“It isn't Narnia, you know," sobbed Lucy. "It's you. We shan't meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?"
"But you shall meet me, dear one," said Aslan.
"Are -are you there too, Sir?" said Edmund.
"I am," said Aslan. "But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”

--C.S. Lewis, Voyage of the Dawn Treader (emphasis mine)

~

Isn't it interesting how fiction can often give us little glimmers of truth, sometimes convicting and always beautiful, that point us towards our Savior?

That is the reason why many of us write: as Lewis himself says, Christ is our first love, and we merely love writing as a means of sharing Him with the world.

Some of you have probably read C.S. Lewis's phenonemal nonfiction books such as Mere Christianity, and although I'm fairly confident that all of you have seen or at least heard of the Chronicles of Narnia, I also know that if you didn't read the series growing up, then by this point you have probably written them off as children's books.

I want to encourage you not to do that, because the Narnia series is a gem, and everyone should read these books.

I'm not just saying this as an avid bookworm who gets overexcited about her favorite series (although that is part of it); Narnia has delighted and amused me, challenged me in my faith, and given me a better understanding of who God is and all that He has done for us. Below are some of the most epic glimmers of Truth that Narnia gives us:

1.) We are all Edmund Pevensie: Rebels and traitors to the King who are forgiven and redeemed-- because of a Sacrifice.

“It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward. And now—”
--The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

“You have a traitor there, Aslan," said the Witch. Of course everyone present knew that she meant Edmund. But Edmund had got past thinking about himself after all he'd been through and after the talk he'd had that morning. He just went on looking at Aslan. It didn't seem to matter what the Witch said.”
--The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

"But even a traitor may mend. I have known one that did."
--Edmund Pevensie in The Horse And His Boy

I'm pretty sure that Edmund is what first inspired my love of redemption-arc stories-- because really, haven't we all been there? Haven't we all had that moment where the weight of our sin and Christ's dying on the Cross for us hits us in full force? When I first read Narnia, Edmund seemed like an annoying little brat-- and at first, he kind of was. But then I got to the end-- after Aslan's death and resurrection, his forgiveness of an ashamed and repentant Edmund (a beautiful picture of grace and our own salvation), and the boy changing from a bitter traitor into something good and noble as he joins the battle fully on Aslan's side, and then how he grows and later becomes a just king of Narnia... well, then I realized that I see much of Edmund in myself.

I am Edmund. I was once a traitor to the One True King, and have been given mercy undeserved and salvation in Him. Everyone who knows how it feels to have been saved by grace through faith is Edmund. And this, this is why redemption stories are my favorites: they are reflections of my own.

2.) We all ought to aspire to be like Puddleglum and Lucy Pevensie: courageous children of the King who speak up and step out in faith, even when the circumstances seem bleak and the world tries to get us to doubt.

"Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-- trees and grass and sun and the moon and stars and Aslan himself... 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 a 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 playworld 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."
--Puddleglum in The Silver Chair

Is this not the most epic thing to read as a believer?

(It's even more stirring when you read it with the understanding that Puddleglum is a skeptic and pessimist-- yet his courage and faith when it comes to what truly matters is unwavering.)

If we're wrong, we lose nothing-- oh, but if we're right, then we gain everything.

And, well, why would you want to believe that this broken world is all there is? Where's the joy and hope in that?

Let's all aspire to have courage like Puddleglum. And, of course, Lucy (later known, fittingly, as Lucy the Valiant):

"I wish you would all stop trying to sound like grown-ups! I didn't think I saw him, I did see him."
--Lucy Pevensie in Prince Caspian

She is a ray of sunshine and light, the first of the Pevensies to discover Narnia and to believe in Aslan, and she holds firmly to her beliefs throughout the series. She is unafraid of showing her love for Aslan and is courageous in standing up for what she knows to be true. She is the epitome of childlike faith and joy, and it is absolutely beautiful to see.

3.) One day, Christ will return and make all things new, and it's going to be more beautiful than we could possibly have imagined. We'll finally be in our true home.

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!”
--The Last Battle

"The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning."
--The Last Battle

“And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
--The Last Battle

Enough said. I couldn't word it more beautifully if I tried.

~

With that, do you find yourself wanting to read Narnia yet? Finding all these quotes has made me want to go back for a reread.

I'm very thankful to C.S. Lewis for writing these books in his typical unique, profound style-- and that Narnia and its characters ultimately gave me a deeper understanding of who God is and who I am in Him, and what I have to look forward to someday when I finally go Home.

If you ever want to know why Narnia is one of my favorite book series? This. This is why. And I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys finding stories with glimmers of Truth within their pages.