I have a confession to make. Of all the things that make me feel inadequate as a pastor, of all the things that I'm embarrassed to share (like my anxiety struggles, anger, defensiveness), one of the most embarrassing things is that I've never read the Narnia series. There it is. It's off my chest and you can throw cyber stones at me if you like. Or real stones if you can find me. I can take it. Now.I think I once read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe some time ago (though I wouldn't say that to a lie detector test), but that's the extent. So when this Prince Caspian came out, I thought I should start. Steve Brown, one of my seminary professors, used C.S. Lewis illustrations about as often as he referred to his love of pipe tobacco. Which was a ton.
So I picked up the Box Set, for lack of a better word, and began reading The Horse and His Boy. I loved it. It was really devotional. And it was easy reading. I needed something to get me back into pleasure reading after I finished The Brothers Karamazov. Something simple. Something good. Crime and Punishment (though I do plan to get to it some time) wasn't going to do it.
Now I finished Prince Caspian, reading while the baby is doing his thing=usually anything but sleeping=though he's been good today. Praise the Lord. And I can't get enough. Lewis truly was brilliant in his ability to not only communicate truth through allegory, but to do it at a level kids and adults can enjoy. J.K. Rowling has done well reaching a wide audience (another confession-I've never read one of those books). But Lewis reaches such an audience in communicating deep scriptural truths. He gets an extra star for that. I'd love to sit down and talk with that joker some day.
I'll be preaching a decent bit this summer and one can be sure that there could be some Narnia sightings, or 'hearings' rather. No power point. You've probably read these Narnia books a billion times. But if you haven't, I would recommend discovering this great resource filled with well written, encouraging, and challenging illustrations.
7 comments:
Hey man, you're not alone. I've only read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. None of the others. Nor have I read... The Lord of the Rings! There! I admitted it! I will definitely get some cyber stones for that one. However, I am proud to say I've read the entire Harry Potter series. I highly recommend them.
We discovered the Narnia gold mine when Keith was at TEDS (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School). The books have been our family's treasured reading source for, wow, almost 32 years! Potter, I read, was entertained, but find that Rowling is not by any stretch of the imagination the quality writer of Lewis and Tolkein stature. She appears to have borrowed ideas heavily from these 2 gifted writers.
Gail,
Glad to hear that these have served as a lasting resource.
Keith,
I read LOTR before seminary started. I lived in Clinton SC, so I had NOTHING to do that summer. Those books were amazing. I may stumble on to the Potter series eventually. Not on my short list. But lists do end!
The Narnia books are FABULOUS read-alouds. (Though, when I was a kid, I preferred Lewis' Space Trilogy.)
WORLD magazine last month had an interview with Eugene Peterson. He and his wife read aloud to each other for 90 minutes each afternoon/evening and are on their seventh (!) reading of The Narnia series; the first three times it was read to their youngsters.
You have a few years/readings to go.
--ae
That's a great idea. In a few years, we may do that!
The image you used Sunday of Aslan catching Trumpkin in his paw came to mind yesterday, as I was reading something a friend had written. . . thanks for sharing that picture of the Lord catching us when we fall.
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