Enjoying: "Can you see where this Christian woman is going wrong?" (My favorite is the "subtle eye shadow".)

How to Annoy Me: Have your music up so loud that *my* car shakes. It might be a good song but it's not worth going deaf.

How to Charm Me: Dance around in delight when your daddy buys you a cookie.

Quote of the Day: To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. - C. S. Lewis

The Joker, perhaps more than any other modern villain of popular fiction, has a single minded obsession with ruining the lives of the people who are the most opposite to his own worldview.  In this sense, he may be one of the closest fictional approximation we have of seeing a picture of Satan described in 1 Peter 5:8:
"Your opponent, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."

Isaiah described the king of Babylon as one who gave the appearance of a Bright Morning Star yet was cut down to the earth on account of his aspiration to be like God (Isaiah 14:12-22).  This evil king was repeating the error of Satan, and would receive a similar fate.  Now, the Devil knows his time is short to live as he pleases.  He knows he has no chance of over-throwing the Kingdom of Heaven, so is content to spend his days walking along the earth and destroying as many souls as he can.  He seeks out the morally upright and the overtly religious, the dregs of the earth and the rich young rulers, the atheist and the true believer.  He is a desperate being on his way to destruction. His only ambition is to watch souls burn for eternity.  As The Screwtape Letters remind us, if Satan can't accomplish his ends through getting people to worship him outright, then he'll do his best to convince people he doesn't even exist, and, as such, not worth worrying about.

In a large IMAX theatre packed to the brim to see the masterfully made film, The Dark Knight, Adam Embry and I found it somewhat disturbing at how easily the audience was able to chuckle at the Joker's dastardly antics.  They were, after all, amusing in a demented sort of way.  Yet, to respond to the Joker's evil with nothing more than a laugh is to give in to his twisted worldview.  The Joker wants us to hold nothing sacred and to show no sobriety.  He only wants us to laugh at tragedy in the same light as he sees reality.  He taunts us with lines like "Why so serious?" because he wants us to get beyond our moral and spiritual hangups about sin, death, and destruction.  We must be serious, when death is on the line.

Fortunately, the Joker always meets his better when he confronts the Dark Knight.  Yet, Christians do not have to be content with waiting for a shadowy hero of the night to save them from the Evil One.  We worship a Savior who shall come in the clouds, where every eye can see Him.  The true White Knight promises to save all who confess Him as Lord.  He will not simply hand the Devil over to the police or the psychiatrists for mental examination, but He Himself will bind our enemy and cast him down to his eternal punishment.  On that day, every tear will be wiped away and the only ones smiling will be those who have believed in the incorruptible Lamb.

À luz de uma enorme fogueira crepitante, a última batalha de Nárnia está prestes a acontecer.

O rei Tirian, ajudado corajosamente por Jill e Eustáquio, terá de enfrentar os cruéis calormanos, num combate que decidirá, finalmente, a luta entre as forças do bem e do mal.

Mas, com tantas dúvidas e confusão ao redor, conseguirá o rei Tirian manter-se firme na hora mais negra de Nárnia?

"Como se chega até lá?", perguntou Jill, tentando encontrar um jeito qualquer de fugir daquela escola horrível.

"Do único modo possível", sussurrou Eustáquio, "por magia". Então deram-se as mãos e, concentrando toda a sua força de vontade para que algo acontecesse, viram-se de repente à beira de um alto precipício, muito acima das nuvens, na terra encantada de Nárnia.

Assustada e confusa, Jill fica horrorizada ao ver Eustáquio perder o equilíbrio e cair. Imediatamente, porém, ela sente ao seu lado uma presença calorosa. Era o Leão.

Lúcia e Edmundo, com seu odioso primo Eustáquio a tiracolo, embarcam numa incrível viagem de aventuras e descobertas, a bordo do imponente navio Peregrino da Alvorada.

Rumo às Ilhas Solitárias, em busca dos sete amigos desaparecidos do pai do rei Cáspian, eles encontram um dragão, uma serpente do mar, um bando de criaturas invisíveis, um mágico e o próprio Aslam, o Grande Leão, que os presenteia com uma promessa muito especial.

Tempos difíceis abateram-se sobre a terra encantada de Nárnia.
Os dias de paz e liberdade, em que os animais, anões, árvores e flores viviam em absoluta paz e harmonia, estavam terminados. A guerra civil dividia o reino, e a destruição final estava próxima.

O príncipe Cáspian, herdeiro legítimo do trono, decide trazer de volta o glorioso passado de Nárnia.
Soprando sua tromba mágica, ele convoca Pedro, Suzana, Edmundo e Lúcia para ajudá-lo em sua difícil tarefa.

Ao saber que não era filho de Arsheesh, o pescador, o jovem Shasta decide fugir da cruel Calormânia.
Na companhia do cavalo falante Bree, ele parte em direção ao Norte rumo a Nárnia, onde o ar é fresco e reina a liberdade.

Em sua jornada pelo deserto árido, Shasta tenta imaginar o que estará esperando por ele adiante.

Tudo parece tão vasto, desconhecido, solitário... e livre.

"Dizem que Aslam está a caminho. Talvez já tenha chegado", sussurrou o Castor. Edmundo experimentou uma misteriosa sensação de horror.

Pedro sentiu-se valente e vigoroso. Para Suzana, foi como se uma música deliciosa tivesse enchido o ar. E Lúcia teve aquele mesmo sentimento que nos desperta a chegada do verão.

