I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can

"‘One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things–trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s the funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play-world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. So thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for the Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that’s a small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say.’" (C. S. Lewis, The Silver Chair)

I was thinking about Puddleglum’s renouncement of the Lady of the Green Kirtle several days ago. That has always been one of my favorite scenes in Narnia...when the good side wakes up and stands against the evil. But recently, I realized that we are in the same place as Puddleglum, Jill, Eustace, and Rilian–we’re living in a culture that says that the "trees and grass and sun and moon and stars" are just a product of evolution and not God’s creative handiwork. Then, culture follows up the rest of the Lady’s denial of "the bigger and better cat." The world says that Christians aren’t strong enough to take care of themselves, so we created a bigger and better man–the God-Man, Jesus Christ. We’re just babies playing at a game...the "fools to the world" (1 Corinthians 1). Doesn’t Puddleglum have the most amazing answer to all that?! I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia.

Here, Lewis uses Blaise Pascal’s famous apologetic argument in a child’s story. Pascal’s Wager goes something like this:

1) There is no God

• I will gain nothing by believing Him.
• I will lose nothing by not believing in Him.

2) There is a God

• I will believe Him and gain everything.
• I will disbelieve Him and lose everything.

Assuming there was a 50-50 chance that there is a God, you lose nothing either way by believing Him. By not believing Him, you risk losing everything. That’s what Puddleglum is saying when he says that. Puddleglum is willing to be the world’s fool and take the wager on Aslan’s side.

Puddleglum, Jill, Eustace, and Rilian all began their conversation with the Lady knowing exactly what they believed. However, she sweetly convinced them that they were wrong (brings back memories of Genesis 3). There came a point when all their minds became so muddled that they could not remember the truth, and they began to believe her lies. Puddleglum in particular struggled with this. Inside, he knew that Narnia was real, but her words all but convinced him that Narnia was just an imagination. "Suppose we have only dreamed..." What do they risk by believing in Narnia? "That’s a small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say." They face her wrath and have to slay the serpent, but then they gain everything! Why are Christians so ready to believe that the trees and grass and sun aren’t God’s special creation? Why do they want to take away Jesus’ deity and turn Him into a great human teacher? They’re listening to the wrong arguments. We’re afraid to stand for the truth. But are we so afraid of good news that we let even wet-blanket Puddleglum believe while we sit in the Underland listening to the Lady? That’s when you must make the wager–do you believe the dream or not? I, for one, am on Jesus’ side even if the world doesn’t believe there’s a Jesus. I’m going to live like I am a citizen of Heaven even if everyone else says there is no Heaven.

God, all nature sings Thy glory!

We sang this hymn in church yesterday--I hope it will help you worship the Creator as it did for us!

“God, all nature sings Thy glory, and Thy works proclaim Thy might;

Ordered vastness in the heavens, ordered course of day and night;

Beauty in the changing seasons, beauty in the storming sea;

All the changing moods of nature praise the changeless Trinity.

“Clearer still we see Thy hand in man whom Thou hast made for Thee;

Ruler of creation’s glory, image of Thy majesty.

Music, art, the fruitful garden, all the labor of his days,

Are the calling of his Maker to the harvest feast of praise.

“But our sins have spoiled Thine image; nature, conscience only serve

As unceasing, grim reminders of the wrath which we deserve.

Yet Thy grace and saving mercy in Thy Word of truth revealed

Claim the praise of all who know Thee, in the blood of Jesus sealed.

“God of glory, power, mercy, all creation praises Thee;

We, Thy creatures, would adore Thee now and through eternity.

Saved to magnify Thy goodness, grant us strength to do Thy will;

With our acts as with our voices Thy commandments to fulfill.”

(Words by David Clowney.  Can be sung to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy.")

Whether the weather

In my sunny home state, we are enjoying almost record-setting temperatures for January. It’s 76 degrees outside, and the sun is throwing long shadows off the Spanish moss on the oak trees. We just got home after visiting family on the other side of the country, and we’re still recovering from the dazzling brightness of sun on snow (and, for me, a cold). Both are so pretty–graceful shadows across the backyard and snow-covered fields and forests. God made both. His creation is so beautiful! 

Look out the window. Isn’t it amazing what He has made?! Who else could have possibly thought of creating all that He has made? We can’t even think of something new to "create" unless it’s first based off of what God has done. Try imagining a new, undiscovered color; you can’t! Everything we know or imagine is based off of His handiwork. All it took for Him was a single word, and it was. He didn’t stop with creating worlds, people, plants, and animals–He even created seasons! Even with your eyes closed, you can still feel the beauty of His creation. There is no way to escape the evidence of God’s hand in the world.

Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
Praise the LORD with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

For the word of the LORD is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the LORD;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
(Psalm 33:1-9)

No matter where you are today–whether you’re in the frozen tundra or someplace warmer–you can still see the beauty of God’s creation. Sometimes I get tired of the part of His creation that I see and wish I was somewhere else. Isn’t that wrong? Everything He has made is good; that’s what He said when He made it. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good (Genesis 1:31). Who are we to complain? We should rejoice in His creation every day!

Psalm 29:2–Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.