 |
| Aragorn Opening Doors to Helm's Deep in The Two Towers |
Something old and deep in us
is born again
when we read of Lucy and Aslan or of
Hermione, Ron, and Harry or
of Aragorn, Frodo, and the Fellowship
(or Paul, Chani, and the Fremen of Dune in
a warning against power over others).
+ Coming-to-Life,
Deep Down Faith
This winter, I get the joy of spending some time with young people connected to Emmaus City Church engaging the Scriptures alongside one of my favorite reflections on God called Deep Down Faith by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. I've read this book three times now and Plantinga, like C.S. Lewis in many ways, has a gift for discussing profound thoughts in whimsical, rich, and accessible ways for young and old alike. Some previous Deep Down Faith posts include:
Today's post will focus on the joy of salvation revealed through the stories we listen to and come back to again and again. For example, This resonated with me due to experiencing the joy of discussing Aragorn's Christ-like character in The Lord of the Rings with a friend whose faith in Jesus was coming alive again (or perhaps for the first time).
One scene that stood out for both of us was in the film version of The Two Towers, when at Helm's Deep Aragorn declared "Then I shall die as one of them" as an act of solidarity and sacrificial love for the last people of Rohan facing seemingly insurmountable evil. This Christ-like image of taking the place of those facing death was also explored in our last post: The Strange Cross of Love.
Joy When Reading Stories
Restore to me the joy
of Your salvation ...
+ Psalm 51:12
Q. What is the rising-to-life
of the new self?
A. Wholehearted joy in God
through Christ and a
love and delight to live ...
+ Catechism Q&A 90
Many of us know what it's like to feel a stab of joy when reading fantasy. A writer named Frederick Buechner (pronounced BEEK-ner) talks about the reasons for that feeling in one of his books, Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale.
In fantasies we read of places different from our own: a far-off country, or a forbidden forest, or a dark and fearful castle, or a boarding school for teaching magic to young witches and wizards.
A person from ordinary life,
often a child,
enters one of these strange places.
She may wander into the forest or come upon the castle at the end of a yellow-brick road. She may step into a wardrobe to hide from friends and find herself moving clear through it to an icy land ruled by an evil queen whose face is as white as death.
Fantasies often include danger. There may be a great and terrible wizard. There are forks in the path where a wrong choice means lostness or death. There are witches who cackle and drool over plump children. Above all, there are deceptions. Things are not as they appear. A gingerbread house is really a trap. A beautiful queen is a disguised witch. A great and terrible wizard is only a hairless little man with a microphone. A lion, in the end, appears to be someone like God. A stuttering, ineffective professor is really sharing his soul with the most terrible dark wizard of the century.
Fantasy can include a "turn" too (similar to a repentance, "a turning around of our lives, like dying and being born again, whether sudden and dramatic or more gradual). After wild events and frustrating setbacks, after confusion and threats and dangers and battles, things take a turn for the good.
A sleeping beauty awakens.
Children who had been treated terribly
are rescued by their kind father.
Cinderella's wicked sisters repent
in the end and are forgiven.
The children and animals in
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
celebrate and sing for joy
because Aslan has conquered.
A brave young wizard
named Harry Potter
defeats evil by the power of love.
We rejoice with them.
J.R.R. Tolkien
(who wrote The Lord of the Rings)
says that when the turn comes
we feel "a catch of the breath,
a beat and lifting of the heart."
In fact, many of us feel like weeping — but not for grief. We cry for joy at the triumph of good. We weep because this triumph has a beauty as sharp as a northern wind.
Something old and deep in us
is born again.
Christians are especially open
to these things because
the coming-to-life
of the new self in repentance
includes, "wholehearted joy
in God through Christ."
There is that stab of joy again.
I think we can begin to understand
it when we think of the gospel
as fantasy come true.
The gospel is the story of a son coming home from a far country. It is the story of a sheep rescued from a dark and fearful wilderness by the strong arms of a fierce shepherd.
 |
| Jesus: He never says anyone is too lost to be found. |
The gospel is the story of children released from prison, of demons unmasked, of the crushing of lethal snakes, and of the triumph of the Lamb of God. It is the story of all heaven breaking loose, the stars singing together and the sons of God shouting for joy.
For things are not as they seem. There is a turn. The dying Jesus, nerves stretched over nails, rises to kill death and to live for good. It happens this time not in a fantasy but in the Bible; not in fantasy land but in Israel; not once upon a time but on the first day of one week in about A.D. 29. The Son of God awakens.
For us the stab of joy,
the catch of the breath,
is not only for our dead Lord
who comes alive.
It is also for ourselves.
For in our baptism and
in our repentance,
we die and rise with Him,
rejoicing in the
triumph of God,
a triumph with beauty as
sharp as a northern wind.
Once more,
as when Adam awoke
and when Jesus arose
— once more God blows
Repentance is the
dying away of the old self
and the coming to life of the new.
"Repent, therefore, and turn to God
so that your sins may be wiped out,
so that times of refreshing may come
from the presence of the Lord."
+ Acts 3:19-20
+ Turning & Coming-to-Life,
Deep Down Faith
Next post: Getting in Shape w/ New Life
May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.
Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne,
que sa volonté soit faite.
愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。
Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.
Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino!
🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇
With anticipation and joy,
No comments:
Post a Comment