Aslan

The past week Tim and I and the boys have been watching the Narnia series as a family, at first I was afraid that the boys would be scared, but quickly I learned that they are much braver than I would have been as a child, than I am even now sometimes. Kaleb in particular is in love with Aslan, and was particularly astute when Aslan sacrificed himself for the sins of Edmond. Quickly Aslan has become the hero, the one that Kaleb waits for, the one that he knows will come and save them and get them safely home. Today during quiet time we watched the Voyage of the Dawn Treader and at the end when Aslan comes to save the day and the evil is defeated He yelled out "YEAH" and clapped his hands, clearly excited to see Aslan again didn't fail them. At the end, when they are standing on the edge of Aslan's land Lucy asks him if she will see him again and he says that yes, and that she was brought to Narnia to learn about him, so that in her own world where he has a different name she will learn to know him. I was struck by that, I was touched by the way that our kids too will one day learn about God through the stories of their new hero Aslan. Kaleb has a toy lion, and he has been carrying that Lion around all week claiming him to be Aslan. Is it too young to introduce C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia to two little boys? There are certainly scary bits but for these boys at least the scary bits were met with cuddles and assurances that Aslan would in the end reign victorious. Then, when indeed he did defeat whatever evil faced Narnia at the time the boys were thrilled. I still can't tell you if it's too young to share these stories with the boys but I will tell you this, and I have thought this through. The stories we tell our kids about God, the story of Noah and the arc, the story of Jesus and his courageous sacrifice on the cross, were stories of horrible suffering, scary truths and always victorious endings. Is it too young to introduce these two young ones to the truth of God's love? That love couldn't be real without the pain and the suffering that happened on the cross, just as Aslans' love couldn't be real with his sacrifice for Edmond, the blood of the traitor on that rock. His victory secured in the life that was breathed back into him. We ourselves live in Narnia, fighting battles and waiting for Aslan to come and rescue us. Is this the perfect time to start with the truth of that sacrifice, the truth of the love and the certain victory that we have secured if only we seek Him and wait for Him? I think so. Like Lucy, I await Aslan and continue to seek him and long to see him.