Every evening, after they get in their jammies, the girls and I pile onto our bench swing in the front yard and read about the adventures of Digory, Polly, Lucy, Susan, Edmund, and Peter. And now we're just beginning the adventures of Shasta and Bree. My girls LOVE these stories. I LOVE that they love them. Next to the scriptures, the Chronicles of Narnia are my favorite books. They are, in a way, like scriptures to me. They bring me closer to my Savior. As I came to the first mention of Aslan in The Magician's Nephew, I had to stop reading as tears filled my eyes and emotion choked my throat: "The earth was of many colors: they were fresh, hot and vivid. They made you feel excited; until you saw the Singer himself, and then you forgot everything else. It was a Lion. Huge, shaggy, and bright, it stood facing the risen sun. Its mouth was wide open in song and it was about three hundred yards away." I was filled with such love - love for my Savior, love for my family, love for Aslan, love for C.S. Lewis for writing these books.
Here are a few more quotes that touched my heart:
“But I cannot tell that to this old sinner, and I cannot comfort him either; he has made himself unable to hear my voice. If I spoke to him, he would hear only growlings and roarings. Oh, Adam’s sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good!” - Aslan in The Magician's Newphew
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“But please, please - won't you - can't you give me something that will cure Mother?'
Up till then he had been looking at the Lion's great feet and the huge claws on them; now, in his despair, he looked up at its face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion's eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory's own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself.
'My son, my son,' said Aslan. 'I know. Grief is great.” - The Magician's Nephew
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“No great wisdom can be reached without sacrifice.” -- The Magician's Nephew
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“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
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"Peter did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do." ― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
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“I hope no one who reads this book has been quite as miserable as Susan and Lucy were that night; but if you have been - if you've been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you - you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. You feel as if nothing is ever going to happen again.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
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And one quote that comes from the Introduction of this particular book (which is very precious to me, because it was a gift from my Aunt Althea, who died a few years ago). It is from Douglas Gresham, stepson of C.S. Lewis and I had never read this before:
"As you read The Chronicles of Narnia, let them carry you too to a place that you know well and store it in your mind. There will be times when you need to go back to your Narnia to seek the kindliness and comfort of this magical land; when you do, you will find Aslan waiting for you."
This is a time when I needed to go back. I am so thankful I did - and that I got to take my children with me. And, yes, Alsan was there waiting for me with messages of love, comfort, wisdom, and peace.
"To Narnia and the North! Bra-ha-ha!" - Bree, The Horse and His Boy.
2 comments:
beautiful. It's been so long since I've read these books! I'm not quite sure if my boys are old enough to get into them. But when they are maybe I will read them to them. Or do you think it's a girl thing? I admire you so much. What a wonderful tradition you share with your girls. They will NEVER forget these experiences!
This entry really picked up my spirits. I have been desperately missing Anneliese tonight. The kind of sadness that cannot be lifted no matter what one tries.. but reading these quotes about Aslan by C.S. Lewis gave me good chills. To think that Jesus also must be weeping for our losses and that we do not weep alone. I just finished reading the book, "Mere Christianity" and want to read his book on grief.
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