At The Clay Center this week, my child and I encountered The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe on the DVD player in the little kids’ play area.  The Chronicles of Narnia represent one of the finest series in literature for young people, but my girl’s not ready at two years old to witness Aslan‘s self-sacrifice for a boy who has turned from friends and family to the rewards of evil; since that scene was imminent and there were no other kids around in that moment, I turned the movie off and we went on to Lincoln Logs and Shel Silverstein.

I know human beings have a mad tendency to create “meaning” out of random events.  We need to make sense of our lives, but truly there are times some things just seem like they are trying to get my attention.  In this same week I ran across a quote from C.S. Lewis that I wanted to use for the blog, and seeing Aslan reminded me to go home and try to find the reference.  In that process, I found another quote, one I had never seen before, and it rendered me speechless.

I have read it now about twenty times.  I’m still not sure what to make of it, but it is fascinating and seems to be trying to help me understand something I don’t “get.”  I suspect Aslan wants me to clue in to my feelings about modern people who generate anger in me; today’s tax collectors, lepers, and prostitutes may be the head-stompers, child molesters, and radio talk show hosts I despise.  In short, I think this may be about moving beyond an idea on paper, and embracing it in practice.  I’ll keep working on it.  In the meantime, as always dear reader, the floor is open to your thoughts as well.

“We must, therefore, not be surprised if we find among Christians some people who are still nasty. There is even, when you come to think it over, a reason why nasty people might be expected to turn to Christ in greater numbers than nice ones. That was what people objected to about Christ during His life on earth: He seemed to attract ‘such awful people’. That is what people still object to and always will.”

— C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Image credit: Explore Faith

Thanks to Man Pants blog for helping me find the quote.