G.K. Chesterton once spoke of the necessity of fairy tales. He held them such high esteem and spoke of them with great awe and reverence, as if they held the key to life itself. Fairy tales, as you might know, are often filled with magical, unearthly (or dare I say, extra-earthly) creatures and beings.
Is there any that is not inspired by The Lord of the Rings? The tale of an rather ordinary Englishman (pardon me…Hobbit) basking in his comfortable, lazy existence but is thrown into the world against his wish to accomplish an extraordinary task? Children lose themselves in stories of heroes who rise up to save the weak and oppressed. Even girls do this through their daydreams of Prince Charming, often focusing on their own salvation, as opposed to boys who dream of saving others.
One tale that has this glorious effect on me still is The Chronicles of Narnia. The book s stole my heart and my mind, and the movies-though not entirely accurate-stir my heart even still and I am inspired. There is not a single scene with Aslan that does not cause my mouth to yield into a smile that goes from ear to ear! I am forced to remember Christ and His love for His people, and I long to see Him as the characters in these books do. I would be quite happy to be able to walk into the woods behind my apartments and happen upon a massive lion that then roars my nerves right out of my spine and leaves me trembling on the ground…just to begin speaking to me and filling my soul with utter delight and fear.
Sometimes, we forget the nature of our King. Often, we neglect the mystery and paradoxical nature of Christ. Paradoxical in the sense that from our limited perspective and understanding, there are many times that we seem to think there are conflicting attributes of Christ, who is fierce as an untamed lion, but at the same time gentle and good.
There are those who so choose to focus on a single attribute of God so much that they forget the others and are then confused when God does something that they did not expect. This can even result in them misinterpreting their circumstances; ultimately missing out on what they could have learned and the reward they could have benefited from (not everything painful is a result of the Devil trying to attack you, my friends).
Christ cares about the happiness of His Church, but not at the expensive of her purity and growth. It is a difficult thing to understand the mind of God, and to try will eventually lead to humility…or insanity. We seek truth, but know that we are limited by our humanness. God is our Father, God is our King, and God is our…well, God! We so often focus on Him being a “father” and apply our own definition of what that should mean, when Him being Father should affect how we treat our children far more than how it should lead us to define Him.
Where was I? Oh yes, fairy tales…
If one is willing to see, they might find truth among fairy tales. That dragons can be slain, for example; that there is more to the world than what the physical eye can see; that the ordinary can do the extraordinary; and you might even learn a thing or two about yourself that helps to define the call that God has given to you.
Peace be with you,
Stephen
“Fairy tales make rivers run with wine so that we might recall for one brief moment that they actually run with water…fairy tales do not teach children that dragons exist. They already know that they exist. Fairy tales teach them that dragons can be slain.”
Is there any that is not inspired by The Lord of the Rings? The tale of an rather ordinary Englishman (pardon me…Hobbit) basking in his comfortable, lazy existence but is thrown into the world against his wish to accomplish an extraordinary task? Children lose themselves in stories of heroes who rise up to save the weak and oppressed. Even girls do this through their daydreams of Prince Charming, often focusing on their own salvation, as opposed to boys who dream of saving others.
One tale that has this glorious effect on me still is The Chronicles of Narnia. The book s stole my heart and my mind, and the movies-though not entirely accurate-stir my heart even still and I am inspired. There is not a single scene with Aslan that does not cause my mouth to yield into a smile that goes from ear to ear! I am forced to remember Christ and His love for His people, and I long to see Him as the characters in these books do. I would be quite happy to be able to walk into the woods behind my apartments and happen upon a massive lion that then roars my nerves right out of my spine and leaves me trembling on the ground…just to begin speaking to me and filling my soul with utter delight and fear.
“He is not a tame Lion…but He is good.”
Sometimes, we forget the nature of our King. Often, we neglect the mystery and paradoxical nature of Christ. Paradoxical in the sense that from our limited perspective and understanding, there are many times that we seem to think there are conflicting attributes of Christ, who is fierce as an untamed lion, but at the same time gentle and good.
There are those who so choose to focus on a single attribute of God so much that they forget the others and are then confused when God does something that they did not expect. This can even result in them misinterpreting their circumstances; ultimately missing out on what they could have learned and the reward they could have benefited from (not everything painful is a result of the Devil trying to attack you, my friends).
Christ cares about the happiness of His Church, but not at the expensive of her purity and growth. It is a difficult thing to understand the mind of God, and to try will eventually lead to humility…or insanity. We seek truth, but know that we are limited by our humanness. God is our Father, God is our King, and God is our…well, God! We so often focus on Him being a “father” and apply our own definition of what that should mean, when Him being Father should affect how we treat our children far more than how it should lead us to define Him.
Where was I? Oh yes, fairy tales…
If one is willing to see, they might find truth among fairy tales. That dragons can be slain, for example; that there is more to the world than what the physical eye can see; that the ordinary can do the extraordinary; and you might even learn a thing or two about yourself that helps to define the call that God has given to you.
Peace be with you,
Stephen
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