, it was the ordinary things in life – unending rain and losing at chess – that threw him off of his new path. Similarly, the repetitive chores in life – making the bed, doing laundry, washing dishes – sometimes lead me to grumble and to be ‘small’.

Yet Eustace did not remain long in his sulky ‘smallness’. He performed his first act of bravery by chopping at the Sea Serpent with Caspian’s sword. Sure, it did not help, but that was not important. As Lewis said, Eustace did well for a “beginner”: a beginner at swordplay, yes, but, more importantly, a beginner at bravery. It might seem condescending that the Dawn Treader’s adventurers cheered him when he “accomplished nothing” tangible. But this was one of those times when the intention really was what counted. Eustace had come a long way.

For, just two chapters earlier, Lewis had been chiding Eustace for reading all the wrong types of books. Here was a young boy who didn’t even know what a dragon was! Edmund read books that were rather more helpful for their cause. He read stories about detectives. What he read helped him narrow down what had happened to the fellow on whose armor they were sitting. Can you think of a time in your life when something you read came in very handy later? Lewis was not shy about promoting the importance of reading. He was frighteningly well-read in the Classics, but he also read for adventure and fun. Maybe he saw something of himself in both Eustace and Edmund. As a youth, Lewis was a bit self-satisfied with his scholarly accomplishments, like Eustace. But, like Edmund, he enjoyed getting lost in an entertaining book.

After Edmund’s sleuthing, the group discovered an interesting pool that turned anything that touched the water into gold. Caspian and Edmund began quarrelling about who would claim the island and who was the more important king. Caspian seemed possessed as he declared ownership of the island for Narnia. This seems like a critique of imperialism, a practice at which Lewis’ country had excelled. The quarrel over who was the greater king reminds me of Jesus’ disciples fighting about which of them would be the greatest in heaven. Jesus made it clear that they just didn’t understand what was important. To be great in his kingdom meant becoming like a child or a servant. (Mark 9:33-37) Back in Narnia, a mere glimpse of Aslan snapped Caspian and Edmund out of their ‘smallness’.

Chapter 7: How the Adventure Ended

By random selection I got Chapter 7. I bet every blogger wishes he or she had gotten chapter 7. Chapter 7 is going to be the most talked about part of the book. On the Narnia Adventure Weekend (Dec 11) Chapter 7 is going to be the most focused upon. Chapter 7 is the part of the movie we are all hoping they will do well and it is also the part they are the least likely to properly capture on film.

Everyone will be talking about Eustace's being un-dragoned. The layers of his dragon-ness being pealed away. The way only Aslan can truly free him. The closing paragraphs about Eustace's journey, that he didn't change all at once, will be discussed often.

I don't want to write about this, I want to find some other more obscure or interesting part that won't be so heavily travelled.

But Chapter 7 is the most like the Gospel story. It is a story that never wears out. It is the story that gets told again and again, and yet we keep forgetting it. I think I'm bored of it, but it must be told again. There are still people who don't know! I still don't know.

So once again:

Eustace was a dragon, but he wasn't ALL dragon. He longed to change and indeed he tried but he couldn't do it by himself. We cannot heal ourselves.

Only Aslan (Christ) could peal off his deepest layers of sin.

This pealing was, at the same time, the most painful and the most freeing experience of Eustace's life. If you want change, be ready for it to hurt.

He was washed in water and given new clothes by Aslan.

And for the rest of his life he kept on being un-dragoned. He had good days and bad days, but the bad days can be overlooked, for on this day his healing had begun!

Therefore whoever is in Christ is a new creation. The old has gone. The new has come. -- 2 Corinthians 5:17

One more telling of the old, old tale.