Narnia

i have been given the privilege of writing an article for the area ministers, and here is a rough draft, discussing a favorite of mine, C. S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia

"We are starting a six-week series to prepare for the release of a great movie, the Chronicles of Narnia. I say great even though I have not seen the movie yet. I can't remember not loving the seven books of this series. C.S. Lewis wrote these books entertain children, but also to allow our imaginations as Christians to grow. C. S. Lewis has fascinated me ever since I read his first book, which for me was "Mere Christianity." Later I learned that Lewis died the same day that John Kennedy was assassinated, and that I never read a book by him until a decade after he died. I made up for lost time by reading the books, especially his children’s books when I was substitute teaching for public school in Missouri. Those students, now adults, remember the kids, the battles, the fantasy, but especially, they remember Aslan, the lion who comes to represent Jesus through these "fairy tales." They were caught from the first book I read to them because they were transported into a new world of fantasy and adventure.
Christians can learn a lot from Lewis about communicating with people with images and ideas that challenge our commonly accepted ideas about spirituality. He was always trying to get his generation to think of Christianity "out side of the box." In a country and a time where most Church buildings were nearly empty, Lewis challenged them to find God in stories and images that were not overtly religious or "churchy". His faith was never in cardboard-christian images, but in a living and breathing Savior. Many of the qualities of the Lord we find in the New Testament can be better communicated to children in the form of stories rather than in sermons or lectures.
Who did Lewis learn this from? He was an avid reader from childhood where he discovered the fantasy writings of a preacher from a generation before Lewis was born. This writer was George Macdonald, who gave us many treasures as well, such as "Phantastes." This particular book inspired C.S. Lewis, who once said that he never wrote a book with out quoting from Macdonald. Why is this important? Many Christians in our generation have gone to one of two different extremes. We can ignore all fantasy or magical writings as inherently evil, or we can over react by becoming enamored by these writings and ideas and images.
Ultimately, I believe that we can trace this using of images, ideas and fantasies to an earlier source, Jesus Himself. When Jesus taught the people of his days, he used parables and exaggeration to paint pictures tat people would enjoy and remember. Some favorite parables included stories about fishing, sowing seeds, banquets, and mustard seed. Jesus used colorful descriptions to excite our imaginations, such as calling Herod an old fox, and talking about having splinters or logs in our eyes, and houses built on sandy foundations. Jesus gave us images, ideas and fantasies that have fired imaginations and inspired missionaries for two millennia. We in the church dare not err by boring people or by making people feel guilty for using the imaginations which Jesus gave us and which he was willing to trigger.
When I finally get to go see "The Chronicles of Narnia", I will know the dialogue and the characters involved. I will remember the story line and watch critically to see if it is "de-christianized". I will look for Jesus in the story, because in this movie as well as in all of the stories of our lives, He is the Star."