Lessons From Narnia

..."Well," said Peter, "for a long time (at least I suppose it was a long time) nothing happened. Then the door opened--" "The door?" said Tirian. "Yes," said Peter. "The door you came in--or came out-- by. Have you forgotten?" "But where is it?" "Look," Said Peter and pointed. Tirian looked and saw the queerest and most ridiculous thing you can imagine. Only a few yards away, clear to be seen in the sunlight, there stood up a rough wooden door and , round it, the frame work of the doorway: nothing else, no walls, no roof. He walked toward it, bewildered, and the others followed, watching to see what he would do. He walked round to the other side of the door. But it looked just the same from the other side: he was still in the open air, on a summer morning. The door was simply standing up by itself as if it had grown there like a tree. "Fair Sir," said Tirian to the High King, "this is a great marvel." "It is the door you came through with that Calormene fine minutes ago," said Peter smiling. "But did I not come in out of the wood into the stable? Whereas this seems to be a door leading from nowhere to nowhere." "It looks like that if you walk round it," said Peter. "But put your eye to that place where there is a crack between two of the planks and look through." Tirian put his eye to the hole. At first he could see nothing but blackness. Then, as his eyes grew used to it, he saw the dull red glow of a bonfire that was nearly going out, and above that in a black sky, stars. Then he could see dark figures moving about or standing between him and the fire: he could hear them talking and their voices were like those of Calormenes. So he knew that he was looking out through the stable door into the darkness of Lantern Waste where he had fought his last battle. He looked round again and could hardly believe his eyes. there was the blue sky overhead, and grassy country spreading as far as he could see in every direction, and his new friends all round him laughing. "It seems, then," said Tirian, smiling himself, "that the stable seen from within and the stable seen from without are two different places" "Yes," said the Lord Digory. "Its inside is bigger than its outside."... ..."[The Dwarfs are] still here." Said Lucy, "In fact you can see them from here. And I've tried and tried to make friends with them but it's no use. Do come and see them. King Tirian, perhaps you could do something with them." "I can feel no great love for Dwarfs today," said Tirian. "Yet at your asking, Lady, I would do a greater thing than this." Lucy led the way and soon they could all see the Dwarfs. They had a very odd look. They weren't strolling about or enjoying themselves (although the cords with which they had been tied seemed to have vanished) nor were they lying down and having a rest. They were sitting very close together in a little circle facing one another. They never looked round or took any notice of the humans till Lucy and Tirian were almost near enough to touch them. Then the Dwarfs all cocked their heads as if they couldn't see anyone but were listening hard and trying to guess by the sound what was happening. "Look out!" said one for them in a surly voice. "Mind where you're going. Don't walk into our faces!" "All right!" said Eustace indignantly. "We're not blind. We've got eyes in our heads." "They must be darn good ones if you can see in here." said the Dwarf who's name was Diggle. "In where?" asked Edmund. "Why you bone-head, in here of course," said Diggle. "In this pitch-black, poky, smelly little hole of a stable." "Are you blind?" said Tirian "Ain't we all blind in the dark!" said Diggle. "But it isn't dark, you poor stupid Dwarfs," said Lucy. "Can't you see? Look up! Look round! Can't you see the sky and the trees and the flowers? Can't you see me?" "How in the name of all Humbug can I see what ain't there? And how can I see you any more than you can see me in this pitch darkness?" "But I can see you," said Lucy. "I'll prove I can see you. You've got a pipe in your mouth." "Anyone that knows the smell of baccy could tell that." said Diggle. "Oh the poor things! This is dreadful," said Lucy. Then she had an idea. She stooped and picked some wild violets. "Listen, Dwarf," she said. "Even if your eyes are wrong, perhaps your nose is all right: can you smell that?" She leaned across and held the fresh, damp flowers do Diggles ugly nose. But she had to jump back quickly in order to avoid a blow from his hard little fist. "None of that!" he shouted. "How dare you! What do you mean by shoving a lot of filthy stable litter in my face? There was a thistle in it too. It's like your sauce! And who are you , anyway?" "Earth-man" said Tirian, "she is the Queen Lucy, sent hither by Aslan out of the deep past. And it is for her sake alone that I, Tirian your lawful King, do not cut all your heads from your shoulders, proved and twice-proved traitors that you are." "Well if that doesn't beat everything!" exclaimed Diggle. "How can you go on talking all that rot? Your wonderful Lion didn't come and help you , did he? Thought not. And now--even now-- when you've been beaten and shoved into this black hole, just the same as the rest of us, you're still at your old game. Starting a new lie! Trying to make us believe we're none of us shut up, and it aint' dark, and heaven knows what." "There is no black hole, save in your own fancy, fool," cried Tirian . "Come out of it." ~Excerpt from The Last Battle, By C.S. Lewis~

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I've been digging myself deeper. Its easy to do. I've been tired, depressed, disappointed, looking at everything I was missing, or that had been taken away. Like the Dwarfs in "The Last Battle," when they were tied up and thrown into the stable. They believed what they thought in their mind should be true. That nothing good could happen from their situation. No matter what happened, or what good things were given to them or offered, they wouldn't have it. Aslan had prepared a beautiful place for them to enjoy, but they blinded themselves to his goodness. They took Aslan's blessings and turned them into a curse, making themselves miserable, when they could have been enjoying their king's presence. It was their own fault. I've been doing the same thing. Since being home, the few doors that seemed open, quickly shut. I felt closed in, cornered, and cheated out of the blessings and pleasures I thought I deserved. I was shut in the stable, and to me, it was just that. Empty, dirty, smelly, with no way out. In stead of crying for help to The One who could open my eyes and show me the truth, I sat in the mire of self-pity and distrust biding my time in the prison of my mind. But my King, The One who loves me, pursues me, and gives me all, even when I lose faith in Him, was not content to let me stay there. In reality - THE TRUTH - is, that I am not in a stable at all! He has brought me to a beautiful place, a place He prepared just for me. A place where I can know Him better, deeper, more intimately. (Phil. 3:10) But more than that, (as if that is not blessing enough) just because He loves me, He has many, many, unspeakable pleasures and blessings for me in this place. I may not see them now, but they are there for me to discover in surprise at just the right moment of His chosing. Each one better than the last, as I follow Him "further up and further in" to fellowship with Him and His plan for my life. His richness and pleasure and all perfect things are mine. Here in this place where He has lovingly brought me.

"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, ... the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

~Eph. 1:17, 23~