Assim, no coração da terra encantada de Nárnia, as crianças lançaram-se na mais excitante e mágica aventura que alguém já escreveu.

A aventura começa quando Digory e Polly vão parar no gabinete secreto do excêntrico tio André.

Ludibriada por ele, Polly toca o anel mágico e desaparece. Digory, aterrorizado, decide partir imediatamente em busca da amiga no Outro Mundo.

Lá ele encontra Polly e, juntos, ouvem Aslam cantar sua canção ao criar o mundo encantado de Nárnia, repleto de sol, árvores, flores, relva e animais.

A série de livros infantis As Crônicas de Nárnia foi escrita pelo irlandês C.S. Lewis contando as aventuras que ocorrem em uma terra fictícia denominada Nárnia. Nestas histórias o bem combate o mal, animais podem falar e criaturas mitológicas estão em todo lugar. Também é notável a presença de temas cristãos apresentados de forma sutil juntamente com algumas idéias do próprio autor.

Viagens ao fim do mundo, criaturas fantásticas e batalhas épicas ente o bem e o mal - o que mais um leitor poderia querer de um livro? As crônicas de Nárnia transcenderam o gênero da fantasia para se tornar parte do cânone da literatura clássica, atraindo o leitor para um mundo em que a magia encontra a realidade, e o resultado é um mundo ficcional que tem fascinado gerações. Os livros são apresentados de acordo com a ordem de preferência de Lewis. Enganosamente simples e direta, As crônicas de Nárnia continuam cativando os leitores com aventuras, personagens e fatos que falam a pessoas de todas as idades, mesmo cinqüenta anos após terem sido publicadas pela primeira vez.

It was reported last night on local radio, and verified by the owners of a religious supply house on the South Side, that sales of St. Joseph statues have spiked as a result of the bad real estate market. A Jewish woman even bought a statue to bury upside down in the backyard of her house that she had been unable to sell. There are no statistics nor blind tests conducted yet to show the effects of this real estate sales practice, but the common wisdom seems to be that "it couldn't hurt." I've known about one or two people who've done this (successfully they say), but I've yet to meet anyone who has purchased a house who later discovered a statue buried in the garden head first.

Source: Touchstone Magazine - Mere Comments: Joseph Down Under

All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or another of these destinations.

It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object present to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ “vere latitat”—the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself—is truly hidden.

(C. S. Lewis, from the essay The Weight of Glory)

Even going to where people are poor - really poor - helps us realize that we don't need a PS-2 at each hi-def 60" TV to be happy.

But sometimes it is good to go somewhere that has a lot of history and culture, and can provide us with opportunities to improve our minds. Whether that involves olfactory and palette components with the wine tour in France, or soaking in braininess at Oxford, Europe is one of the places where we can get smarter.

So get out of that dungeon, from behind that keyboard, and zip over to Europe to become even geekier and nerdier, but in a more well-rounded and polished way.

Another treasure found its way to my small library of old books via the wonder of the internet and eBay: originally published in England as TRANSPOSTION AND OTHER ADDRESSES, a 1949 American 1^st edition of THE WEIGHT OF GLORY sits on my desk as if it belonged there all along.  C. S. Lewis has become a friend and mentor over the past twenty years of my spiritual awakening and has helped me better understand and embrace this Christian gig I’m still trying to figure out. One line from the book continues to haunt me; it reaches out from the page and whacks my feeble understanding of the Faith as if to say, “Listen up!  All has been a set-up, now here’s the reveal.”

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”

When I started this blog last January my intent was to connect with other people, share our ideas, revel in the mystery of it all…feel “the big bang right on our bones” (thank you Mark Heard). Immortality was a theme Mr. Lewis played heavily upon in most his books.  And to feel the gravity, the sheer weight of that amazing thought, has left a deep lasting impression on this heart of mine.  People really matter…because they matter to God.

“But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit…”

Through the years of living in the light of Christ’s bright revelation shining forth both Truth that I marvel at and Truth that rips to the core of me…at times I lie barren and stripped.  Like a tree that once was heavy laden with fruit that is empty, stark and diseased.  As I peck out my thoughts I wonder if any of this matters? How often do I act as if I live in a world where everyone around me is an eternal creature designed to be in relation with his or her creator.  Lost, but hopefully found.  Tired of mindless chatter from the Christian camp hurling barbed slurs to impale and injure those outside the walls of Christendom.  I’ve done it…many times.  Too many arguments that I won were lost.  Too much theology, not enough compassion.  Too much self-righteousness, not enough holiness steeped in the brisk tea of humility. 

During the many Inklings gatherings I’ve had the privilege to attend through the years, a constant theme keeps pushing through the arid dirt of religiosity: the Christian journey is not meant to be taken alone.  We need, I need the voice of other people to comfort, encourage, challenge and equip us for the task at hand.  We are truly a society under pressure struggling to validate our existence in the face of a culture that by and large acts as if we are alone. Quiet desperation has become a loud collective voice celebrating a world without meaning, a world never intended to be found out.  There are no ordinary people haunts me to this day…because I believe it’s true.  And I hope someday that my life reflects what my mind has already embraced. 

To blog or not to blog…that is the question, and the answer by many has been a resounding, yes! So consider this an invitation to Christian, non-Christian, Atheist, Agnostic and those with Eastern persuasions (or no persuasions at all) to engage and dialogue for Truth’s sake.  For me, writing is simply passion in words fueled by the weight of glory pressing deep into hidden chambers filled with treasure longing to be discovered. Life is relational…God never intended for us to fly solo.

