Saturday, August 30, 2008

Story Still Reigns

Tonight my boys and I watched the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe once again. They never get tired of it, especially the battle scenes into which they places themselves as Peter and Edward. My oldest even disappeared at one point in the movied only to return from his room with a sword. The power of the story reigns over their imaginations and draws them into the world of Aslan. As the movied started tonight I told my oldest son that the author, C.S. Lewis, intended us to see Jesus in the Aslan character. And you know what, he got it!

Even with the wonderful progress that we have experienced with the rise of the scientific age, story still reigns. The scientific theory can't hold a candle to the imagination stirring power of a good story. Lewis carefully crafted the Chronicles of Narnia during the late 1940s in Great Britian. A scholar and student of religion, one of Lewis' great accomplishments was story.

This shouldn't be a surprise to us, that story still reigns. In the late 1600s a man by the name of John Bunyan offered us another story intended to communicate the path of following Jesus. It was titled The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come. The story that unfolds on these masterfully written pages have drawn our minds into a journey that is other worldly, and yet oddly real. As we turn the pages we also become pilgrims travelling along on a journey that leads to our freedom. The power of story is nothing new, even though it still catches us by surprise.

This is what good stories do; they capture us, preoccupy our minds, and motivate us to action. We walk away from our encounter much like my sons ready to slay the White Witch and become kings in their own right. This isn't because I told them that they must become kings, or that they must take up their swords and go to battle. No, instead they were inspired by the power of a story that filled their hearts and minds with visions of things once thought impossible. One day my sons will become kings, although tonight they sleep as princes. How do I know? Because I read a story as well that filled my heart with a vision of my two boys ruling and reigning with the King. Story still reigns...the Story still reigns.