Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Further Up & Further In!

I didn't like the video. I didn't have sound when I put it up and my rememberings of the video were a whole lot funnier than the actuality. I replace it with this picture of a kitty...which is betterer.

funny pictures

I promise, I promise...the video above is a funny little clip boosted off of YouTube about the Chronicles of Narnia. My "language filter" (AKA Scott) has informed me that, while the newspaper headlines may contain language, the lyrics are relatively clean. This is probably due to the fact that this is a rip-off of a SNL sketch...which since it airs on broadcast TV, is usually free of profanity and the truly obscene. Anyways...this is my whimsical (whimsical - adjective - determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason) manner of introducing one of my favorite things to muse about...Real Narnia.

SIDENOTE: The original idea behind this blog was a place to put whatever I felt, thought or even just felt like thinking. I have to admit...I hadn't thought about the idea of my little sister...

(who, not yet having been to University, is sensitive about language the same way I was before I went to University. If she remains sensitive about language, etc. after 4 years in a Theatre or English department...well...I'll be surprised. She will, of course, vehemently deny any possibility that she might change this innate characteristic of hers. That would mean change. And we all know how she feels about change. But, I remain adament that, knowing her as I do, she will change and this will be one of the things that may change about her. Whether at the end we will have the same attitude about these things is another matter entirely. I shall wait and see.)

Anyways, I didn't think about the idea of my little sister reading these uncensored thoughts of mine. Hence, as you well may guess, the warnings. I continue to post whatever I feel like...but if the content is going to be above PG, I try to let you know. I don't feel this is too much of a compromise. Now, back to your previously scheduled musings, already in progress.

I love the entirety of the Chronicles of Narnia. CS Lewis was a great man, who wrote on many, many different levels. (Read "Weight of Glory" if you haven't, BTW. It will Rock Your Socks Off...and then your feet will be cold, but your heart warmed to its cockles.*) Each book is special for a different reason - but it is the Magician's Nephew and the Last Battle that I find most refreshing, most invigorating. These are the two books that end at the beginning. The Magician's Nephew is the creation of Narnia...Last Battle is the end of Narnia and the revealing of Real Narnia... Never, in my life, has the concept of a "new heaven and a new earth" been so clear and so beautiful to me.

*See http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-coc2.htm for thoughts on the origins of the phrase "Warms the cockles of my heart."

It is the last chapter of the Last Battle. We have rescued the prince, shown the non-believers the True Aslan and closed the door. It is time for Further Up & Further In!

1 Corinthians 13:12 - For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

This idea, that the world will fall away and we will see with new eyes a new world is so amazing. We live so little of life, we see so little of what God has created for us. My pastor was recently talking about one of the reasons we won't get bored when we live forever. Because really, forever is a long time...and we get bored relatively quickly. But...imagine, for instance, that you want to go to Switzerland. You have, quite literally, all the time in the world. So walk there. Take 10,000 years to do it. And observe every tree, every mountain, every created thing on the way. Why do we get bored? Time is short and we always have "more interesting" or "more important" things to do. When time is no longer short, when time is...no longer... This is what CS Lewis was getting at...with "Further up and further in!" The new heaven and new earth that God creates for us will indeed be larger the further you explore it! How amazing! And you know what...this is just what we can see through the mirror.

Imagine...imagine what it will be like when we're really, truly there. Face to face.

I used to think that God would somehow change my nature when I got to heaven. That spending all my time singing and casting down my crowns wouldn't get boring...because I would be with God and he would just make it not boring. But I don't think so anymore. I enjoy singing...I'd love to learn to sing like my BFF Tina. Imagine spending 100 years just learning to sing...just tuning up! The beauty, the majesty, the fun! I enjoy many things...and I really enjoy imagining many more things. I can't wait for the day when anything is not only possible, but likely. I can't wait to go on my first world tour...and my thousand and first!

PostScript: My dad recently mentioned that blogging & responding to blogging is very "stream of consciousness"...looking back at this post...I agree.


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the plug, but I think I could use another 100 - 1000 years of voice training myself.

I also <3 the Last Battle. It actually scared me when I first read it. It does a great job of capturing both the mood and the end product of the apocalyptic books for the Bible. So much hope, it's so exciting!

Perhaps Lynna's mind will change with her first job. My brother's certainly has. Although, of course, he still finds off color language extremely vulgar. He's just stopped thinking that every PERSON who cusses is horrible. *shrug* It's possible to live with certain opinions one's whole life. Whether that adds or detracts from their quality of life or not is really up to them.