This new addition to my library is nearly 60 years old; I wonder who read it? How long did it rest on a shelf? Was it a gift or an impulse buy?  Has it been read it all?  And now it’s mine and by the wear on its pages and scars on its cover...I can tell it’s been read.  People are worn and scarred too…probably best to take the time to read them before we close the book.

Há um certo tempo venho me sentido incomodada com todo esse entusiasmo com Nárnia. Então, uma certa manhã, acordei lembrando vividamente de algumas coisas no terceiro livro de As Crônicas de Nárnia. E, agora, reconheço a raiz que tem me perturbado.

Li todos os livros de C. S. Lewis, incluindo seus ensaios, suas coleções de cartas, sua ficção científica e As Crônicas de Nárnia. Li a maioria desses livros mais de uma vez, e li As Crônicas de Nárnia várias vezes. Li também todos os livros de Charles Williams porque ele era um amigo íntimo de Lewis, e Lewis elogiava muito os livros dele. Também li todos os livros de George MacDonald, porque Lewis o admirava e elogiava seus livros.

A Viagem do Peregrino da Alvorada é o terceiro livro na série Nárnia. Ele promove diretamente os encantamentos e a magia.

Uma parte da viagem é sobre uma ilha habitada por criaturas invisíveis chamadas Dufflepods. Lúcia usa um encantamento para tornar os Dufflepods visíveis. Ela examina um livro de encantamentos, que é bonito e fascinante. Ela então encontra o encantamento certo, profere as palavras e segue as instruções. Os Dufflepods (e Aslan) então tornam-se visíveis. O encantamento torna Aslan visível e ele fica satisfeito com o que Lúcia fez.

O livro de encantamentos é bonito e fascinante. Um encantamento é ilustrado com gravuras de abelhas; as gravuras tomam vida e as abelhas voam, saindo da página. No mundo de C. S. Lewis, isso não teria causado problemas práticos. Hoje, entretanto, as crianças podem ir a uma livraria e comprar livros de encantamentos escritos por bruxos modernos.

Muitos cristãos estão tratando os livros de Nárnia como se fossem uma alegoria, em que Aslan representa Jesus Cristo e as crianças representam os cristãos. Se você fizer isso com A Viagem do Peregrino da Alvorada, então estará retratando que Jesus Cristo fica satisfeito quando os cristãos recorrem à magia e aos encantamentos. E você estará apoiando a idéia que existe a magia e o encantamento do bem. Entretanto, a Bíblia proibe claramente qualquer forma de feitiçaria:

"Quando entrares na terra que o SENHOR teu Deus te der, não aprenderás a fazer conforme as abominações daquelas nações. Entre ti não se achará quem faça passar pelo fogo a seu filho ou a sua filha, nem adivinhador, nem prognosticador, nem agoureiro, nem feiticeiro; nem encantador, nem quem consulte a um espírito adivinhador, nem mágico, nem quem consulte os mortos; pois todo aquele que faz tal coisa é abominação ao SENHOR; e por estas abominações o SENHOR teu Deus os lança fora de diante de ti. Perfeito serás, como o SENHOR teu Deus." [Deuteronômio 18:9-13]

No livro, os Dufflepods são governados por um mago. Ele usa a magia para reinar sobre os Dufflepods porque eles ainda não são maduros o suficiente para serem governados diretamente por Aslan. Assim, existe uma magia boa e um mago bom. Esse mago prepara as pessoas para terem um relacionamento com Aslan. Novamente, se Aslan for considerado um símbolo para Jesus Cristo, então a magia prepara as pessoas para serem cristãs. Na nossa cultura moderna, isso significaria que a Wicca é um modo para alguém vir a conhecer Jesus Cristo e se tornar um discípulo de Cristo.

Quando C. S. Lewis escreveu As Crônicas de Nárnia, a Wicca ainda não existia. As crianças que liam os livros não podiam experimentar com os encantamentos. No mundo de hoje, porém, as coisas são diferentes. Agora, as crianças estão cercadas por filmes e programas de televisão que promovem a feitiçaria e elas podem conhecer outras crianças na escola que já estão envolvidas com a feitiçaria.

O que acontecerá quando os Estúdios Disney lançarem um filme baseado em A Viagem do Peregrino da Alvorada? As crianças cristãs poderão se sentir livres para praticar a magia. E isso poderá derrubar a barreira entre o cristianismo e a Wicca. Isso poderá "cristianizar" a feitiçaria aos olhos de algumas crianças cristãs.

Existem alguns outros problemas com C. S. Lewis. Ele ensinou muitas coisas boas, mas misturadas com elas estão ensinos que lançam a base para a apostasia.

Para os principiantes na compreensão do homem, há uma citação de uma carta que ele escreveu descrevendo uma viagem que ele e sua mulher Joy fizeram à Grécia, em 1960. Ele escreveu:

"Em Ática, tive uma certa dificuldade para evitar que Joy e eu recaíssemos no paganismo! Em Dafni, foi difícil não orar a Apolo, o curador. Mas, de alguma forma, talvez você não achasse que teria sido errado."

Lewis disse também que "o cristianismo cumpriu o paganismo" e "o paganismo prefigurava o cristianismo" [Roger Lancelyn Green, C. S. Lewis: A Biography, Harcourt Inc., 1974, pg 274 e 30.]

