Talking Narnia to Your Neighbors
The summer Lindy Lowry was 20, she rejected the Christian faith she'd had since childhood—dismissing it as a fairy tale that made no sense in a world full of evil. That's because while she was away at college attending summer school, the unthinkable happened: Her best friend since childhood was kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered.
Lindy questioned everything after her friend's horrific death. Was God really good? Her friend had been a Christian; why hadn't God protected her? "It caused a crisis of faith unlike anything I'd ever experienced," Lindy says. "If God let such horrible, senseless things happen, I wanted nothing to do with him."
Lindy rejected God, but during the rebellious, angry season that followed, Lindy's Christian friends didn't reject her. It was their friendship—and several "fairy tales" by famed Christian apologist C.S. Lewis—that eventually restored her faith. Chief among those was his seven-volume children's series, The Chronicles of Narnia.
Not Just for Kids
One of Lindy's faithful friends knew she'd loved the Narnia series as a child. But she also knew it was relevant to Lindy's current, very adult situation. Unlike the hollow reassurances her slain friend was "in a better place" that some offered, this friend read Lindy the last chapter of the final Narnia book in which Lewis offers a beautiful description of heaven. His vision showed Lindy just how wonderful that place is.
Her friend also had Lindy re-read Lewis's description in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe of Aslan the Lion: "He's not safe, but he's good." Lindy could relate to that—God felt very unsafe and unpredictable. The rest of the stories contained truth about the struggle between good and evil of which Lindy was now more aware.
"Lewis didn't tie up everything nice and neat," Lindy, now in her mid-30s, recalls, "but his words started me on a path of exploring who God is, as compared to what I'd always been told."
While others' experiences might not be as dramatic as Lindy's, Lewis's fantasy stories have struck a chord with millions of readers through the years. With over a million copies in print since the 1950s, the Chronicles is second only to Harry Potter as the best-selling children's book series ever. And now Lewis's first book for the series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, is being made into a full-length feature film.
From the Page to the Screen
Hitting theaters December 9, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a big-budget affair with special effects by the same team behind the blockbuster The Lord of the Rings movies (based on the books written by Lewis's friend and fellow Christian J.R.R. Tolkien). The visual spectacle, the popular story, and a strong marketing push promise to make this the must-see movie of the holidays. As such, it provides Christians a prime opportunity to share God's love with their friends and families.
Originally published in: Today's Christian Woman, 2005, November/December, Vol. 27, Issue 6, Page 42
Related Topics:
Biblical Themes, Books, Christ in, C.S. Lewis, Faith, Conversations About, Faith, Questions About, Good and Evil, Movies, Christ in, Narnia, Witnessing
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