The Prison in our Mind – A Lesson from Narnia

The Prison in our Mind – A Lesson from Narnia

I have to admit, that as an avid reader throughout my life, I had never read all of the Narnia tales, by C.S. Lewis, from start to finish until just recently.  All of the tales in their entirety and put together in one story is a masterpiece of spiritual and scriptural analogy which has so many incredible and worthwhile gems regarding the Creation, overcoming mortal challenges, staying true to the cause of righteousness, maintaining one’s honor, discovering the divine within yourself, and enduring through trials and receiving the growth which can only come from them.

The final book in this series, “The Last Battle” also has so many important parallels and lessons about the last days, staying true to truth and not succumbing to false prophets and clever deceptions of the adversary, and being able to trust in the Lord to the bitter end, no matter what darkness is raging around you.  The glorious ending to the story describes what we all are seeking and longing for!!! (but that is another post all in itself, which I will save for another time).

What I wanted to comment on today was a small particular part of the story near the end.  There is a particular set of people (dwarfs in the story – which may represent their spiritually diminished condition) who will not believe anything whether good or bad.  They only believe and trust in themselves.  Even as the miraculous final events and terrible destruction are happening around them they remain in denial, despite the main characters’ efforts to help them come into the Light of understanding.

Their situation and story can shed some important light into the gift of agency, and why sometimes our efforts to help can fall on deaf ears.  And why even the Lord sometimes cannot reach them because of His respect for that agency.

As the others are trying to help them understand what is happening, the dwarfs reply, “How can you go on talking all that rot?  Your wonderful (Savior) didn’t come and help you, did he?  And now – even now- when you’ve been beaten… just the same as the rest of us, you’re still at your old game.  Starting a new lie!  Trying to make us believe…”

The Great Lion Aslan (who represents the Lord Jesus Christ) then arrives on the scene.

Some of Aslan's followers plead with Him to help the dwarfs, much in the way we may plead for our loved ones and friends who cannot seem to see the truth.

Aslan replies, “Dearest, I will show you both what I can, and what I cannot do.”

He then personally calls to the dwarfs, who because of their spiritual blindness cannot see Him and still seem to think it is a trick, “Hear that?  Their trying to frighten us.  …Don’t take any notice.  They won’t take us in again!”

Aslan then miraculously and kindly provides a multitude of bounteous blessings for them, but in their spiritually darkened state, they cannot recognize the blessings for what they really are or from Whom they have been provided.  Instead they complain and begin to fight amongst themselves, more concerned that others around them may somehow have something better, and in the end they justify their errant behavior with the claims, “Well, at any rate… we haven’t let anyone take us in.  The dwarfs are for the dwarfs.” (Or in other words, we will live for ourselves and only for ourselves).

Aslan then provides a remarkable explanation to His loyal friends.

“You see,” said Aslan.  “They will not let us help them.  They have chosen cunning instead of belief.  Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.  But come children, I have other work to do.”

I think there is a remarkable truth to be learned from this exchange.  And that is that despite all our prayers and efforts, and even the loving call of the Lord Himself, there are some who will not let themselves be open to help.  They may, at least for the time being, be past feeling.

That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep praying for them or trying to help them when we can, but it also means that sometimes we need to trust them into the Lord’s care and His divine timing, and make sure we are still moving on with the “other work” He has for us to do.

And probably the most important lesson we can and should take from this exchange, would be in how we can apply its lesson to our own lives!

What parts of our own hearts are still sealed up from the Lord?

What parts of our flawed logic and limited understanding may be creating a prison in our own minds, which doesn’t allow us to see the Lord’s hand and countless blessings in our lives?

What parts of our soul are so fearful with being misled and lacking faith, that we are so afraid of being “taken in” that we cannot be “taken out” from those limitations and into greater spiritual light and truth, and Yes… even a deeper personal relationship with the Lord Himself, who stands by ready to receive us?

Perhaps part of that limiting and blinding fear comes from the fact that we worry what the Lord will think of us when we actually do meet Him and we have to face all our follies and indiscretions and imperfections before Him.

But if we are seeking to do our best and trying to improve, that fear is completely unfounded and untrue.  For as the faithful Lucy from the Narnia stories declares to one of her worried friends, “You’ll find it will be all right when you really do.”