Em sua autobiograria (Surprised by Joy), Lewis conta como, aos 13 anos, ele abandonou sua fé anglicana devido à influência de uma supervisora na escola que estava envolvida com 'teosofia, rosa-cruz, espiritismo, e toda a tradição ocultista ango-americana". E Lewis desenvolveu um "desejo forte" pelo ocultismo que permaneceu com ele mesmo após retornar para o anglicanismo. Ele disse:

"E isso iniciou em mim algo com o que, desde então, de tempos em tempos, tenho tido muita dificuldade - o desejo pelo preternatural, ou simplesmente, a paixão pelo ocultismo. Nem todos têm essa doença; aqueles que a têm saberão o que quero dizer. Eu uma vez tentei descrevê-la em um livro. É uma lascívia espiritual; e, como a lascívia carnal, tem o poder de tornar tudo o mais no mundo parecer desinteressante enquanto ela dura." [Surprised by Joy, Harcourt Brace, 1955, pg 58-60] [tradução nossa]

Lewis disse que descreveu essa lascívia pelo oculto em um livro. Ela aparece no terceiro livro de sua trilogia de ficção científica. Um personagem citado está no processo de ser iniciado em um círculo mais interno de cientistas que são ocultistas. Eles adoram os demônios, a quem chamam de "macróbios" (imensas e poderosas coisas invisíveis, ao contrário dos micróbios, que são coisas invisíveis e minúsculas).

"Aqui, aqui certamente afinal (assim seu desejo sussurou para ele) estava o verdadeiro círculo mais interno de todos, o círculo cujo centro estava fora do gênero humano - o segredo máximo, o supremo poder, a última iniciação. O fato que ele era quase completamente horrível não diminuia nem um pouquinho sua atração." [C. S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength: A Modern Fairy Tale For Grown Ups, Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1946, pg 259-260]

"Estas criaturas [demônios] ... arfavam a morte sobre o gênero humano e sobre toda a alegria. Não a despeito disso, mas por causa disso, a terrível gravitação o sugava, arrastava e fascinava em relação a eles. Nunca antes tinha ele conhecido a força frutífera dos movimentos opostos na natureza, que agora o tinha em seu poder; o impulso de reverter todas as relutâncias e desenhar todos os círculos no sentido anti-horário." [That Hideous Strength, pg 269] [tradução nossa]

Observe que Lewis dizia que tinha problemas com aquele forte desejo pelo ocultismo desde que conheceu a supervisora na escola. Ele escreveu essa afirmação em 1955. Naquele tempo, ele já tinha escrito todos seus livros, exceto três (The Four Loves, Reflections on the Psalms, e A Grief Observed).

Lewis dedicou sua autobiografia a Bede Griffiths, um ex-aluno que se tornou um velho amigo. Griffiths fundou um "ashram cristão" na Índia. Ele dizia que os templos hindus são um "sacramento". E ele dizia: "Ninguém pode dizer no senso correto que os hindus, os budistas ou os muçulmanos são 'incrédulos'. Eu diria que temos de reconhecê-los como nossos irmãos em Cristo." [Randy England, The Unicorn in the Sanctuary: The Impact of the New Age on The Catholic Church, TAN Books and Publishers, 1991, pg 70-72]

O que Bede Griffiths fez e disse é a conclusão lógica de uma frase que C. S. Lewis escreveu em Cristianismo Puro e Simples:

"Existem pessoas em outras religiões que estão sendo levados pela influência secreta de Deus para se concentrar naquelas partes de sua religião que estão em concordância com o cristianismo e que, portanto, pertencem a Cristo sem saber. Por exemplo, um budista de boa vontade poderá ser levado a se concentrar mais e mais no ensino budista sobre a misericórdia e a deixar em segundo plano (embora ele ainda possa dizer que acredita) no ensino budista sobre outros pontos. Muitos dos bons pagãos muito antes do nascimento de Cristo podem ter estado nessa situação." [Existem muitas edições do livro, e a numeração das páginas varia. Essa citação é do Livro IV, Cap. 10, quarto parágrafo.] [tradução nossa]

Lewis dizia que foi fortemente influenciado por George MacDonald, que era um universalista. O livro de MacDonald, Lilith, está baseado no ensino ocultista que Adão esteve casado com um demônio feminino chamado Lilith antes de se casar com Eva. No fim do livro de MacDonald, Lilith é redimida, e Adão diz que até mesmo o Diabo será eventualmente redimido.

O universalismo aparece em alguns dos livros de ficção de Lewis. Em O Grande Divórcio, Lewis está no céu. Ele fala com George MacDonald e pergunta sobre o universalismo, e MacDonald responde que Lewis não pode compreender isso agora. No último livro de As Crônicas de Nárnia (A Última Batalha), um pagão chega ao céu. (o "País de Aslan") por causa de suas boas obras e de seus bons motivos, a despeito do fato que ele não cria em Aslan e adorava o inimigo de Aslan, um falso deus chamado Tash.

Lilith aparece em O Leão, a Feiticeira e o Guarda-Roupa. O Castor diz às crianças que a Feiticeira Branca é uma descendente de Lilith, que foi a "primeira mulher" de Adão. Isso pode causar confusão, especialmente na mente das crianças. Embora o Castor seja um personagem fictício, ele está falando com autoridade sobre o mundo real - os reais Adão e Eva da Bíblia.

