The Power of Story (or otherwise titled, Why I like children's books)

The opening dedication to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe reads:

"My Dear Lucy,
I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time this is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me that you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand, a word you say, but I shall still be
your affectionate Godfather,
CS Lewis"

Lewis taps into a powerful thought in these opening lines: that there comes a time in life when we feel the draw back to children's stories . . . not for the sake of recapturing one's youth or merely for entertainment.

What's in a story? Simple. Profound. Lewis knew that some of the best literature was great not because it was written for the greatest minds but because it tapped into the power of myth. A myth is not the same thing as a legend, a fiction . . . a myth is a story that tells the bigger story of meaning and purpose, origins and destiny. In other words, a myth can be true or false, but a myth's power is in its ability to tie us to something greater than ourselves.

One of the reasons I love CS Lewis' Narnia series is because I have found in it simple stories that captivate the heart and the mind and has given me a window into spiritual truths.

The power of story can be seen in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In one episode one of the main characters, Lucy (whom we meet for the first time in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) is entering the upstairs home of a magician in order to break a spell. She finds her way up a staircase, wondering what she might find, who she might see, knowing that somewhere the magician's book might be found, and in the book, the spell-breaker. She also knows that somewhere lurks the magician . . . and she must find his book and break the spell without being caught.

She does find the book and reads through a series of spells, enchanted by the book's lettering, its smell, its crisp, smooth pages, and finally its words. She comes to one spell "for the refreshment of the spirit" and she begins to read it. "And what Lucy found herself reading was more like a story than a spell. It went on for three pages and before she had read to the bottom of the page she had forgotten she was reading at all. She was living in the story as if it were real, and all the pictures were real too. When she had got to the third page and come to the end, she said, 'That is the loveliest story I've ever read or ever shall read in my whole life. Oh, I wish I could have gone on reading it for ten years. At least I'll read it over again.'"

The problem was Lucy found that she was unable to turn back any pages: the magic of the book was forbidding her. Moreover, as she realized this she also discovered that she was unable to remember the details of the story. It was as if the story were being erased from her mind; only fragments remained. "And she never could remember; and ever since that day, what Lucy means by a good story is a story which reminds her of the forgotten story in the Magicians Book."

In many ways I have found that all good stories are those that in some way remind me of the Great Story, the one God has been writing and telling since the dawn of time, the story He tells as He writes the pages of history and turns the pages of our lives. The God of the Bible is the a storyteller . . . He uses parable and poetry to capture the hearts of His people and then He inspires authors to write His story, stories to be told and retold so that generations might know Him. Today I find that the books I am drawn to and the movies I watch over and over are those that are but reflections of the themes and characters in God's story.

And there is more . . . I am learning more and more that when Jesus calls God "Father," he is saying more than just a title for the Almighty: he is stating what God does. God is fathering us. God longs to father us. For me that means many things, but one thing I know for sure: God wants to tell me stories. He wants to share His story with me over and over, like a good father would, and he is active in my life even now to remind me of the greatest story ever told. Like Lucy I find a "refreshment of spirit" in the story He tells. I find myself also literally living the story and I am thankful that he has made me a character.

At the end of the chapter Lucy meets the great lion, Aslan, the Christ-figure of the story. Aslan knows that young Lucy has been reading through the Magician's book. Lucy begins to ask him a question:

"Speak on, dear heart."
"Shall I ever be able to read that story again; the one I couldn't remember? Will you tell it to me, Aslan? Oh do, do, do."
"Indeed, yes, I will tell it to you for years and years."