The "Limits" of Love

The Limits of Love

Years ago when I lived in Utah, I was heading home from a home health physical therapy visit and driving through the town of Lehi.  I will admit that I was in a hurry to finish my day and get back home to my family, a nice dinner, some comfortable sweat pants and my easy chair.  So I was probably going about 5 miles-(ish) over the speed limit, but nothing major, right?

Suddenly, another motorist came up from behind, sped past me going about 10 miles per hour faster than I was, and the next thing I knew flashing police lights were appearing in my rear view mirror.  Thinking for sure the officer was going after the man who had just raced past me, I slowed down and began to pull over to the side, while the speeding car who passed me was now a few blocks ahead, had turned and was racing up the freeway on-ramp.  But to my surprise the patrol car pulled off the road behind me.

As the officer got out of his vehicle and approached I was somewhat stunned by this situation.  When I rolled down my window to address him and he asked if I knew how fast I had been driving, I replied, “Officer, surely you must have my speed confused with the other car who just passed me and raced up onto the freeway?”

He replied, “No, I know that man was going faster than you.  I saw the whole thing.  But by the time I could catch up, he was already getting on the freeway and was beyond my reach.  His time will come.  But that doesn’t change the fact that you were also driving in excess of the speed limit.”

I was shocked, and started to get a little bit angry about this situation.  It appeared as if I was just being singled out for my lesser violation while someone who had done far worse was getting away with it.  Where was the justice in that?  But then he said something that changed my train of thought about the situation.

He said, “I know it might not seem fair at the moment, but the fact is, I actually care.  If you had seen the things I have seen, you would know that I only want EVERYONE to be safe and to be able to return home to their loved ones.  That’s why the rules are in place, even for you.”

This comment struck me.  This officer wasn’t to blame.  I had been speeding and in violation of the law which was in place to protect me and everyone else.  The fact that someone else wasn’t following the law didn’t excuse me from doing so.    And yes, I got a ticket, which was later waived because I went to a 20 minute traffic safety class.

But this experience taught me a valuable life lesson - Most rules (at least justly made rules) are in place to help us, not to hinder us.  And there is an important lesson to learn from such a concept.  But first, let me expound upon my driving analogy just a bit further.

The distance between where I live and where I work each day results in about a 20 minute commute.  But it is through rural farm country and is a pleasant drive for the most part, and it gives me time to ponder and pray or listen to a nice audio book or uplifting podcast so I don’t really mind all that much.

But I am surprised that despite the leisurely nature of the drive, there are so many people in such a hurry to get where they are going.  Despite the fact that I am driving the speed limit (which I try to do, but am definitely not perfect at it), there always seems to be one or two people who are right on my bumper and waiting to pass, and then whipping past me in a speedy frenzy to be on their way.  I try to accommodate their intent and wish them well and safety on their way.  But what is often comical about this is that despite their passing me and speeding ahead, by the time I reach town I have often caught up to them or passed them again as they sit waiting at a stop light or waiting to turn left at a corner.  So all the rush really didn’t help them get there any faster anyway.  And sadly, it may have put themselves and others at risk along the way.

So what is the purpose of a speed limit?

A speed limit is the maximum speed which you are allowed to drive under “optimal” road conditions.  Those conditions can be varied by time of day, lighting and visibility issues, snow or rainy roads, potholes or other unexpected obstructions, other motorists or pedestrians, school zones, no passing zones because the potential for encountering oncoming traffic is extremely high, etc.

Just because your vehicle has the ability to drive faster doesn’t mean that you should or that you can without consequences.  Now don’t get me wrong, you have the ability to choose to drive as fast as you want, BUT not without potential consequences.

You might say, “Well, it’s my choice?  I am in a hurry!  What I have to do and where I have to go is more important than what the limits allow?”