Lewis elogiava Charles Williams e seus livros, de modo que li todos eles. São livros que misturam as trevas e o ocultismo com algumas compreensões sobre o cristianismo. Em The Greater Trumps, o herói é uma mulher santa que passa o tempo fazendo magias com as cartas do tarô.

Williams era tão confuso quanto são seus livros. Ele começou como um sério ocultista. Ele acreditava na teosofia e em outros ensinos ocultistas, e ingressou na Alvorada Dourada, um grupo que pratica a "magia sexual", que é sexo ritual realizado com o propósito de obter poder ocultista. (O notório satanista Aleister Crowley foi membro da Alvorada Dourada.) Williams abandonou a Alvorada Dourada e ingressou na Igreja Anglicana, mas manteve algumas de suas crenças teosóficas.

Lewis também tinha um amigo íntimo chamado Owen Barfield. Ele dedicou os livros de Nárnia a ele e deu o nome de Lúcia a um dos personagens para homenagear a filha de seu amigo. Barfield era um filósofo que se iniciou na teosofia e que criou sua própria versão da teosofia.

De acordo com a teosofia, o Deus da Bíblia é um tirano, e Lúcifer (o Diabo) veio para resgatar a humanidade. Até mesmo essa visão tenebrosa de Deus aparece nos escritos de C. S. Lewis.

Após a morte de Joy, Lewis escreveu A Grief Observed, um livro que descreve seus pensamentos e lutas emocionais em decorrência da morte de sua mulher. A obscura visão teosófica acerca de Deus aparece nesse livro, como mostrado nas seguintes citações:

"Supor que a verdade seja 'Deus sempre faz vivissecção'? [C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed, Bantam Books, The Seabury Press, 1963, pg 33]

'É racional crer em um Deus mau? Em um Deus tão mau assim? O Sadista Cósmico, o Imbecil Odioso? [A Grief Observed, pg 35]

Lewis não ficou aí. Ele vacilou entre o desespero e a esperança. Mas em seus momentos de agonia e de desespero, a visão teosófica de Deus voltava para aterrorizá-lo.

Há um outro problema com C. S. Lewis. Li todos os livros dele e não me lembro de uma passagem em que ele trata as Escrituras como tendo autoridade. Pode ser que ele tenha feito isso, mas se fez, não foi com freqüência suficiente, ou de forma suficientemente clara e enfática para ficar na minha memória. A teologia de Lewis parece estar baseada principalmente no raciocínio humano (incluindo a Teoria da Evolução e a Psicologia Freudiana). Algumas pessoas o chamam de "humanista cristão".

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Autora: Mary Ann Collins (artigo extraído de Kjos Ministries, em http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/006/narnia-trouble.htm)
Data da publicação: 25/2/2006
A Espada do Espírito: http://www.espada.eti.br/narnia.asp

It's not that the prosperity gospel is wrong, the preachers who preach health and wealth use scriptures that seem to be right, but somehow the reality of it all doesn't fit what goes on in our lives. The wealthiest and healthiest of people in the world aren't even Christians, which goes against the core of this type of interpretation. But it's a hard case to argue, on the surface it seems to be true. However, when we look at the life of Jesus it just doesn't fit. When we look at the Disciples and the Apostles and the New Testament Church it doesn't fit. When we look at our lives it doesn't quite line up all the time with all the claims. Something is not quite right.

It's not that the prosperity gospel is wrong, but really it's incomplete. It's asking all the wrong questions. Tom Wright puts it this way in Simply Christian: Many of the questions we ask God cant be answered directly, not because God doesn't know the answers but because our questions don't make sense. As C. S. Lewis once pointed out, many of our questions are, from God's point of view, rather like someone asking, "Is yellow square or round?" or "How many hours are there in a mile?" (Ch 9, 5th paragraph).

Asking for material possessions isn't out of the question for God, we are supposed to pray about our needs and bring our requests before God, he will provide for our needs. In fact it is implied that we pray assuming that God wants to supply for our every need. And it's certain that God did bless many of his servants with great wealth (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, etc). Asking the question, does God want to bless us and make us rich?, is not really a good question. A better question would be, How can I worship God to my full potential?

Shooting for our full potential of worship in every aspect of life, presupposes that there is a reason to do so. God does deserve it, and that in itself is enough, but there is more. God actually has a plan. He will one day make everything right. He will bring about true justice, spirituality, relationships, and beauty (the four echoes in Simply Christian). As we understand what God has done (through the Cross and the Resurrection) and what God will do (covering the earth with his glory the way the waters cover the sea) our worship begins to reflect this in as many creative and unique ways as there are people.

Living lives of intentional theology and maturity leads to; an end to selfish desires, of service to others, and holy living. These acts of worship spring from the Cross, as we crucify our flesh, and learn to walk in the spirit. Our growth and maturing never stops, as we are transformed continually into his likeness.

Our whole lives reflect both the Cross, it's death of the sinful man, and the resurrection, new creation. As a new creation we are given a fresh start, but as the "fresh start" implies, it's only just the beginning. But the beginning of what? Even the act of Christian maturing has a purpose, and not just so we can be great Christians leading fulfilling lives enjoying Gods blessings. We do get that, but there's more.

When Jesus rose from the dead he inaugurated the beginning of the end of the old age and the beginning of the age of the Kingdom of God. It continues when we are saved and God's Spirit brings life to our spirit. It continues as our lives are redeemed from sinful acts and bondage's. It will be finalized when Jesus comes to make everything right.

