Advent

C. S. Lewis’ epic children’s story The Chronicles of Narnia tells the entire story of the land of Narnia from its creation - through Aslan’s singing - to its end in The Final Battle. If you haven't read the story or seen the movie then please crawl out of your darkness and come into the light. (Can you tell how much I love this symbolic narrative?) Well to catch you "Philistines" up with the rest of us (I use that in the most loving way, I promise), Aslan is a majestic lion who symbolizes Christ in the iconic story. He is the Creator and rightful King of Narnia.

Evil forces enter the land during it's creation. These evil forces personified are unintentionally brought into the land by two children who've been using magic rings. Throughout the rest of the narrative children play an important role in Aslan’s work to redeem his kingdom from these evil forces.

In the Last Battle a place called “Stable Hill,” named for the little stable on its summit, plays a central role. The stable itself is a paradox: it serves as the headquarters of Aslan’s enemies (those enemies of God’s kingdom) but it is also the way into Aslan’s home country (heaven). During the final battle, the enemy forces press the king and his followers closer and closer to the stable door, behind which the enemy insists Tash (an evil monster) is waiting to devour all who enter.

After a long battle the children finally resign themselves to their fate and are pushed into the door. At first, the door seems to open on nothing but darkness. Once through the dark, terrible door; however, the children are astonished to find themselves not inside the stable (nor in the jaws of Tash) but in the open air on a summer morning. They are transported to a whole new world. Only the rough wooden door of the stable remains – no walls or roof. The children can walk around the door “simply standing up by itself as if it had grown there like a tree.” (Lewis, The Last Battle, p. 132)

In fact, they can still see through a crack the darkness of the Narnian night in which they have just fought their last battle. They quickly come to the realization “that the Stable seen from within and the Stable seen from without are two different places . . . Its inside is bigger than its outside.” It is at this moment that Lucy is reminded of Bethlehem, and she says: “In our world too, a Stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.” (Ibid., p. 133)

As, we approach the Advent season, we are invited to find our Savior in Bethlehem’s stable and to follow Him as our Lord beyond it, beyond all worlds. This humble servant; this wandering preacher . . . is the Lord of all creation! It is the unveiling paradox of revelation - that our end is our beginning. O come, O come Immanuel! And ransom captured Israel. (These thoughts come primarily from Deborah Smith Douglas' article "Beyond All Worlds: Our End and Our Beginning," Weavings, Vol. XXI, No. 6, pp. 16-27.)