Yes, you can say all of those things and drive how you desire.  But the potential consequences can be life changing in ways both large and small.  Just consider some of those possibilities:

• ·     Speeding tickets – which have never brightened anyone’s day or made them feel better.
• ·        Accidents – sometimes small and minor and sometimes major with loss of life and permanent disabilities or death or loss of the use of your vehicle and ability to get around.
• ·       Increased insurance costs for which you pay for long periods of time until improved behavior is demonstrated.
• ·       Potential medical costs and prolonged rehabilitation needs.
• ·       Potential guilt if you injured someone else along the way.
• ·       And the list could go on, but you get the idea

Those things that seemed so important and why you needed to get there a few moments faster suddenly disappear when the potential consequences become a reality.

And sometimes we may want to shift the blame for such things onto others around us:

·         “It’s the other stupid drivers on the road who are going to slow!”

·         “That mean police officer is being a jerk and just wanted to ruin my day!”

·         “This insurance racket is rigged to make me pay!”

The problem with this train of thought is that it shifts the blame to someone else, and doesn’t take accountability for our own actions, nor the fact that we were not driving according to the defined and posted law or according to the conditions around us.

The simple fact is, the laws and limits are there to provide for our safety, not as a restriction or punishment.  They allow us to travel about with other motorists who all have their own destinations and motivations.

So what is the purpose behind all this traffic talk anyway?  Well, let’s “shift gears” and extend these thoughts in to other arenas.

“Just because your vehicle has the ability to drive faster doesn’t mean that you should or that you can without consequences.”

Now let’s change that slightly to an example of something like …let’s say sexual immorality – “Just because you have the physical ability to participate in acts of physical intimacy doesn’t mean you should whenever and however you want.”  You might feel the “need for speed” in this desire, but that doesn’t give you the right to force that desire upon someone else against their will or outside of appropriate marriage relationships without some kind of consequences.

Just as violation of traffic laws is likely to eventually result in some kind of ticket, accident, injury, broken cars and broken lives, inappropriate and unsafe sexual relations and tendencies outside the bounds of marriage is likely to result in potential STDs, broken hearts of family by a cheating spouse, broken homes, unwanted pregnancies and the ripple effects can go on and on.

And with something like this, there is the basic speed limit of “Thou shalt not commit adultery” which is based on “optimal road conditions” so to speak, and then there is the finer point of personal control and safety according to “any possible varying road conditions” of “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matt 5:27-28)

Can you see how the observance of not only the basic law, but the higher law would protect you, your family and those you love from potential spiritual injury?  In fact, you probably don’t have to look very far to know someone personally who has suffered the devastating effects of these kinds of violations, or perhaps have suffered from them yourself.

The same things are true for all moral laws which govern society.   You could apply them to Honesty, Theft (no matter who small it might be), gossiping or backbiting, bearing false witness, or any other moral law.

Now imagine that while driving about, if everyone, instead of being so focused on just where they were going and how best it will serve them to get where they desire as quickly as possible, everyone's primary concern was to show respect for the givers of the laws and the safety of the other drivers around them to help them along their way.  This shift from selfish to selfLESS would then require far less enforcement of all the other varied traffic rules.

The same is true for moral law and commandments.  On our journey down the road of life, if instead of being motivated  by our own selfish desires and "what's in it for me", our motivations were to "Love the Lord thy God, and to Love our neighbors and fellow travelers", then the all of the lesser laws just seem to fall naturally into place without much need for enforcement. 

It does no good to point the blame at others or try to justify our own violations because of the inappropriate actions of others.  Safety begins with learning to better observe the laws individually ourselves first and foremost, and then being kind and considerate of others and helping them along their way safely.

But sometimes accidents do happen which are beyond our control.  You might be a perfectly attentive and safe driver, but someone else around you may be operating distracted, intoxicated or otherwise impaired… or just selfishly trying to put their own desires ahead of everyone else around them.  Yes, there can be innocent victims involved, and in fact our actions tend to always have some kind of effect upon other around us, whether we want it to or not.

And, it is important to remember that unless we are in the field of law enforcement, our responsibility is to simply be a law abiding citizen.  Those who are given proper authority are the ones who have the actual power to enforce the laws and rules, along with the potential fines or punishments.  There have to be police officers and judges to properly determine intent, where the fault lies and what the appropriate repercussions are in each individual case.

The same is true with spiritual or moral matters.  We are best to simply focus on learning to be “law abiding” citizens ourselves first and foremost, and leave the judging and enforcing of the laws to those who are in positions of authority.