Our job as Christians should be to find ways to celebrate both the past and the future. The circuit is complete when we include both the Cross and the coming of God's Kingdom. Our worship intentionally displays to the world what God is going to do. They get snap-shot of God's Kingdom as they watch our lives (families, marriages, and friendships), view our art, watch as we heal the sick and raise the dead, listen to our songs and music, become our employers/employees, see us concerned and caring for the poor and oppressed, and otherwise interact with us on a daily basis.

Are Marx, Freud, and like-minded critics of Christianity right? I think they are, at least in the case of many professing Christians. Before you have an apoplectic reaction, please carefully consider the following. For too many, Christianity is simply wishful thinking, with its adherents living life as they choose while having their religion to support them in times of crisis or distress. In other words, their "Christianity" really has little to do with their daily living.

Consequently, they pay little attention to biblical commands which they find unpalatable. If they cannot get along with their spouse, they see divorce as the solution. After all, God wants them to be happy, doesn't he? If the political candidate of their party favors abortion on demand, that's not a problem. After all, he promises to take care of the poor and the middle class, and God wants them to be financially secure, doesn't he? If a fellow church member is living in open sin, we must simply love that person and pray for him, mustn't we? After all, if we confront him about his sin, he will leave the church and we will never reach him. Surely God doesn't want that, does he? The Bible commands believers to worship together on the Lord's Day, but it won't hurt to miss on days when our son has a soccer game scheduled, will it? After all, we need to teach our son the importance of being committed to his team, don't we?

Twentieth-century literary scholar C. S. Lewis observed,

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

Unfortunately, for too many professing Christians, their religion is only moderately important in their lives. While they may go to church on Sundays and proclaim their love for God, their faith plays little role in their work, their recreation, their home, and their politics. While claiming with their lips the infinite importance of Christianity, they proclaim with their lives that it is of no real importance.

What H. Richard Niebuhr wrote about Protestant liberalism could be applied to too much of twenty-first-century evangelicalism:

A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.

Theological liberalism reshapes the God of the Bible into an idol of its own imagination. If we justify our failure to obey biblical commands and principles, we do the same.

How important is the faith to you? Jesus cares nothing for our tepid discipleship:

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. . . .  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26-27, 33).

No one and no thing must come between the follower of Christ and his Lord. Christ is not merely added to one's life; he becomes one's life. While we will never be all we should be for God, let's not join those whose Christianity is little more than a crutch to get them through the distresses of life.

"That's not why I pray, Harry.  I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray be..., I pray because the...the need flows from me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God, but it changes me." - C. S. Lewis, Shadowlands

Our Purpose and Preparation for Praying

C. S. Lewis confesses the observation above about prayer to his friend and minister at Oxford in the Sir Richard Attenborough film, Shadowlands.  He is confronted with his wife, Joy's, metastasized bone cancer, very advanced.  And as he draws closer to God for support, he realizes an astounding thing: The closer we draw to God the more we need Him, that God uses each and every situation we experience in the physical world to woo and pursue us in order to experience this surpassing intimacy with Him.  He is shaping us, as a Master Potter does with clay, into Sons of God. (Romans 8:14) The power through love we are to experience then makes what we receive now as followers of Christ but a shadow.  With that end in mind, we peer through the glass darkly and dimly realize that self-denial and sacrifice - discipline now - are the path to the reality of His future and fully-realized gift to us.  We learn from Him that instant gratification and prideful arrogance that masquerade as the power of earthly godship in the lives of others is but a sad and destructive substitute for our yearning.  Now we are not ready, but then we will be to receive such a gift.  As we persist in praying and He hears our requests and grants them (when we ask according to His will and purpose for us), we see the shape of our future reality more clearly with each prayer's passing.  As we confess our sins and are shown the path to real repentance, our burdens are lifted through active forgivness: we can leave the humanly unchangeable at the alter of God, we are transformed to go back and make right with others and ourselves what we can by His empowering Holy Spirit.  We are comforted even as our faith is tested and our selfish wills are conformed to His.  Then our faith in Him, faith that also leaves room for doubt (or it would not be faith), grows stronger.  As C. S. Lewis discovers: we are changed by prayer.

A Place To Pray

When describing how to pray, Jesus talks about a prayer closet. (Matthew 6:5,6)  I would like to emphasize that it is a necessary thing for all Christians to set aside some space in their homes that is dedicated and sacred to God, a place to pray where you can go and "shut the door" upon the world and be with your heavenly Father alone.  This area can be as simple as a small table in the living room or an area set aside in a clothes closet.

In many Eastern Orthodox homes a small table is set aside, covered with some white linen and adorned with a cross and some candles with an icon of Jesus.  Usually, this area is blessed by the priest of their church along with the rest of the house.  In other homes of Protestant denomination, some convert a small area in a clothes closet or similar enclosed space and dedicate it to the Lord.  If able, we go to church on Sunday and other smaller gatherings throughout the week and usually someone else, the Priest or Minister is leading those prayers, but you and I are admonished to "pray without ceasing" so we are responsible for all other times.  We need, then, a place to pray at home, to offer thanksgiving and praise and seek our Lord for strength "...to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring....and to obtain "..forgiveness of sins which we have committed this day in thought, word, and deed."  Then, also, to pray for the church, our rulers, our towns and cities,* our country, the world, our pastors and priests, our families and friends, the old, the young, the unborn, the needy, the orphans, the widows, the sick and afflicted, those in sorrow and distress, the imprisoned and persecuted, those in military service, travelers, and those in missions.

