Take me to Narnia....

When I was fourteen, my dad retired from the Air Force. We left the place I knew as home, where I had friends and I knew the town. We left the security and safety of the military base and we moved...

...to Arkansas. A small town, and definitely not one that felt the same as a military base.

Within the first week of attending my new school, I had been asked if I were pregnant, and then if I were a teacher. These were not exactly strong indicators that I would make friends quickly, or easily, and I certainly didn't.

Life changed for all of us when we moved from Louisana to Arkansas. We each dealt with it in our own ways. I escaped into books. I was embarassed and ashamed, and I felt completely out of my element. Other students didn't make any overtures of friendship, and I was both too shy and too introverted to make the overtures myself.

It was at this time that I discovered Narnia. It was my introduction to fantasy, but it also taught me a lot, much of which I didn't realize until many years later. I immediately drew the parallels between Aslan and Christianity. It was fairly obvious, and this was long before I learned that CS Lewis was a well known author of religious books, and had suffered through his own crisis of faith at some point. He was, obviously, a man who'd given deep thought to religion.

At the time, all I really knew was that Narnia, for all it's problems, seemed like paradise and I would have given anything to go there. I would lay in bed at night, lonely and miserable, crying, and pray that Aslan would come and take me to Narnia. My sisters and I, you see, were long past the age of being playmates and so I didn't even have them for company. My only friends were those that I met in books.

Now with the movies coming out, I remember how important these books were to me. I remember the lessons they taught me, and how I learned to deal with life by reading those pages. I learned joy and wonder, hope and grief. I learned that everything comes to an end - but that end is in itself a new beginning. I learned that there is such a thing as unconditional love, but love doesn't mean that a blind eye is turned to faults and wrong.

The first movie was pretty close to the book. It's been too long since I've read the books to know how close this second one is...but it's probably just as close as the first. :-)

Narnia taught me hope. It taught me acceptance of those different from myself, and it taught me that a different culture has as much value and 'right' as the culture I grew up in. It taught me doing what's right, even when it hurts, and defending those who need it. It taught me that fighting wasn't the only way to defend. It taught me that appearance doesn't necessarily mean anything, and that even the smallest creature - or person - has important skills and abilities.

Narnia taught me many lessons. And today, as I contemplate life as it is, it seems to me that many of those lessons are today thought to be weaknesses. How sad is that? And does that explain why I find myself often unhappy or frustrated in life?

Nineteen years later....I still want to go to Narnia.