And because we are all imperfect and all violate the law to some degree at some time or another, what a blessing it is that we can turn to the Master Physician, and Master Mechanic, Jesus Christ, to help mend that which is broken and make us whole once again so we can continue on our journey.  There will likely be a cost involved for those repairs, but His work is actually very inexpensive and absolutely complete and guaranteed if we accept His terms and conditions of repentance.  And absolutely nothing is beyond His ability to repair completely, no matter how significant the damage might be.

And His laws and rules and moral speed limits are in place, because just like that police officer told me all those years ago, Christ would say to us - “I know it might not seem fair at the moment, but the fact is, I actually care.  If you had seen the things I have seen, you would know that I only want EVERYONE to be safe and to be able to return home to Me and those they love.  That’s why the rules are in place, even for you.”

And no matter how the world or others may treat us,  the “Limits” of His love and forgiveness are truly limitless in our behalf!

Fishing Lies

FISHING LIES

             With the warmth of another spring now approaching, I often find myself daydreaming during my full work schedule… longing to have a rod and reel in my hands and to be surrounded by the churning sound of river currents instead of the monotony of the daily grind.

            I learned to love fishing as a young boy.  My early childhood was spent in the rural town of Bishop, California, which was nestled up in the base of the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains.  My father worked as a milk delivery man and ran his route up in the beautiful resort towns and shops which dotted the surrounding highlands. I often rode with him on summer days when out of school to load and deliver the milk, cheese and ice creams to the various locals.

            Because his job started early in the morning, it also meant he was done in the early afternoon.  Many a weekend saw us loading up our gear on a Friday afternoon, piling the family and our dog into the van or pickup truck, throwing our camping and fishing gear in the back, and venturing out into the wild for a weekend of drowning worms, spinning lures and chatting the nights away around a campfire.

            Oh, those were days to be remembered, and such was the humble birth of my love for fishing.  Since those days, I’ve waded many a stream and river in search of that intoxicating and addictive sensation of a pole vibrating in my hands by the force of an unseen quarry beneath the ripples.

     In addition to those early California waters, my lines have danced the depths of the San Juan, Provo, Green, Madison and Kenai rivers just to name a very few scattered among Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and Alaska.

     I’ve even had the pleasure of hoisting some delicious Halibut off the Ocean floor (along with a 300 lb. tangle of red sea kelp – but that’s another story altogether).

            But despite these many adventures and memorable catches, it is something altogether different I would like to reminisce about today.

            Now I will admit that a strange phenomenon often occurs between the time a guy pulls a fish from the water and when he has an opportunity to tell somebody else about it.  A magical force takes a hold of the specimen and somehow turns the smallest of pan fish into lardy lunkers that test the limits of a man and his equipment.  This power of piscatorial pettifoggery will often make an otherwise honest man tell a little white lie now and again.

            But the type of fishing deception I want to share today has nothing at all to do with the size of the catch, but rather the cloak and dagger ingenuity that was implemented to bring the bulging trout into our possession.

            It was in those early days of Bishop, California and I couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 years old at the time.  It was a hot, lazy summer day and my older brother, Dirk, and I had our slightly older early teenage cousin, Todd, staying with us for a few days.  Bishop was a great town to grow up in.  It was a carefree time in history when even young kids could roam a town from end to end without a worry in the world.

            Where we lived, at 352 May Street, there was a great city park only a few blocks and a short cut through a small field away.  In the middle of that park was calm, relaxing lake, which just happened to be stocked with rather large trout.  A boardwalk extended out into the middle of the lake where a large Gazebo allowed visitors to enjoy the water’s beauty and toss food to the large rainbows which swarmed below the surface.  Of course it was completely illegal to fish in the city park, so the trout grew huge, uninhibited and accustomed to human presence, which they associated with food.  For three bored boys who loved to catch fish, they mockingly glided beneath the surface, taunting us with twitching tails.

            For our young cognitive processes, it wasn’t a matter of whether we would break the rules to try and catch the illegal fish; it was how to do it without getting caught that was our moral dilemma.  You couldn’t exactly carry a 5’ pole out onto a public pond in the middle of broad daylight, cast, and reel a splashing fish up over the rail of a gazebo without being noticed.