What Do I Need?

First, a space, somewhere you know you can set up a small table or even a makeshift of a shelf and two pedestals to support it.  Make sure it is high enough to meet your chest for the alter area and wide enough to be able to hold a Cross, a prayer journal, some candles and matches, your Bible, and any family pictures and spiritual remembrances that are important reminders of occasions that the Lord has done something special for you or your family.  I have 12 stones set below a frame of the forty-sixth Psalm to remind me of a day the Lord made a promise to me in prayer as I made a commitment to Him. What you have may be different.  Always make a point from now on to create reminders of the special moments in your life and family when the Lord has provided for you and rescued you.  Then teach your family to hand these stories down from generation to generation to preserve a rich tradition of faith in your heavenly Father that links you and your family with the servants of God listed in the Bible.

Next, create an atmosphere of holiness as you pray.  Find some appropriate worship music to play in the background from a source you can easily hear as you're praying but not disturb your concentration.  You may have some on CD or tape.  Or you may find something appropriate on Internet Radio.  Whatever you decide, make sure that it is conducive to reflective prayer and worshipful of our heavenly Father.

How Do I Pray?

Have you ever wanted to pray and found you just could not find the words?  Perhaps you are a little shy.  I know from experience that when praying and fasting for a person or a situation, I sometimes have run out of words, though I knew I needed to persist in prayer.  Of course, it is easy to ask for the Holy Spirit to step in and help you "with groanings unuttered."  And there are sometimes when this approach is absolutely necessary.  But keep in mind that our prayer life and our intimacy grows with God when we exert the effort just as it does in our human relationships.

There are many prayers that your church often prints in their church bulletin that you can use.  Some churches, like the Eastern Orthodox church have brochures such as the "Prayers in Times of Need" which have a small worship service printed out for you to use as a guide in your morning and evening devotionals.  Some, including myself, do as Dr. Ravi Zacharias suggests and read a spiritual essay before their daily Bible reading and then set time aside with the Lord to pray before their day starts.  This engages the mind and the spirit and allows God Himself to more readily direct your prayers so that "..if you ask anything according to His will, He hears us." The book of Psalms is a ready made list of prayers that touches on every problem and joy experienced in the human condition.  Those can be prayed with your name or the loved one inserted verbally to our Lord.

Along with my Bible reading, I have a number of Christian prayer cards, ranging on prayer needs such as repentance, struggle over sin, prayers that birth revival for city and country, biblical virtues to pray for your children, powerful prayers for your husband (or wife), and prayers for prodigals.  These can be obtained as gifts or by visiting the web site.

How Prayer Changes Us

Prayer, especially persistent prayer, changes us by testing our character and closing the gaps.  Our faith increases as we become less dependent on ourselves for manufacturing a less than satisfactory outcome to our problems.  Our trust, also, becomes unshakable in the process of surrendering ourselves to His Will.  It is not an easy process, indeed, it is far more challenging to pray in our instant gratification world than ever it was in the past.  But prayer is the only way to our becoming closer to our heavenly Father.  And He is the only one who can help us through the things of this earthly experience that are beyond our human endurance and control.  Don't ever give up or listen to naysayers, even in impossible circumstances.  Be as diligent as Elijah and go back and "look seven times" to see if God has answered your prayers (1 Kings 18:43, 44).  Show Jesus upon His return that you really do have the faith He will be looking for.

Till next time.
God bless you.  Dilseacht, le gra go deo

* Currently, Faith, Hope, and Love International is promoting a 40-day prayer for the city of Indianapolis.  Please join us in prayer and help support Faith, Hope, and Love Week, 2008

Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley og Anna Popplewell er tilbake i rollene som de fire søsknene Lucy,  Edmund, Peter og Susan, og vi blir introdusert for flere andre karakterer, som selvsagt prins Caspian, spilt av Ben Barnes, og kongen av Telmarin, Miraz, spilt av Sergio Castellitto. Prestasjonene er så som så, man blir etterhvert lei av Moseley's eneste ansiktsuttrykk og opplesning fra manus.

Filmen begynner med litt intriger i fantasiriket Narnia som introduserer det gode og det onde rimelig kjapt og forståelig, snill prins, slem konge. Deretter sendes vi elegant tilbake til et England under andre verdenskrig krydret med kjappe morsomheter og underlige gutter med briller. Etter litt om og men blir protagonistene utilbørlig sendt tilbake til Narnia og eventyret begynner.

Dialogen er noe, om ikke veldig, konstruert og unaturlig, men det er tross alt snakk om en barnefilm, så man kan ikke forvente Tarantino-aktige monologer. Visuelt sett er den veldig pen, Karl Walter Lindenlaub har gjort en glimrende jobb som cinematograf, og CGI-effektene er uovertrufne. Vi blir konstant overfalt av storslagne actionscener av ymse slag, men hvis du er ute etter blod og avrevne lemmer bør du nok se en annen film, som nevnt tidligere, det er en film for barn. Musikken er veldig bra, der den er tilstede. Det ble ofte veldig stille til tider, noe som han bak meg i salen så på som en sjanse til å irritere meg endeløst med knitring av godteposer.

Den kunstige dialogen klarer heldigvis ikke ødelegge filmen, de blir satt i bakgrunnen av det visuelle som skyller over oss i nesten enhver scene. Hvis du likte den første filmen, burde du se denne.

