May 13, 2008
Recent Reading: Prince Caspian
Over the weekend, I re-read Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis in anticipation of the opening of the movie this week. Though at the end of the book, Aslan tells Peter and Susan that they will not return to Narnia again, I am grateful that I can return any time I choose, no matter how old I become. And believe me, I've returned to Narnia quite a few times.
A year after their return to England at the close of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the Pevensie children are on a train station awaiting their return to school when they are magically sucked back into Narnia. They soon realize that many, many years have passed in Narnia--enough years to change landscapes and crumble their castle to a ruin. After they save a dwarf from a death sentence, the Pevensies discover that they have been called back to save the Narnia they love, which has been overrun by men who have rid the country of its magic.
Prince Caspian, the true heir to the throne of Narnia, is leading a revolution of Old Narnians against the kingdom of Caspian's evil uncle, the usurper, Miraz. The Old Narnians are terribly outnumbered and losing the battle until the return of High King Peter, who develops a plan to overcome the superior numbers of the enemy, and Aslan, who brings the magic back to Narnia.
When I read (or re-read, rather) any of the Narnia books, there is always a scene that rises from the page and stands up for me. In this book, during this particular reading, it's the scene where Lucy talks with Aslan for the first time after the children's return to Narnia. She tells him that he is bigger than he was the last time she saw him, and it seems to her that since she is older and bigger that he ought to seem smaller. His response to her is "every year you grow, you will find me bigger." A valuable little piece of theology right there.
Rita Diane Devlin
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