            Our trio of mental powers combined for some time over how the task could be accomplished. A few orange sodas and ice cream bars later, we hatched a brilliantly devious “get-away-with-it” plan that would have made Houdini scratch his head and wonder how we’d done it.

            We scrambled home to grab our supplies and make the necessary preparations, our boredom now extinguished in the adrenaline rush that such vile, juvenile criminals as ourselves were now experiencing. Returning to the park to perform the dirty deed, we had to contain our enthusiasm for some time as other townsfolk lounged about the gazebo, taking in the relaxing view, as our impatient eyes drilled holes into their backs in attempt to make them leave.

            Finally, when we found ourselves alone on the gazebo, we unleashed our dastardly surprise.  Lifting our pant legs, we removed the rolled up fishing line tucked inside our socks, applied a small amount of bait to the hooks and dropped the line between the rungs of the gazebo and into the water below.  The fishing line ran all the way up the inside or our pant legs and came out the top of the waist where it was tied off securely on our belts.  Therefore, standing as nonchalantly as fishing delinquent boys can do, we appeared to be doing nothing more than casually watching the fish below.

            The real excitement started as soon as the first of us actually hooked a fish.  Then the process truly began!  Grabbing the fishing line at your belt, you had to haul the line upward, somehow getting the rather startled and never-before-been-hooked fish up out of the water, between the rungs of the gazebo and right on up into the now slithering and slimy inside of your pant leg!  Then it was a simple process of pulling your sock up over the fish’s tail and you were ready to go.

            Because the fish were used to being harmlessly fed, it was only a matter of a few minutes before the three of us had our catch and were walking homeward.  I’m sure it must have been a rather curious sight for any passersby who might have seen us; three young limping kids, each with one severely swollen lower leg that suffered periodic writhing muscle spasms and oozed a fishy smelling fluid.  We were lucky no one called an ambulance for us before we made it back home!

            When we safely secured ourselves in our fenced back yard on May Street, we extracted the now partially rigor-mortise fish from our pants and began our jubilant celebration of success, by finding a knife to begin the gutting and cleaning process.  Our victory was complete.  We had broken the rules of the stupid city adults, who had obviously only put them in place to prevent young boys from having fun… and we had gotten away with it!  No one had ever planned a heist so stealthy and sophisticated!

            “And just where exactly did you three boy get those fish?” Our mother’s voice of judgment called from behind us.

            We nearly jumped out of our skins!  BUSTED!!!  How could we have been so foolish and blind?  In our attempt to conceal our secret sins from others, we had failed to consider those who watched over us the most, our own parents.

            Mom was upset, but luckily, she was also forgiving.  She didn’t call the fish cops on us, but she did make us throw the fish into the garbage.  Despite our protests that we wanted to eat them, she didn’t let us have enjoyment in our misbehavior, and reminded us that the poor fish had regularly spent their lives dining on not only bread and fish food, but also all the cigarette butts, aluminum can tops, and any other garbage people threw into the water at them.  Not to mention that they had become half dried and covered with sweat from our legs in the summer heat on the journey home.  Instead, she made us wash up and provided some sandwiches for lunch.  It didn’t seem as exciting as frying up our fish, but it was probably the more healthy option.  The rest of the day included some chores as punishment, but also time to play games and enjoy some good, honest fun.

            And such it is with life.  For some reason, we often feel compelled, like stupid children without the foresight to see the consequences of our actions, to think we can somehow violate the laws and commandments put in place for our well-being, and get away with it.  But no matter how much we try to conceal our deviant actions from the probing eyes of others, our Heavenly Parent always knows of our indiscretions.

            Luckily for us, He is also very patient, loving and forgiving.  And while He doesn’t let us find lasting enjoyment in our sins, and sometimes makes us work our way back into His grace, He is quick to bless us and show a better way to true happiness and joy.

            After all these years, the addiction of having a rod in hand and a fish on the end of my line is still there.  But thanks to the lesson learned long ago in my youth, I have learned to find much more enjoyment in the process of fishing within the rules and regulations.

            Life teaches us many lessons… if only we were smart enough so we didn’t have to learn them the hard way!

            HAPPY FISHING!!!