The Horse and His Boy

Here is comes, and its a good one.

C.S. Lewis is one great author...

(I hope you can catch all this without reading the whole book, but then again, why not just read the whole book....or better yet, the whole series?)

Mia and I read this chapter last night, and yes, I cried through the whole section. It is a bit of a long quote, but bear with me.

It is chapter 11 and near the end of the book. The main character, Shasta, has been through a lot, completed (well, pretty much) his "mission" and now is lost, alone and very frustrated. Okay, well, he thought he was alone, but he isn't. He has discovered some Thing beside him and has begun talking to it. It says to Shasta "Tell me your sorrows."

And so Shasta begins:

"...he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among to tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since he had had anything to eat.

"I do not call you unfortunate," said the Large Voice.

"Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?" said Shasta.

"There was only one lion," said the Voice.

"What on earth do you mean? I've just told you there were at least two the first night, and-"

"There was only one: but he was swift of foot."

"How do you know?"

"I was the lion." And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."

"Then it was you who wounded Aravis?"

"It was I."

"But what for?"

"Child," said the Voice, "I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own."

"Who are you?" asked Shasta.

"Myself," said the Voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook: and again "Myself," loud and clear and gay: and then the third time "Myself," whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all round you as if the leaves rustled with it.

Shasta was no longer afraid that the Voice belonged to something that would eat him, not that it was the voice of a ghost. But a new and different sort of trembling came over him. Yet he felt glad too.

The mist was turning from black to gray and from gray to white. This must have begun to happen some time ago, but while he had been talking to the Thing he had not been noticing anything else. Now, the whiteness around him became a shining whiteness; his eyes began to blink. Somewhere ahead he could hear birds singing. He knew the night was over at last. He could see the mane and ears and head of his horse quite easily now. A golden light fell on them from the left. He thought it was the sun.

He turned and saw, pacing beside him, taller than the horse, a Lion. The horse did not seem to be afraid of it or else could not see it. It was from the Lion that the light came. No one ever saw anything more terrible or beautiful.

Luckily Shasta had lived all his life too far south in Calormen to have heard the tales that were whispered in Tashbaan about a dreadful Narnian demon that appeared in the form of a lion. And of course he knew none of the true stories about Aslan, the great Lion, the son of the Emperor-over-the-sea, King above all High Kings in Narnia. But after one glance at the Lion's face he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet. He couldn't say anything but then he didn't want to say anything, and he knew he needn't say anything."

If you have read any of my Narnia rantings before, you know that Aslan represents Jesus. And there are two things that I love most in this story. There is a crazy amount of symbolism and other pictures painted in this section alone, but I won't go into all of that.

First, like in other books, Jesus/Aslan deals with each person and their own story - and does not feel the need to share someone elses' story with anyone other than that person. Shasta asked about Aravis. Aslan, in His wisdom, said that He did not need to tell Shasta about His actions regarding Aravis because, simply, it was only between Him and Aravis (and that comes later....).

How often to I want to know why things happen - good or bad - to other people (and terribly, for me it is usually why good things happen to other people and not me.....because I am a wretchedly jealous person..... it has taken God 40 years to work through that one with me and I still have a long way to go. Good thing He is infinitely patient.)? And quite frankly, it is none of my business. I need to just deal with what He brings in my life and what He is trying to teach me through whatever blessing or obstacle that is there. I can be (and should be) thankful for the good things that happen to others - and praise Him for it. I can be (and should be) concerned for the bad things that happen to others - and pray to Him for it and help in whatever way I can. But it is not for me to know why they are "blessed" and I am not, or why they have been given a challenge and I haven't. It is between them and Him. Sheesh, half the time it is not for us to know why these things even happen to ourselves. I just have to trust that He knows and plans the best for my life.

Second, I love love love the picture of how God was there, through everything - guiding, directing, comforting, protecting..... but several of those situations were the very things that caused anxiety for Shasta (and his traveling companions). It was through the use of fear that He brought two groups of people together for mutual benefit (I won't explain - you'll just have to read it); it was through fear again that caused Shasta to reach his goal on time; it was through the unexplainable that He comforted Shasta and protected him; and it was Him who saved his life as a baby - a life he complained about but wouldn't have had if Aslan hadn't saved him.

All these things I complain about - fears, pain, weird and frustrating things and just life in general. But do I know the story behind all of these "difficult" things? Why do I assume, like Shasta did, that they were just bad things. I want to learn to see Jesus in all of these things - and to trust Him, that everything He does is because of His great love for me, and ultimately for His glory.

Oh Lord, give me the eyes to see You in all of life's circumstances, good or bad - to see how You work to guide, direct, comfort, protect and LOVE me.

And some day, we ALL will see Him, slip out of the saddle, and fall at His feet.