Reading or writing a work of literature is, fundamentally, an exercise in empathy. One of my English professors first suggested this idea to me when she opened my freshmen survey of literature class by saying grandiosely, "If you don't learn anything else in this class, or for that matter in your liberal arts education as a whole, I hope you learn the art of empathy." At the time, my professor's words puzzled me, but as I've thought more about them over the years, I think I've worked out what they meant. And, I've decided, my professor was spot on. As I've studied literature, I've learned that reading a text well requires walking around in the shoes of the author for a while. I have to live in the world the author lived in, think the thoughts the author thought, and believe the beliefs the author believed. Only after I've "been" the author for a while, after I've truly empathized with him or her, can I offer a true and persuasive reading of the text. The same principle applies for writing literature. In order to create persuasive fictional characters or make insightful poetic claims, an author has to get inside the mind of humanity and attentively look out of its eyes. The best authors are those who do this best, those who have mastered the art of empathy.

Here's the rub: while reading and writing literature requires empathy, religion requires just the opposite. This may sound counterintuitive, but hear me out. It's not that religious people are cold, unfeeling ogres; in fact, I would be the first to argue that religious belief has made for some of the most warmhearted and caring people our planet has seen. However, while religion encourages empathy in some things--like in caring for the sick, the elderly, and the poor--it restricts empathy, whether implicitly or explicitly, in other things. Within Christianity, a taboo list might include witchcraft, alternative sexual practices, and acts of violence. Such things are not to be empathized with, and doing so is succumbing to temptation.

The restrictions imposed on literature by religion routinely create quandaries for religious writers and readers of literature. C. S. Lewis, for one, in the preface to The Screwtape Letters--a book which takes the form of a series of letters written from the perspective of a senior demon to a junior demon--says he won't write anything else from a demon's perspective because doing so gives him, as he puts it memorably, "spiritual cramp":

I was often asked or advised to add to the original Letters, but for many years I felt not the least inclination to do it. Though I had never written anything more easily, I never wrote with less enjoyment....Though it was easy to twist one's mind into the diabolical attitude, it was not fun, or not for long. The strain produced a sort of spiritual cramp. The work into which I had to project myself while I spoke through Screwtape was all dust, grit, thirst, and itch. Every trace of beauty, freshness, and geniality had to be excluded. It almost smothered me before I was done. It would have smothered my readers if I had prolonged it.

While Lewis' literary sensibilities enabled and encouraged him to compose an astonishingly empathetic work from a demon's point of view, his religious sensibilities made him think better of it. Even though most Christians would argue that The Screwtape Letters is a very tame and well-intentioned trek into the demonic, Lewis felt the urge to rein himself in.

The problem of empathy gets even stickier when we deal with other works. Consider Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, a novel written from the perspective of a man sexually obsessed with a 12-year-old girl. Is this the sort of text the religious person should be reading? How about J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, in which the teenage narrator repeatedly swears blue streaks so blue they're almost purple? Or what about Eve Ensler's play The Vagina Monologues, in which various women, one of whom is a lesbian prostitute, talk candidly about their vaginas? For Catholics at the University of Notre Dame, the question of whether to perform The Vagina Monologues on campus has spurred many heated debates over the last several years. Is The Vagina Monologues the sort of play the religious person should watch? What about the woman who plays--that is, who empathetically pretends to be--the lesbian prostitute? Is this a fitting role for a religious person?

I don't have definitive answers to any of these questions, though maybe I should say that I have chosen to read Lolita and The Catcher in the Rye and go to a showing of The Vagina Monologues. At least for these works, empathizing with great literature was more important to me than adhering to religious teaching. I decided these classics were classics for a reason and that their positive messages outweighed their negative ones. What I want to point out, though, is that I'm not sure my decision was the "religious" one. That is, I think many in the religious community would disagree with my choice. In the end, then, the gap between what I and many religious people think is right in the realm of literary empathy suggests, if nothing else, a need for more dialogue about the problem of empathy. Empathy is a tricky business, and I think students of literature and religion alike could benefit from thinking and talking about it more than they do.

In the past, I looked forward to friends who could gave me more and more insight, and different perspectives into these things. This led to many hours of arguments, discussions, and exchange of ideas. The drawback of such activities would be my snobbery towards people not inclined towards intellectualism. The hands-on people, the people who never question structures, the people who only thought about emotions, the hedonists, and etc. This alienated me from a lot of people.

Alienation included the lower educated, the elderly, many ladies, rockers, purists, and even fellow intellectuals. Basically, my behaviour could easily point me as a hypocrite of the highest order. Nothing to be proud of, really.

I believe I have matured, and I have learn to experience people in a more healthy way, learning from their strengths and view points. Sometimes I would challenge them, sometimes probing, sometimes just listening to get a better understanding of a whole new world I never heard of! Very fulfilling indeed. Today, I love people, all kinds, all shapes and sizes. The ones that make me angry, the ones that irritate me, the ones who betray me, it is not because I am some holy person, but more because their circumstances that made them the way they are, are always interesting and insightful.

Reading this book The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis tells me that I have come a long way, as I am able to laugh at myself when he wrote this:

You think that, because hitherto you have experienced truth only with the abstract intellect.

This was the then me, and the now me is, hopefully, vastly different from that.

C.S. Lewis is an excellent writer.

Still learning, still connecting, still appreciating, still experiencing.