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There are some very simple pleasures in this life. Amy and I spent Valentine's Day together...we had lunch, went to a movie (Narnia) and played Scrabble. Nothing earth-shattering, but quite lovely. The Chronicles of Narnia is a good movie. There's no missing the Christian story, at least not if you've heard any of the Gospel. The correlation is strong enough to have a profound effect. I have to admit a rather strong emotional reaction to some scenes...most of all the sacrifice of Aslan. Seeing the great lion willingly give himself to death, and immediately translating that into Christ's self-sacrifice, jolted me. What an enormous thing God has done. I know it seems silly that a computer-generated lion should put me in touch with my Lord's pain and passion...but there it is. I think that's the brilliance of fantasy literature in general and C.S. Lewis in particular - the story sneaks in the back door and grabs you where you're not ready. It can shine light on truth in ways that direct telling cannot, reaching past long familiarity to remind you of the raw energy and power of the original. A well-written fantasy doesn't merely distract us from the truth, or lead us away from it. A well-written fantasy, in the end, brings us back to truth from a fresh direction. Maybe that's why couples go on dates. A romantic date is a fantasy. It's time spent together, without the mundane distractions of the everyday, and it gives couples a chance to tell and hear a deep truth. We tell each other, in gestures and attention and words, that we love one another. And when we return to our day to day relationship we do so from a fresh direction, with a fresh perspective. You know, I think I'll take Amy out to dinner and a movie more often. |
