I'm gonna block quote stuff from the book and then tell you why it brings me to tears/I love it.
Then, after an awful pause, the deep voice said, "Susan." Susan made no answer but the others thought she was crying. "You have listened to fears, child," said Aslan. "Come, let me breathe on you. Forget them. Are you brave again?"
"A little, Aslan," said Susan.
I know what it is to be Susan, and to be in fear and walk in fear, at times without even realizing that fear was the force behind my thoughts or actions. In the storyline thus far, Susan's only been crabby and "adultish". Not your typical fear reactions, yet how often when we look at ourselves deep down the reason we've reacted in such a way is because we're afraid of something. We've held on to someone for fear of being alone, fear that God really wouldn't come through. Held on to the familiar for fear of failing in the unfamiliar. Held on to the very things that kills our souls... for fear of what? Fear that God's promises won't be as good or as satisfying as we'd hoped. Or perhaps even fear that He's good enough, but somehow we'll miss it and be left desolate or a failure again. And yet... even though we, perhaps, have come to a place where we haven't seen our fears for what they are Jesus comes to us and says, "You've listened to fears, my beloved, my child. Forget them. Let me love you until the fear in your heart is no more." Doesn't that pierce you somehow? Where you didn't even see your fear, it's pointed out to you but in the same breath it's taken care of with love. How truly, truly beautiful. :)
At a little town half-way to Beaversdam, where two rivers met, they came to another school, where a tired-looking girl was teaching arithmetic to a number of boys who looked very like pigs. She looked out of the window and saw the divine revelers singing up the street and a stab of joy went through her heart. Aslan stopped right under the window and looked up at her.
"Oh, don't, don't," she said. "I'd love to. But I mustn't. I must stick to my work. And the children would be frightened if they saw you."....
...and all the boys began howling with fright and trampling one another down to get out of the door and jumping out of the windows. And it was said afterward (whether truly or not) that those particular little boys were never seen again, but there were a lot of very fine little pigs in that part of the country which had never been there before.
"Now, Dear Heart," said Aslan to the Mistress: and she jumped down and joined them.
At Beaversdam they recrossed the river and came east again along the southern bank. They came to a little cottage where a child stood in the doorway crying. "Why are you crying, my love?" asked Aslan. The child, who had never seen a picture of a lion, was not afraid of him.
"Auntie's very ill," she said. "She's going to die." Then Asland went to go in at the door of the cottage, but it was too small for him. So, when he had got his head through, he pushed with his shoulders... and lifted the whole house up and it fell backward and apart. And there still in her bed, though the bed was now in open air, lay a little old woman who looked as if she had Dwarf blood in her. She was at death's door, but when she opened her eyes and saw the bright, hairy head of the lion staring into her face, she did not scream or faint. She said, "Oh, Aslan! I knew it was true. I've been waiting for this all my life. Have you come to take me away?"
"Yes, Dearest," said Aslan. "But not the long journey yet." And as he spoke, like the flush creeping along the underside of a cloud at sunrise, the color came back to her white face and her eyes grew bright and she sat up and said,"Why, I do declare I feel that better. I think I could take a little breakfast this morning."
First there's the school mistress who's tending what we can guess to be her not so pleasant duty. Yet, inspite of a strong desire to leave she stuck to her duty. How often we do that. Man, even (for me) the past 2 years have felt like that. I've shut my heart down to some of the things I love the most (like horses) to dedicate myself to my duty of becoming a well educated, intelligent individual who is properly equipped to better society. For me, at what cost? The cost that I'm now finding it incredibly difficult to get back into one of my first loves (horses)? But Aslan came to the Mistress and freed her from her "chains". He did not come to her and entice her away from what she rightfully should be doing; he simply made that duty disappear and let her heart free. How beautiful is that? What a picture... if we make Him our focus, he will indeed set our hearts free. In fact, that's the very scripture Jesus read from Isaiah in the beginning of His ministry:" He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners". And that scripture brings me to the dear old lady. She was near her death in the somewhat darkened indoors when suddenly a beautiful lion -the lion - stuck his head through her door and broke the walls from around her letting in the beautiful summertime sunshine and air. The dear saviour she had hoped in had come...and her heart was a peace and she expected to be made whole... in the form of being taken to Aslan's Country (heaven). And Aslan did not let her down... but he had a greater gift than her hopes. He wanted her to live on - healthy, joyful, and full. Can't you feel the love in Aslan's words "Yes, Dearest, but not the long journey yet."? Yes, Dearest, but I have better than death for you. I have come so that you will know my love for you more fully and can teach others my love. Jesue came "to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor."(Isa.61:3) It's just through C.S Lewis' story this scripture, and those like it become so much more tangible. Yes, my love, I've come for you.. but not to show you an end. I've come to show you glorious new beginnings.
