When John Eldredge quoted the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia. I was deeply touch by the words.
"Aslan turned to them and said: You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be. Lucy said, We're so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often. No fear of that, said Aslan. Have you not guessed? Their hearts leaped, and a wild hope rose within them. There was a real railway accident, said Aslan softly. Your father and mother and all of you are--as you used to call it in the Shadowlands-- dead. The term is over, the holidays have begun. The dream is ended, this is the morning. ' And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever in which every chapter is better than the one before."
The Chronicles, The Last Battle
Closing lines, in Ch. 16 : Farewell to Shadowlands
“Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard. No mind has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love HIM.” 1 Corinthians 2:9
"Aslan turned to them and said: You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be. Lucy said, We're so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often. No fear of that, said Aslan. Have you not guessed? Their hearts leaped, and a wild hope rose within them. There was a real railway accident, said Aslan softly. Your father and mother and all of you are--as you used to call it in the Shadowlands-- dead. The term is over, the holidays have begun. The dream is ended, this is the morning. ' And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever in which every chapter is better than the one before."
The Chronicles, The Last Battle
Closing lines, in Ch. 16 : Farewell to Shadowlands
“Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard. No mind has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love HIM.” 1 Corinthians 2:9
I loved that too. And wonder how often God would say to us, "You don't yet look as happy as I mean you to."
ReplyDeleteThe difference between a story and a snapshot is interesting here, I think, in terms of how we understand the value of our lives.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, I almost envied people in stories they'd tell us in youth group who were martyred for their faith. The KGB would burst in (yes, I'm old enough for the Cold War) and demand to know who was a Christian; those who admitted allegiance to Christ were shot on the spot.
Now, I don't mean to diminish what these people have suffered for the faith. But sometimes, having a story with an intense, dramatic moment where everything comes to a dramatic head (and total personal sacrifice is demanded) makes it easy to imagine that you'd be faithful under those circumstances; it's this day-to-day living, where personal sacrifice is demanded in innumerable and unpredictable big and small ways, that's difficult to maintain. We bear countless embarrassments and transgressions that seem much more impressive than any victories we can point to. And a one-time, one-question, true-false, pass-fail test is easier than an endless series of term papers.
Is this because we instinctively tend to trivialize our lives and our decisions? Because we erroneously tend to think of being good as simply avoiding evil rather than doing anything active? Or something else? I'm eager to hear what people think.