Today I want to share with you an excerpt from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
“Didn’t I tell you,” answered Mr. Beaver, “that she’d made it always winter and never Christmas? Didn’t I tell you? Well just come and see!”
And then they were all at the top and did see.
It was a sledge, and it was reindeer with bells on their harnesses. But they were far bigger than the Witch’s reindeer, and they were not white but brown. And on the sledge sat a person whom everyone knew the moment they set eyes on him. He was a huge man in a bright red robe (bright as hollyberries) with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard that fell like a foamy waterfall over his chest. Everyone knew him because, though you see people of his sort only in Narnia, you see pictures of them and hear them talked about even in our world – the world on this side of the wardrobe door. But when you really see them in Narnia it is rather different. Some of the pictures of Father Christmas in our world make him look only funny and jolly. But now that the children actually stood looking at him they didn’t find it quite like that. He was so big, and so glad, and so real, that they all became quite still. They felt very glad, but also solemn.
“I’ve come at last,” said he. “She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch’s magic is weakening.”
And Lucy felt running through her that deep shiver of gladness which you only get if you are being solemn and still.
I love that all that it takes for Narnia to be changed is for Aslan to be on the move. The slightest movement from Aslan weakens the Witch’s power and ends the one hundred years of winter without Christmas. In the same way, all that is needed for our world to be revolutionized is the tiniest movement of God. He is so much greater than us that his smallest workings can utterly transform us.
Yes, Mom's bread baking is the best, but the smell of the tree when we bring it in triggers lots of pleasant memories. As do your comments about Aslan being on the move. I remember two little girls snuggling up to me while I read those books for the umpteenth time.
ReplyDeleteI miss the smell of a fire in the hearth and cider on the stove.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite scent is definitely the smell of cookies baking.
ReplyDeleteI love the last sentence of the excerpt; "And Lucy felt running through her that DEEP SHIVER OF GLADNESS which you only get if you are being solemn and still." It's so true and make me really excited to be still and wait.
P.S. I love everything about this post.
Hallelujah! Yes! The "tiniest movement from God" has the power to transform our thinking and set us free indeed! Glory be to God!
ReplyDelete"The tiniest movement from God" reminds me of a previous post: "just one dim glimpse of the glory of God through the message of an angel gave him enough courage to brave the scandal and take Mary home as his wife." "Just one dim glimpse", "one tiny movement" changed everything.
"My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the LORD. "and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9
I love the reminder of Father Christmas being "so big, so glad, and so real". It is amazing how C.S.Lewis's writing goes straight to the heart! Thanks for the reminder!
Smells...??? Evergreens in the house, bread baking...and how about cookies baking???
Okay, I'll let it go about the rolls. You guys have already mentioned most of the biggies: evergreen, cider, bread, cookies. I guess I’ll go with cookies, specifically sheets and sheets of cut-out sugar cookies. The basic butter and sugar accord, with notes of citrus and vanilla, is surely a heavenly fragrance.
ReplyDeleteI guess Jesus was a tiniest movement from God, melting our cold hearts. It's not the kind of revolution we usually look for. If we welcome Jesus, I guess we're also welcoming some Father Christmas into our hearts, "funny and jolly", but in a mature way that also includes "still and solemn".