The Chronicles of
Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, tell the tale of four siblings who are yanked from their
humdrum, drab 20th century lives in great Britain and drawn
into the fairy-tale world of Narnia where animals talk, epic adventures
are born, and children become heroes. After returning home to their much
more dull normal lives and yearning for months to return to the world
where they are more than school children, they are called back into Narnia
once more, but this time, after all their adventures, Aslan, the lion who
symbolizes Christ, tells two of the siblings that they will never
again return to Narnia. It must have been difficult for them to
understand how anything about their home was preferable to Narnia, but Aslan
makes it clear that their return is for their own good; so that they can
continue to progress in ways they couldn't in Narnia.
In life there are periods of time when Heaven touches Earth, and the real and the ideal become one. When miracles speak, priceless memories are born, and for a short time we become the heroes we always wanted to be. In a sense, the Lord gives us our own personal Narnia. One area of my mission was that way for me. Everything about my time there rocketed me to a new plane of existence and happiness the likes of which I had never experienced before. Things worked. Miracles happened, I was transformed as a person, and the Lord blessed me to be able to do things I had never done before. After just six weeks it ended and I was transferred, but it is no exaggeration to say that that area had as powerful effect on my mission as my mission has had on my life. For a long time afterwards I expended an enormous amount of effort to "get back" to the way things were in that area. I worked hard for months and received a certain amount of help from the Lord, some of which was also amazing and miraculous, but not in the same way it was before. There were moments when I scratched the surface, as if I had been allowed to go back to visit Narnia for the night, but not to live there. Eventually I realized that the Lord did not intend for me ever to go back. Rather, I had progressed beyond that stage. I had learned what I needed to learn from Narnia, and now it was time to move forward and leave it all behind. Because I learned that principle, when the time came for me to come home and take off my tag I did so without looking back. My mission was wonderful, great, fantastic, miraculous, but it also ended and afterwards it was time to progress beyond it.
One of the reasons this concept is difficult to grasp is because sometimes we perceive ourselves as sliding backwards in our progress when in reality all that has happened is that we have encountered increased opposition, and thus our ability to respond well has been diminished. However, as long as we do our absolute best to follow God's plan for us, the inner essence of who we are will continue to improve and if we were ever placed back in Narnia we would find ourselves monumentally better in that environment than we were originally.
If some of you feel like you've never been to Narnia, don't worry. It comes according to God's plan for us, when we least expect it. It comes when we have been doing everything we can to serve the Lord. It comes because we have profoundly deep righteous desires that the Lord is willing to bless us with. Although there is much you can do to facilitate finding your own personal Narnia, you cannot cause it to happen. In a broader sense, we experience a version of "Narnia syndrome" when we deride ourselves for falling back into personal weaknesses that we feel like we previously conquered. Maybe in truth we haven't actually gotten worse at whatever it was. Maybe the Lord allowed us to have a heightened sense of opposition so that we can conquer our weakness again on a higher level.
It surprised me a great deal when I realized that I don't miss my mission at all. Maybe it's because the Lord taught the principles I've been discussing in this blog to my heart and not just my brain. Maybe it's because I feel something deep inside myself rolling steadily onward toward the bright horizons of my spiritual destiny. Whatever the case, I know that things are the way that they were meant to be. As the existentialist philosopher Kierkegaard eloquently put it, "It is quite true what Philosophy says: that Life must be understood backwards. But that makes one forget the other saying: that it must be lived -- forwards."
So fight on. Dream on. Look for the day when the Lord will give you the world that Narnia was just a prototype for. Let Narnia inspire you, but don't let it chain you to your past. Never give up. Reach for the stars. Believe in the Savior's ability to fundamentally change your circumstances. Your future is as bright as your faith.
In life there are periods of time when Heaven touches Earth, and the real and the ideal become one. When miracles speak, priceless memories are born, and for a short time we become the heroes we always wanted to be. In a sense, the Lord gives us our own personal Narnia. One area of my mission was that way for me. Everything about my time there rocketed me to a new plane of existence and happiness the likes of which I had never experienced before. Things worked. Miracles happened, I was transformed as a person, and the Lord blessed me to be able to do things I had never done before. After just six weeks it ended and I was transferred, but it is no exaggeration to say that that area had as powerful effect on my mission as my mission has had on my life. For a long time afterwards I expended an enormous amount of effort to "get back" to the way things were in that area. I worked hard for months and received a certain amount of help from the Lord, some of which was also amazing and miraculous, but not in the same way it was before. There were moments when I scratched the surface, as if I had been allowed to go back to visit Narnia for the night, but not to live there. Eventually I realized that the Lord did not intend for me ever to go back. Rather, I had progressed beyond that stage. I had learned what I needed to learn from Narnia, and now it was time to move forward and leave it all behind. Because I learned that principle, when the time came for me to come home and take off my tag I did so without looking back. My mission was wonderful, great, fantastic, miraculous, but it also ended and afterwards it was time to progress beyond it.
One of the reasons this concept is difficult to grasp is because sometimes we perceive ourselves as sliding backwards in our progress when in reality all that has happened is that we have encountered increased opposition, and thus our ability to respond well has been diminished. However, as long as we do our absolute best to follow God's plan for us, the inner essence of who we are will continue to improve and if we were ever placed back in Narnia we would find ourselves monumentally better in that environment than we were originally.
If some of you feel like you've never been to Narnia, don't worry. It comes according to God's plan for us, when we least expect it. It comes when we have been doing everything we can to serve the Lord. It comes because we have profoundly deep righteous desires that the Lord is willing to bless us with. Although there is much you can do to facilitate finding your own personal Narnia, you cannot cause it to happen. In a broader sense, we experience a version of "Narnia syndrome" when we deride ourselves for falling back into personal weaknesses that we feel like we previously conquered. Maybe in truth we haven't actually gotten worse at whatever it was. Maybe the Lord allowed us to have a heightened sense of opposition so that we can conquer our weakness again on a higher level.
It surprised me a great deal when I realized that I don't miss my mission at all. Maybe it's because the Lord taught the principles I've been discussing in this blog to my heart and not just my brain. Maybe it's because I feel something deep inside myself rolling steadily onward toward the bright horizons of my spiritual destiny. Whatever the case, I know that things are the way that they were meant to be. As the existentialist philosopher Kierkegaard eloquently put it, "It is quite true what Philosophy says: that Life must be understood backwards. But that makes one forget the other saying: that it must be lived -- forwards."
So fight on. Dream on. Look for the day when the Lord will give you the world that Narnia was just a prototype for. Let Narnia inspire you, but don't let it chain you to your past. Never give up. Reach for the stars. Believe in the Savior's ability to fundamentally change your circumstances. Your future is as bright as your faith.
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