At the End

As a person of faith The Chronicles of Narnia have extra meaning to me, but I also believe they are great stories for anyone to read.  For me, The Last Battle is the most moving and powerful of all the Narnia books, so for today's post I pulled out some of my favorite quotes.  I believe these quotes are meaningful for anyone, but it's quite possible someone who doesn't share my beliefs may read these quotes and think, 'what's the big deal?"  My hope is that they are reassuring and thought-provoking.

A bit of background for our first quote.  Things have gone very badly and people are following a false leader.  When the true king appears not all of his subjects return to him.  Then this happens.  "Every single Talking Dog in the whole meeting (there were fifteen of them) came bounding and barking joyously to the King's side...they were just as doggy as could be...they all stood up and put their front paws on the shoulders of the humans and licked their faces, all saying at once: 'Welcome! Welcome! We'll help, we'll help help help"   (how could you not love dogs??) 

"'Yes,' said the Lord Digory. 'Its inside is bigger than its outside.'  'Yes,' said Queen Lucy.  'In our world too, a stable once had something inside that was bigger than our whole world.'"

"'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."  

In this passage some people are allowed through the door into Aslan's country but some are not.  "Eustace even recognized one of those very Dwarfs who had helped to shoot the Horses. [the dwarf had done Eustace believed to be wrong] But he had no time to wonder about that sort of thing (and anyway it was no business of his) for a great joy put everything else out of his head."  

Here a man has been a servant of a different God, Tash, but he is still allowed into Aslan's country. The man asked Aslan if he is allowed in because Aslan and Tash are really the same god.  Aslan answers saying, "It is false.  Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him.  For I and he are of such differetnt kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him." 

"Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days.  Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless they desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly.  For all find what they truly seek."  

"I have come home at last!  This is my real country! I belong here.  This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now."

Coming home...that's kids stuff.