Yes Yes YESSS!

Desiring God has a great post up about C.S. Lewis and how "Narnia helps us live better here." Perfect timing for some transforming thoughts going on inside my head and within our family - what we've been calling our "Hobbit Revolution." Not the blissfully ignorant, always cheery Hobbits of The Shire that know nothing of the evils of the world beyond their borders. But Hobbits like Frodo, Samwise, Merry, and Pippin - the ones who went on a great adventure, suffered terrible evils, grew stronger (and taller ;) in ways they didn't know they could, and returned to the beloved Shire with a deeper understanding of its simple joys and sweet fellowship. Longing for the Grey Havens, but whole-heartedly enjoying the good things this life has to offer in the meantime.

We are like those Hobbits - the walking wounded who know our citizenship is in Heaven. Yet we also know that every good and perfect gift comes from our Father (James 1:17) and that there is much joy to be had on our earthly journey. To live is Christ, to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21) So, as C.S. Lewis says, "As long as we live in merry middle earth, it is necessary to have merry middle things. " We've been broken by grief, suffering, sickness, stress, and heartache. Even so, by God's grace, we still enjoy 'merry middle things' like the sweet fellowship of friendship and hospitality, or the transport of corporate worship. We whoop it up at Christmas and birthdays. We let the kids make pillowforts and lick the spoon. We stay up past bedtime and catch fireflies in a jar. We wonder at bumblebees and bubble baths. We take delight in the satisfaction of hard work and breaking a good sweat; almost-burnt cookies and the laughter of our children; frail hugs from grandparents ... and roller coasters, both real and metaphorical. Like Hobbits. Deeper joy because of the pain we've suffered. Deeper joy because of the pain HE suffered.
oops! I've been rambling -- it's too late to be blogging! I meant to link you to Deisring God's post, not tire you out reading mine! So follow this link to read the whole post, and in the meantime I leave you this tease:

By creating Narnia, Lewis invites us out of our own skin and into that of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy (and later Caspian, Eustace, Jill, Shasta, and the rest). The challenges we face are Narnian challenges. The victories we win are Narnian victories. But our time in Narnia is not an end in itself. We go there so that we can then live better here. By taking us out of this world, Lewis enables us to become something that we weren’t before, something greater and grander, so that, when we return out of the wardrobe, we face our own Giants of Despair differently. We face them as true Narnians.

Or Hobbits. Either one works. Gnostics, may we never be!

Comments

Mike Tant said…
OK, you've got my Narnian blood flowing fast . . . and its after midnight! Great, great post - your words took me gliding for a few minutes over all the cares of this world.
Love you,
Dad
August 9, 2011 at 1:29 AM
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